OK – first off, let’s get one thing clear: I am not a fan of stick and poke tattoos. If you’re going to have ink jammed into your dermis, you might as well get it done properly. There are too many amazing tattoo artists in the world for people to be covered in shitty ballpoint pen drawings that I just want to take some spit and a thumb to. That being said, I know that at least a few of you reading this have either stuck yourself with a warbly, fuzzy tattoo or had someone else do it to you. I imagine that at least some of you immediately regretted it. If that’s what you’re into, great. Personally, I think stick and pokes are an incarnation of the tattooing fad mixed with ironic hipsterdom, because for some reason, in some circles, it’s cooler to get a fucked up, stupid looking “dog in a diaper” tattoo that fades to a blob in a matter of months than it is to get a beautiful, professionally done tattoo that will last decades. Maybe it’s a quest for youth, because a lot of this shit looks like what I drew on myself, my jeans and my sneakers in elementary school. Maybe stick & pokes appeal to people who can’t think of a good idea to take to a professional tattoo artist, so they just jab a peace sign into their leg. Yes, a professional would laugh at you if you asked them to tattoo a peace sign on you, so home made is your best bet if you only have terrible, uninspired tattoo ideas.
However, let it be known that I am willing to explore the internets for good stick and poke tattoos, just to prove myself wrong. If you know of some good ones, send them my way. For today, I’m sharing some ridiculous examples of tattoos that were posted to the FUCK NO STICK & POKE tumblr…but I think at least half the fun is reading the outraged responses on FNS&P from the people whose weak tattoos were reblogged…”stick and pokes are beautiful” LOL! Somebody should tattoo themselves with that…enjoy!
