Kat Von D Puts Critics of Her Blacked Out Arm in Their Place

One of the unfortunate inevitabilities of getting a ton of tattoos is that you’re going to end up with some crappy pieces. Some will heal poorly, others won’t age gracefully and some just won’t appeal to you in the same way they did when you got them. 

Kat Von D clearly felt this way about the black and grey sleeve on her left arm. Over the years she had covered up parts of it with some geometric pieces, but recently she decided to get rid of all that old art permanently. Instead of going the time-consuming and painful route of laser treatments, Von D had fellow tattooer Hoode black out most of her arm. 

We love the way her arm looks (so clean!), but apparently the haters showed up en masse to criticize Von D. Unsurprisingly, she’s firing back at them with both barrels on social media. And, quite frankly, it rules. The audacity people have these days to comment on somebody else’s personal decisions is out of control, it’s about time they’re put on blast. 

“Having been in the tattoo industry for the greater part of my life, I’ve seen countless tattoos of all types of styles—but NEVER have I felt inspired to tell anyone ‘that’s ugly’ or ‘you’re stupid,'” Von D says. “Tattoos are funny in the sense that ultimately it is one of the most intimately personal things we can do for ourselves. But even though tattoos are an outward expression, they really aren’t for anyone else other than the person wearing it.”

If that’s all she said it would be enough. But no, Von D went on and addressed specific comments. No, she doesn’t care what you think about how her arm looks. No, she’s not going to get sick from all the ink, learn the science, that doesn’t happen. No, this isn’t a lazy way to get a cover up. 

That last point is probably the most important one. Hoode, the artist who did the tattoo, specializes in blackout tattoos. There is a lot of skill and talent involved in doing a successful blackout tattoo, as one needs to make sure the color saturates evenly throughout the piece. It isn’t as simple as just coloring everything in and making sure you don’t miss a spot. It takes a true artist to be able to create the piece that Hoode did, even if it might not be immediately apparent.

Think of it as looking at a painting by Jackson Pollock or Mark Rothko. There’s always going to be some asshole who says, “My toddler could do that.” Well, they can’t. Firstly, your kid sucks at art. Secondly, it actually takes a ton of skill. Don’t criticize what you don’t understand. 

Von D puts it perfectly at the end of her post. “Before you label something ‘ugly’ or ‘horrible’ try to remember that beauty is subjective. Your idea of a dream tattoo might be someone else’s idea of a nightmare.”