Tattooed America: The Rise Of Skin Art

(CBS)  At Dare Devil Tattoo on New York's Lower East Side, Glenda Gonzales is about to take the plunge.

"Actually there's no pain," she told Sunday Morning correspondent Serena Altschul. "I feel numb. Feels numb. Is that how it's supposed to feel?"

She's picked a bluebird for her back. It's her first tattoo.

"I probably decided when I was 18, but my parents wouldn't let me get it," she said.

Now 22, Glenda has made her move — and she has plenty of company. According to a study by the American Academy of Dermatology, 36 percent of Americans between 18 and 29 have a tattoo.

"I mean at this point it's just hugely popular, it's gone way farther than any of us would have envisioned from even 10 years ago," Michelle Myers, who has been tattooing for 15 years, said. "Some people define it as a trend, but I would say it's more like when women started wearing slacks. It wasn't a trend, it just became acceptable."

Across town, at the Last Rites Tattoo Theatre, Yousef O'Dey is also getting his first tattoo from artist Paul Booth. Booth is considered the master of the macabre. His dark and otherworldly images adorn rock stars and anyone with a taste for the night. His waiting list is two and a half years' long.

"I wanted something dark and very unique, and somebody who would understand when I say I want something that is on the edge of being repulsive," he said.

"Right now I'm just kind of rendering the face of the demon," Booth said. "I've always made it a point not to be spouting off, bragging about what I make. I can tell you that, you know, I charge a little bit more than my lawyer does."

Booth says he loves that tattoos require commitment.

"There's a validation in having your art appreciated to the level that someone is willing to wear it on their body for the rest of their life, is a really intense experience," he said.

What's unusual about the man making that lifelong commitment is not just the theme of his tattoo, but what Yousef, who lives in Wisconsin, does for a living. He's a cardiac surgeon.

"This is pretty unorthodox probably for any surgeon, let alone a cardiac surgeon, probably," he said.

According to a recent Harris poll, 16 percent of all Americans have at least one tattoo. CBS News caught up with some of them at a tattoo festival in suburban Chicago.

Diane Filpi is 42 years old and getting her fourth tattoo.

"I'm a nurse, very quiet person, I'm a classical pianist," she said.

Zach Sikora is studying to be a psychologist. His tattoo expresses his belief in God.

"Just kind of symbolizes my faith and having it on me kind of symbolizes me defeating sin, defeating, you know, the struggles in my life," he said.

Nancy Rocha is getting two butterflies which represent her two daughters.

"It's just a reminder of my children, and having the colors and the art on my skin forever, it's just amazing," she said.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page »

[egio-2009]

I wanted to take a quick moment to reply to DLSparks' comment about the aging tattoo. He mentions his father's tattoo from WWII is nothing more than a dark blob now and that your story should have included the outcome of a tattoo after many years on the skin.
I have been a tattoo artist for over 10 years now and I do see his/ her point on this and I can say that over the years tattooing has changed considerably as has the technology involved in our craft. While our machines are still the same in the sense of how they are built and how they run, the materials used now are much better than before and give the tattoo a better line quality as well as color. Also changing over the years are our power sources ( how we run our machines ), pigments and needles which have also changed for the better and this gives the tattoos of today more "staying power" if you will. I do understand that skin loses elasticity over the years and of course there will be change in the work as a result of that, but I honestly think that with the constant change in technology in our craft and the fact that we hold seminars on better tattooing techniques and machine building, etc., the longevity of our tattoos compared to those of our fathers and grandfathers, I feel, will surpass that.

[callahanpaul]

My wife and I got our first tattoos 6 years ago when we were 45 and 43, respectively. At this point, she has in excess of 50 tats, mostly flowers, butterflys, bees, dragonflys, etc. forming a wonderful mosaic on her arms and chest. I have only 9, mostly of asian design, reflecting my martial arts backround. The biggest of these covers my back, a depiction of a mountainside temple in Korea. Our sons, 21 and 18, think the tats are cool but have no interest in getting any. Maybe we scared them off? Why do what Mom and Dad have done? BTW, she is a homemaker and I am a professional with a major insurance company, although we do ride a Harley!

As for aging of tats, it is all in how they were done and how they are cared for. Most WWII tats were crudely done and not cared for at all. Mr. Sparks, did your father ever use sunscreen? I will bet not. When I am outside, I use SPF 55 or better on them. I am not worried at all about how they will look in 30 years because the quality of the work is great and I care for them. I strongly agree with Jammer. Quality work costs more but considering this is permanent, well worth it.

[jammer76010]

It depends on how proficient the tattoo artist was and the quality of ink that was used. I am 55 years old and have 5 tattoos signifying various events in my life. 4 of these were done by a teriffic artist in Texas and have not changed in appearance in 20 plus years. One was done in a port in Spain and was messy within 5 years. Fortunately I was able to have it redone by another artist years later and transformed back into a very nice piece of art. The crisp clarity of the older tattoos have slightly faded, but the art itself is still beautiful. I would suggest that anyone looking to have a tattoo done, search around for an artist that really knows his business. Avoid these young kids with little or no real experience just to save yourself a few dollars. Remember, you get what you pay for, and you will live with it for quite a long time. I wouldn't trade any of my tattoos as they are works of art that all mean something special to me.

[dlsparks514]

I am curious why stories on tattoos never address what happens to a tattoo as a person ages. More and more stories are on TV about how a tattoo artist painstakingly draws a tattoo on the human body or how costly it is to have a`tattoo removed but I have yet to see a story that includes the transformation of a tattoo as one grows older. My father has a tattoo on his forearm. He had it done while he was serving in the armed forces during WWII as did many other servicemen did during that era. Today the tattoo is just a dark blob on his forearm. It has been that way for many, many years. From observing my father's tattoo and those of other older adults, it is plain to see tattoos do not age well. It only stands to reason since a person's skin continually changes as one ages that a tattoo would also change. And they do not change for the better. Showing the aging of a tattoo should have been included in the story. Let people know that the cute little colorful butterfly on an 18 year old's shoulder is going to be nothing more than an unattractive skin discoloration later in life.