Star Tattoo

primarily adult cult following, the characters of Jack, Sally, the ghost dog Zero, and the mischievous threesome Lock, Shock and Barrel appearing repeatedly in permanent ink. Clicking through the thumbnails of BMEzine's cartoon tattoos section, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" makes up nearly 1/4 of all the images featured there.

Cartoon television shows are popular choices as well when it comes to tattoo ideas. Nickelodeon's "Spongebob Squarepants", "Powerpuff Girl" or the Fox channel's "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" have bright, humorous or empowering characters that translate great as tattoos. Even video game characters make an appearance, especially the Godfather of all digital games -- Mario, often seen along with his brother, Luigi, or arch enemy, Bowser.

Hello Kitty seems to be a favorite amongst young girls, while scenes from Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" continue to show up on the ribcages of young men. The cutesy drawings of emo artist Kurt Halsey have appeared in so many tattoos that I even wrote a hub about it: Kurt Halsey Fan Tattoos

Of course, there will always be tattoos of the standard, original cartoons: Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Tigger, Snoopy and Winnie the Pooh. Classic films like "Alice in Wonderland" beget classic tattoos of Alice, the Cheshire Cat and the hookah-smoking caterpillar whereas classic books by Dr. Seuss yield images of the infamous Cat in the Hat.

Cartoons evoke nostalgic memories of childhood as well as teach important lessons. No matter how old you get, there is something about the innocence of cartoons and the characters they portray that will always ring true

tattoo artist performs his/her craft is not as important as the cleanliness and professionalism shown by the artist.

One precaution to take is to ensure proper placement and retrieval of the needles. The tips, an important piece of the machine, must be maintained and sanitized properly. The workspace must be well maintained and free of trash and leftovers as it has much to do with the artists ability to keep everything else clean. The scarring from a tattoo can be kept to minimal if aftercare instructions are followed precisely.

As far as the artist goes, try to avoid a heavy handed person as that style tends to leave more scars than a lighter handed person. I would still recommend going to an artist who was recommended to you by a good friend instead of going to a shop and getting tattooed by a stranger who probably does not care about you and your well being.

All activities in life carry some type of risk, but most disasters can be avoided by taking certain precautions, and tattooing is no different. Please read carefully as it may save your life.