The native Maori people of New Zealand have tattooed their faces for centuries. They had a complex warrior culture before the arrival of Europeans, and suffered under early colonialism, but have experienced a cultural revival since the 60′s.
The marks are called moko, and are etched with chisels instead of needles to leave grooves along with the ink. The true form is sacred, unique to each person, and distinct from European tattoos that mimic that traditional style.
There arent many pictures non combat related that look this badass
Actually most
Tā moko are done with modern tattoo equipment these days, but some people get them done the traditional way. And, as others have said, they’re not for Non-
Māori, as they have specific meanings and significance. If you want a tattoo with Māori
style, you can get a
kirituhi. These avoid any designs associated with particular tribes or famous people you’re not related to.
Kirituhi is a Māori style tattoo either made by a non-Māori tattooer, or made for a non-Māori wearer. Kirituhi has mana of it’s own and is a design telling the unique story of the wearer in the visual language of Māori art and design. Kiri means ‘skin’, and tuhi means ‘to write, draw, record, adorn or decorate with painting’.
Kirituhi is not restricted to only Māori people, and it is a way for Māori to share our cultural arts with people from around the world in a respectful manner, and for non-Māori artists to enjoy our beautiful art form as well. I happily do kirituhi for my clients around the world and it is a privilege to do such work for them.
Kirituhi is no lesser an artform than moko, however it is different and I believe these differences must be acknowledged and respected, so that the integrity of our taonga Māori – moko, is maintained around the world.
Moko is uniquely Māori and it is strictly reserved to be done by Māori, for Māori.
If either the recipient or tattooer do not have Māori whakapapa, then the resulting design is a Māori Style tattoo or kirituhi, NOT moko. The word moko originated from the Māori atua (god) of volcanic activity and earthquakes, Rūaumoko – therefore the origin of tā moko is divine and sacred – to me this is no small thing, nor should it be dismissed.
As my mentor once told me, ‘moko is about 99% culture, and 1% tattoo’.
The native Maori people of New Zealand have tattooed their faces for centuries. They had a complex warrior culture before the arrival of Europeans, and suffered under early colonialism, but have experienced a cultural revival since the 60′s.
The marks are called moko, and are etched with chisels instead of needles to leave grooves along with the ink. The true form is sacred, unique to each person, and distinct from European tattoos that mimic that traditional style.
There arent many pictures non combat related that look this badass
Actually most
Tā moko are done with modern tattoo equipment these days, but some people get them done the traditional way. And, as others have said, they’re not for Non-
Māori, as they have specific meanings and significance. If you want a tattoo with Māori
style, you can get a
kirituhi. These avoid any designs associated with particular tribes or famous people you’re not related to.
Kirituhi is a Māori style tattoo either made by a non-Māori tattooer, or made for a non-Māori wearer. Kirituhi has mana of it’s own and is a design telling the unique story of the wearer in the visual language of Māori art and design. Kiri means ‘skin’, and tuhi means ‘to write, draw, record, adorn or decorate with painting’.
Kirituhi is not restricted to only Māori people, and it is a way for Māori to share our cultural arts with people from around the world in a respectful manner, and for non-Māori artists to enjoy our beautiful art form as well. I happily do kirituhi for my clients around the world and it is a privilege to do such work for them.
Kirituhi is no lesser an artform than moko, however it is different and I believe these differences must be acknowledged and respected, so that the integrity of our taonga Māori – moko, is maintained around the world.
Moko is uniquely Māori and it is strictly reserved to be done by Māori, for Māori.
If either the recipient or tattooer do not have Māori whakapapa, then the resulting design is a Māori Style tattoo or kirituhi, NOT moko. The word moko originated from the Māori atua (god) of volcanic activity and earthquakes, Rūaumoko – therefore the origin of tā moko is divine and sacred – to me this is no small thing, nor should it be dismissed.
As my mentor once told me, ‘moko is about 99% culture, and 1% tattoo’.
Quick friendly suggestion: If somebody ever offers you a ride in a time machine, politely but firmly say NO. (Especially if they also offer you a bag of weed.)
I mean, I was aware that could happen if a fresh tattoo gets infected while it’s healing. But, I didn’t know it was even possible for a skin problem much later on to bring up ink.
We live and learn! 😦
The good news: The last of that aggravating infected eczema garbage finally seems to be almost healed up! *fingers crossed*
The not so great news: One of the last stubborn patches is visibly bringing tattoo ink up with its scabby peeling nonsense!
That one was already not looking so great*, but yeah. I am less than pleased. No idea what that’s going to look like after the skin finishes calming down, but pretty sure it ain’t going to enhance the artwork.
Never expected that to happen, but I guess that’s what we’re doing now ¯_(ツ)_/¯
I’d already considered trying to work the thing into some type of larger cover-up piece, and may still do that at some point. Even more aggravated that my health situation now is really, really not compatible with healing more work. Again, hopefully at some point, but for now I am kinda glad that is smallish and on my leg where it’s easy to cover up.
* That would be after my skin decided to just eat the white ink. I thought a touch-up job was worth a try a few years later, and the artist had never seen anything quite like that before either. He’s good (and experienced) enough that I’m 99% confident he didn’t just foul it up somehow…and it did the same gradual blotchy fadeout number again within maybe a year! By now you couldn’t tell it ever had the white, and it just wasn’t looking great even before this mess. Probably my weirdo immune system again, but hey. Avoid in future.
Check out this rad tattoo of my Ornate Panther mask design by @ape_man_wessling on a cool dude named Henrik! Wow! #ornatepanther #tattoo #apemanwessling #apemanart #mask #missmonster #missmonstermel
I’ve been asked many times what someone should look for when trying to find a good artist. The best way you can do this is to look at their portfolio, whether it’s in a book at their shop or online. If they don’t have good work in their portfolio, they’re probably not good artists.
The shop may be clean, the people there might be nice, and the design they draw up for you might be exactly what you want, but if your artist doesn’t stand up to the points listed above, then you’re going to get a bad tattoo.
It’s okay to walk into a shop, talk with an artist for a while, and decide you don’t want a tattoo from them. Even if the artist has a bad attitude about it or tries to convince you to just let them do it, remember this is going to be on your body for the rest of your life.
This is fucking fantastic thank you!!
I would like to add something from the customer service side: a good tattoo artist will also TALK to you about your decision and your choices and will not hesitate to disagree with you, if necessary. Things any good tattoo artist will ask you before they put a needle anywhere near your skin:
What do you want to get? Are you bringing a design (think photorealistic tattoos or maybe a specific comic character in a specific post you saw somewhere), something out of the portfolio/off the wall (in this case a good artist will ask you if you are REALLY sure about it, because so many of those are just people going “I don’t know, I guess this looks good” and then they regret it later), or will you let the artist have a lot of freedom? A good artist will show you the design on paper BEFORE they put it on your skin.
Where do you want to get it? Okay, so you want a poem on your rib cage, that’s nice, but ribs hurt like fuck all and are really not that great for anything that requires smooth line work. Same for the spine or any part of your body where there is very little muscle and fat between the skin and bone. Likewise, if you want a very horizontal design (e. g. spread out wings) on a very vertical part of your body (like your calf) or vice versa, a good artist will likely suggest a different choice. That does not mean they won’t give you that tattoo in the place you want if you really insist, but they will do their best to suggest a better placement.
How many tattoos do you have already? Aka, do you know how much this is going to hurt? Do you know if you det dizzy/sick when getting tattooed? Do I have to be extra vigilant for any signs of averse reactions because this is your first tattoo?
Do you have any immune system / skin conditions that might cause allergic reactions, unusual inflamation, etc? This is SO SUPER IMPORTANT. Really, any artist you’ve never been to before who does not ask this question is someone you should avoid.
What is your budget? This is important for both artist and client, because tattoos cost money – the ink, the machines, the desinfectant, the upkeep of the shop, the labor involved – all of it costs money. A good artist will be upfront about their prices and hold to them. They will also be able to tell you how much tattooing they can reasonably get done at a specific quality. If you have ever watched the show Ink Master, you will see the most common complaint artists on there have is that six hours is NOT enough for a back piece. Be prepared for multiple sessions. Listen to your artist.
Aftercare. This is less of a question and more of a general note: a good artist will ask you if you know about tattoo aftercare and, if you don’t, will explain to you what you have to look out for (sunlight exposure, water exposure, moisturizing, etc.). If a tattoo artist just puts ink into you and then sends you out the door without even mentioning this point – I strongly suggest you don’t come back.
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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