Why People Get Inked Again (and Again), According to Tattoo Artists

Pain and pleasure

For those who haven’t gone under the (tattoo) needle, subjecting yourself to getting poked thousands of times sounds like the opposite of an afternoon well spent.

Aside from the pain, you’ll also have to contend with the incessant whirring of the needle and the numbness that settles in after holding the same position for hours. 

It’s not just the actual process of getting a tattoo that hurts; the healing process, even for a small piece, takes at least two weeks, the first few days of which are an onslaught of swelling, soreness, and oozing plasma.

And then, of course, there’s the itching. 

“I’m not excited about the healing process,” confesses Alon M., a hand poke tattoo artist based in the Philippines. “By the time a tattoo settles on my skin, I’m usually just relieved that I don’t have to worry about taking care of it anymore.”

Even tattoo artists themselves don’t shy away from the fact that tattoos are uncomfortable at the very least, and that this discomfort hands on even after you’ve left the studio.

Why, then, do people keep getting inked?

As personal symbols

For Indonesian tattoo artist Sugiyama Surya, the ink around his body is like a personal album. “[After getting a tattoo], I feel happy that I’ve added another piece to my collection.”

While many people get tattoos as a symbol of something significant—the name of a loved one, the photo of a pet, the lyrics of a song—it is equally common to hear of people booking an appointment simply because they like a design.

Being a tattoo artist takes more than learning how to maneuver a tattoo gun and apply the right amount of pressure on the body. It is also about finding your own style and moving through the numerous reinventions that go with it. 

“My style is contemporary black work using stipple shading,” says Sugiyama, “but I like adding different shapes and textures to create a unified design.”

He openly admits to feeling like he hasn’t settled on his signature style just yet, and that doing so is an ongoing process. Sugiyama gets immense gratification, therefore, when past clients want to get inked again. 

“The most exciting thing [for me] is when people choose my flash designs and then come back for another tattoo. I really appreciate [it] when clients check up on me and ask if I’m available.” 

Much like collectors hanging several pieces from the same artist in their home, it is common for people to have more than one design done by an artist they really like. 

Because flash designs are pre-drawn pieces, choosing from someone’s flash is a telltale sign that you’re a fan of their style. Periodically releasing flash designs keeps an artist’s practice fresh while giving repeat clients another piece to look forward to. Lots of artists will also create non-repeatable flash designs, making it similar to a custom piece for whoever claims it.

There is a lot of merit in this design-forward approach to getting tattooed. Far from an impulse decision, it signifies a connection with a particular art style and a show of support for the artist and their work.

The body becomes a canvas, and clients become patrons of their favorite artist.

The tattoo trade

Art is a connecting force, and this sentiment holds true in tattooing. Rather than covering themselves in their own designs, many tattoo artists prefer to get designs made by someone else.

“The last tattoo I got was a sardine from Basura Tatu as part of our tattoo trade,” says Alon. 

As the name suggests, these trades are when artists exchange designs and take turns tattooing each other.

When it comes to picking a design for a tattoo trade, Alon focuses on getting a piece that best represents the other artist. “I get designs that are in the style of the artist I’m trading with,” he states, “and they get a tattoo in my style.” 

Sugiyama also sees the tattoo trade as a way to meet fellow artists. “It’s like a networking method, [because] you could learn a lot from other artists.” 

This creative exchange represents community building in its finest, allowing artists the opportunity to hone their craft by seeing their peers’ work firsthand.

It’s a way to record the evolution of an artist’s craft: a lot of Sugiyama’s tattoos come from friends, and he says that exchanging designs with them allows him to see how much they’ve improved and how their style has changed. 

The actual experience of getting a tattoo can be as significant as the tattoo itself; ask anyone how they got their first, and they’re likely to remember it in detail.

Alon’s was a small skull on his ankle, done by an officemate who tattooed as a hobby. “One day, he brought his machine to the office and asked me if I wanted to get tattooed,” he remembers. “So I did.”

Intimacy hours

Getting tattooed is an intimate affair, but not just because of the physical exposure. An intricate piece can take hours to complete, leaving ample time for the artist to get to know his client and vice versa. It is no wonder, then, that both artists have experienced getting tattooed by friends: the underlying trust that comes with getting a tattoo makes it easier to open up. 

Tattoos get a bad rep because of their permanence: what if you regret the design later on? Aren’t you worried about how your skin will look as you age? By pushing back against this perspective and flipping it on its head, the permanence of a tattoo becomes a symbol of how you move through the world. 

Even if you opt for a flash design, that choice in itself represents the art style that you like, the types of designs you lean toward, and even the connection you have with a particular artist.

In the era of “my body, my rules,” there is something undeniably poetic about choosing to turn your body into a museum. Simply put, why not cover your body with what you think looks cool?

Photos courtesy Alon M. and Sugiyama Surya