All tattooist sky dive honest, well they do in miami (Miami Ink)

Member Name: underdog_78

Product:	Miami Ink
Date:	16/07/09 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gives a little insight into tattoo designs and its good entertainment

Disadvantages: Avoids showing other aspects of tattooing like steralisation etc

Here it is, the reason people come into the studio and ask for 15 different designs all culminated in one single tattoo no bigger than a 10 pence piece, it's Miami Ink.

Now in the "industry" this show is often put down and laughed at, and while it's "hollywood" view of tattooing is pittyful and nowhere near how it is, you can't argue with the sentiment and skill in some of the designs.

Basically each hour long show will have 4 or 5 main tattoos in it, showing you the story behind why the person is getting the tattoo, a brief design of it and then a little of it being done. the bits in between are filled with the everyday things the tattooist do like skydiving, mingling with superstars and going to baseball games (what, I am sure that's how their life is honest).

For what it is, and that is entertainment, the show is pretty decent. It's a little heavy on the sentiments a lot of the time but hay it's American what do you expect. For once I would like to see someone come in and say I want this koi fish tattoo for no other reason than I want it, it doesn't remind me of my battle against an illness, or of a dead friend or of some good time, but that wouldn't make good TV would it.

The shop has some excellent artists, Garver and Brass are really quite spectacular, Garver for the amount of things he can do well and Brass seems to add his own style to everything and that really sets it apart.

Tim Hendrix is a legend and his black and gray work is out of this world, couple that with the fact he makes a great drinking buddy for Nunez and it makes for some good fun.

The show really stumbled when it included Kat in the show (though now she has gone) she is a terrible advert for tattooing, often tattooing hung over and it quite happy to tattoo in unsterile rooms like "tattoo parties".

Some times the show offers a nice insight into what a particular design means, this is often offered by Ami or Garver and at least shows they paid their dues when they were learning the trade.

I do wish they should would show a little more reality and a little less show in this, show more of the design process, more of the real customers being difficult. also they should show how much effort goes into keeping a shop clean and running, maybe cover some of the health concerns etc but then I suppose that is of more interest to someone who works in the industry rather than someone who just wants to watch TV.

For what this show is, it's good and some of the work is of a very high standard.

Summary: A pretty good show that is to thank (or blame) for tattooing being so popular