Wondering how old we all were when we got our first ink?

[max]

It occurs to me that there is a stigma out there that some people associate tatts with youth, bikers or the military.

I didn't get inked when I was in the military or when I was 'in my youth' but at the age of 34 (simple peace sign) and again at 37 (my larger work).

I have a feeling that the older we start, the more elaborate our work (not verifiable but might make for an interesting study).

So, how old were you for your first (and any thoughts to my "theory" regarding age = tattoo complexity)?

[MACDIESEL]

i guess i'm with the couple of other naughty kids on the forum...i was 15 or 16 when i snuck home with the first tattoo. it was a butterfly on the ankle that my friend did in his basement! we were art students & full of good ideas! i gaveth' a couple bad tattooes & receiveth a couple....the butterfly was covered by a fish, which has since been covered with a lovely lass.

[Grosz]

i was 28. i consider the economic aspects that have been raised to be fairly valid - when i was 18 i barely had enough money to buy food and cigarettes (the latter often replaced the former) so the notion of spending thousands of dollars on ink would have been nothing more than a pipe dream. and while i'm still a fairly immediate-gratification kind of guy, i think that age has given me the patience to spend quite a bit of time thinking over the imagery, finding an artist and, lastly, sitting on a retardedly long waiting list to get the work that i want.

so, say what you will, but i believe that (if you're living right) with age comes greater experience and introspection. and while the artwork on a younger person could be just as artistically "elaborate" as on someone twice their age, i'd argue that the conceptualization of that artwork/placement/etc on an older collector runs a greater chance of being more a more developed decision.

after all, in all the replies that preceed this, the trend seems to be that the younger someone gets tattooed, the more impulsive and/or spur-of-the-moment the process was.

[Liana]

I was 18 when I got my first tattoo. It was just an outline since I couldn't afford to get the whole thing yet, and then when I was 21 I had it colored and finished. I love it, it's my favorite one that I have so far.

[Syann]

Hi All,

I was 14!!! LOL!! Got a little purple bat on my tummy...LOL! He was the first of many!! He's now utterly destroyed due to pregnancy and a c-section - but love him just as much now, as the day i got him done!!

[Amber]

I agree that with age your work is probably more elaborate and well thought through.

I was 18 when I got my first which is a moon and stars on my ankle. I went into the shop went through the pages and pages of posters and picked on out I liked. It really has no meaning or significance and is not in any way unique and to be honest, I hate it.

I was 26 when I decided to get the one on back of my neck. Its a pisces glyph with a little tribal swirl around it. I love it and it means so much to me because although its not completely unique in the design it has meaning to me because I am a Pisces and I got it on my birthday. I put the tribal and the glyph together from 2 different pictures I found so it is somewhat unique.

[Chris]

I got my first tattoo the weekend after my 18th birthday. I had leopard spots forming around a heart with a pair of lips inside from my shoulder to about halfway to my elbow. It's not elaborate, no, but I still like it. As far as the theory of "age=complexity", I'd have to disagree. My second tattoo is my chest piece, which is a rather intricate design of gears and cogs working within a crescent moon.

I'm still 18, by the way. I'll be getting my 5th tattoo and my old lady will be getting her 2nd to celebrate our 6 months together. I'll be 19 not long after, so all-in-all I would have gotten 5 tattoos while I was 18 and during my 19th year I plan to begin working on sleeves as well as my already planned back piece.

[Soraya]

Interesting thread! Interesting young/old contrasts in responses.

I was about 46 when I got my first, but I went the whole nine yards once I started.

I had gotten pierced (nipples) about 30 years ago when absolutely nobody was doing that, and was interested in tattooing for some time, probably since I was about 19 or so, but really didn't this it was the right thing for me. I confess, I had some of that "only drunks, sailors and whores get tattooed" echoing in my head from childhood, and as I moved into a professional career, it didn't seem like a wise thing to do. (I know, I know...then explain the piercings, right?)

When I was 40-ish, I started thinking about a small tattoo, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. A few years later my husband and I went to a tattoo convention on a lark, and it changed my life. I had never seen heavily tattooed people before. I saw a woman with a beautiful japanese backpiece and half sleeves, and I was mesmerized. Within about a half hour of seeing her, I decided that I wanted to look like that. I planned and agonized for a couple of years, and took the plunge with one big design that I completed over about 5 years.

I'm glad I waited. If I had gotten started when I was young, I would not have had the vision to conceive the integrated large piece that I now have, and hadn't been exposed to any quality examples, or artists or ideas. And I wouldn't have had the money either! Young people today get to see great examples by excellent artists, and learn and share on sites like this, and have the opportunity to get really high quality work. But even with that, I think people my age approach tattooing differently - not better, or worse, but just differently. For me, I think it meant that I had arrived at a point where my values had been formed, my career and relationships had been established, and I knew where I was going, and was prepared to accept the limitations that being heavily tattooed would place on me. I couldn't have done that when I was young.

[Chris aka Creepinbean]

I got my first piece when i was 18 which was like 4 months ago im still workin on it. Its a back piece that i found in a horiyoshi book called 100 Demons.

[DeeDee]

I was 24 :) After my grandad died,i got memmorial tat on my leg...it was a Native American Feathers.Cose,he loved Native Americans,he probably read all books about them that is out there :) ...And it started...i whanted more and more...and got adicted to INK :)

[Melissa]

I can understand where you are coming from and I think it is a valid viewpoint. I got my first tat when I was 22, Im 25 now. I always thought that whenever a person considers getting one, they should get something that is meaningful to them. You see a lot of these young-ins getting all sorts of tats that are just "cute" and that have no background, its sad because its a waste of flesh and space for something more definitive they might want to get in the future.

[Sarah]

My first tattoo was when I was 18 - a simple bit of flash - a the time deeply rebellious! LOL! Got it covered up at 37 & planning more work next year at 39.

Glad I didn't get moew done earlier as I didn't really have access to the kind of artists I can afford now, but spent hours reading a flatmate's tattoo magazines. Having said that if I was 18/20 now and had the money... :-)

[Lisa]

Hi Max. I'm sure people could argue either side of your theory... I got my first tattoo at 42 after wanting one forever. I got a small heart (for self-love) to test my tolerance. Within two weeks I had booked my next sitting to start a 13" corset down my back. For me, starting a bit later in life, I knew what I liked, I knew what I wanted - and would want to have for all time - and I didn't want to waste any time getting going. I continue to add to the collection and I'm bold in my choices in all cases. Age isn't all bad in this regard. Had I gotten a tattoo at age 18 I would've gotten something completely ridiculous, I'm quite sure, and would have all kinds of regret. Instead, I have total joy and some awesome body art. Maybe with age, wisdom really does come? But on the flip side, I know an awful lot of wise young 20-somethings who have been thoughtful and extremely creative with their ink too. :-)