Okay, it’s a Snow Day, so I have a bit of time. Saw this on CNN and had to chuckle. I had not realized that Ben had claimed that the tattoo was for a film and temporary.
I have no ink but enjoy well-done body art. John Mayer has a great sleeve, for instance. But this giant Phoenix? WTF?!
Maybe he’s a Dumbledore fan 
What do you think? If you know tattoos, how would you rate the work done?
I know tattoos (I have dozens of hours of work on myself and used to hang out in parlors in my free time).
If he’s happy with his back-piece, then I think it’s wonderful. To seriously evaluate work requires a close up viewing and hands-on evaluation.
The people mocking the guy really need to show their backs so we can compare.
The blank strips running through it is odd. Maybe it is temporary. “Don’t worry, it’ll wash off in about four years.”
I assumed it to be a work in progress. Most backpieces take several sittings to complete. What he has looks like 8 to 16 hours of work to outline, and another 10 to 20 hours for color/shading.
But his tattoo was first noted in 2016. And while I know they are usually done in multiple sittings, the blank strip are just weird. One is a break in the peacock feather and the others are quarter inch strips through the middle of things.
I wouldn’t get it and I’m generally on the “anti” side of tattoos (I don’t care if you get one, but I don’t like 'em) but this doesn’t seem significantly worse than a lot of other tattoos I’ve seen. It’s big, sure, but it looks better than say Bieber’s derp-tiger.
I don’t have any tattoos, but they don’t bother me in the slightest. If I saw Mr. Affleck on the beach, I doubt I’d give it a second look. What a strange “news” item.
It doesn’t appeal to me personally, and, as kayaker said, you really can’t tell without being able to see it up close and in person (and I will happily volunteer for that job, btw). That being said, I hardly think it’s worth mocking and certainly not news worthy.
He’s gonna cut back to 1 pack per day soon, and then in 3 or 4 paychecks he will have enough saved to finish the tattoo.
It’s not to my taste, but it’s not my back :). I think it comes across a bit worse because he has a reputation for being such a douche.
I’ve never paid for ink. My work is all by friends and I’ve traded my work for theirs. And yet I can never line up the time to get my next piece started. I usually sit for 4 hours, so there’s that. But I also want to have the three weeks after scheduled for after-care (no swimming, no sun, better-than-usual nutrition, ideally no clothing rubbing on the area).
So I can easily see a large back-piece done in stages. Plus, it’s not excruciating pain, but it does get aggravating. I’m a pussy when it comes to pain, so I feel that I need to psych myself up.
I guess I haven’t see very good pictures of it. I don’t understand why people spend their time making this a “big” story about the guy.
What I can see of it, I like. If it needs more work, then finish it up. If he lied about it, that’s weird.
Just own the thing Ben.
I don’t get why he would lie about it at all. He is sure to be shirtless in some future movie and he’s constantly followed by pazzarati.
I’m not a fan of tattoos at all - I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man or woman whose appearance was improved by having one - but it’s a free country, and if Affleck wants to have one (or lie about just how permanent it is or isn’t), that’s up to him.
Surely it’s more alarming that someone stole his butt.
A phoenix is a fairly common choice for people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, which he’s been pretty open about. Blank strips might symbolize relapses, or just be unfinished work.
I like the phoenix idea, but not this particular tattoo, just because it’s not my personal taste. I guess the red and black at the bottom is meant to be fire and ashes, but in these photos it looks like the phoenix is dragging a golf bag. Which would be completely surrealistically awesome, if it were true.
According to South Park, his butt is on his face.
Looks like something I would have thought was totally cool on a black light poster when I was 13.
Maybe if it was smaller it would be cool, but it’s just way too big.
I think he and Matt Damon should do another movie together where they have matching back tattoos, specifically this one: https://www.google.com/search?q=gay+mermaid+back+tattoo&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=jj_BY7HyygU1qM%253A%252CL_76EsSPewxrbM%252C_&usg=__VuEG_OYb6kCLYyaW1PU9TirPClE%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiSh6b42P7ZAhUJvFkKHfgpAfMQ9QEIKzAA#imgrc=bmCHuyYS8cE_CM:
WARNING: NSFW! NSFW!
