A Call for Entries: Got Ink?
I’m coming to you all, the Fabulous FatGrrl.com Community, with some news and a request. First, the news:
The Cute Canadian Geek will be relocating to Minneapolis in 2008. Yay! There is still some arm wrestling and hoop jumping to be done with US Immigration, but he is a very likable Canadian. I don’t think there will be any problems. =^_^= Now, for the request:
CCG will be completing his apprenticeship in tattooing here in Minneapolis, and one of the first steps towards that goal will be putting together a killer portfolio. An important part of the tattooing trade is consulting with clients and creating artwork that they want to permanently decorate their body. So we thought it would be a great idea to gather some “commissioned” pieces from people to include in that portfolio. Here’s where all you wonderful people come in.
What is your dream tattoo? Forgetting about expense and any fear of needles (!!!), if you walked in to a tattoo studio for a consultation, what would you ask for? Include any details you can: size, location on body, color schemes, any links to reference art jpegs, and a little bit about why the tattoo is important to you or what you want the tattoo to say about you. The tattoo can be anything and any size. Anything is welcome, because a tattoo artist can be called on to do anything. I’ll go first to get the ball rolling.
What: Japanese koi fish
Where: Left lower arm
Details: I would like the koi fish to look like it’s swimming through waves down the inside of my left lower arm, with the tail near my elbow and the head near my wrist. I’m not looking to get a sleeve, so when my arm hangs at my side, I’d like the tattoo to be mostly hidden, and not appear on the outside of my arm. I’d like the koi itself to be done in black and grays, and the ocean waves to be done in rich blue-greens. I really love Japanese culture, and I like that the koi fish is a bringer of good fortune.
Thanks in advance, friends, for helping CCG out with this project. I’ll post any completed artwork related to your Fantasy Tattoo here.
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Wow! Congrats on the forthcoming move, and the apprenticeship action. As for dream tattoo art…le sigh. I have a whole list of stuff I want inked, but I keep chickening out. Here’s my bit for your project, though:
What: Scissors open in the shape of an X, with a small flame between the open blades.
Where: inside of left wrist
Details: I’d like it to be fairly smallish (no bigger than 3″ x 3″), for covering-up-at-the-office purposes. All black ink. The scissors would open towards the hand, and could be ornate or simple (no preference); they just need to make a proportionate X. The symbolism of this one comes from my spiritual tradition: scissors for the Norns, the X shape for the Gebo rune, and the element of fire.
Thanks, Tari! This sounds like a great piece!
Here’s something to drive CCG a bit crazy, but something he will likely encounter quite a bit in his career….
I’m not sure *exactly* what I want, but I’m set on some definite concepts. I want a design to symbolize/signify myself and where I am in life.
- Something to signify Mother, but no obvious baby booties/rattles/etc, and not my child’s name/sign, as the ink is about *me* not *him*.
- Something to signify my faith/path. I’m Pagan, but not out to my family, so it would need to be at least a little bit subtle or attributable to something else. Perhaps a subtle pentacle worked into the art somehow? Moon symbol? Something else more fabulous that I can’t come up with?
- Some sort of fire/flames. (I’m a fire sign.)
- Multiples of three (eg., if there are flames that are individually identifiable, they should be in multiples of three).
Color is preferred. Location will likely be in the middle of my back or on my lower back. Size is negotiable, but I don’t want a full back piece, and I don’t want anything to wrap around to front or creep over the top of a shirt collar. (If it’s designed for mid-back, the Pagan element(s) will need to remain subtle; if it’s designed for lower back, there’s more leeway for the obvious.)
Have at it! :)
You know exactly how to get me to delurk, let me talk about my ink!
What: An indian elephant with a mehndi style band around it.
Where: Left leg above the ankle bone. Probably should just say on my calf to accomodate the size of the design I want.
Details: I want this fairly big because I want a lot of detail in the elephant. Something like this. I want spicy colors (reds, oranges and yellows) to decorate the elephant.
I haven’t been lurking long but I like what I’m reading. I’m currently looking at a move to Vancouver for my own Cute Canadian boy, and wish you two all the luck in the world.
OK I’m going back to lurking in your archives now.
Megan - I like it! Definitely sounds like something designed to be uniquely yours. I really enjoy the physicality of tattoos and the way they seem to be an extension of the body, and separate at the same time. Too bad I’m such a baby about needles! I’d have more of them on me. =^_^=
Welcome, Berta! That elephant is beautiful….I think it would make a killer tattoo. Happy lurking!
I’ve got mine narrowed down to two:
What: two stylized ravens head to tail in a yin-yang design with a sun between them at the center.
Where: between the shoulder blades on my back, although if I was brave enough I might put it on the back of my neck.
Details: The two ravens are Huggin and Munnin, the ravens from Norse legend that represent Thought and Memory. The sun represents Odin, or wisdom. The outline formed by the ravens’ bodies would be a circle, maybe with some knot-work around them. Probably in black with the raven bodies having labyrinth or celtic knot-work line detail instead of solid black bodies.
and the other:
What: a raven in the style of the Northwest tribal art:
Where: between the shoulderblades or at the small of the back.
Details: The raven would have details like this: http://lockeddoor.stanford.edu/1/admin/image.html?imageid=76930 but there would be a gold and red ball in its mouth. The top/front half of the raven would be black with white and red design, the back/bottom would be white with black and red design. It represents the legend of the raven stealing the sun. He was a white bird before he stole the sun to bring to earth, but carrying the light scorched his feathers and turned him black.
Ooh…I like Norse mythology.
oooOOooo…ok, i want a koi, with red, orange, and maybe some gold, about 6 inches long, swimming up on my left side, on the ribs or a little below. Maybe some water along the side of the koi, and either cherry blossoms or lotus around it.
I want to get this when i’m done with my grad program, or maybe when i start a PhD or PsyD program, because the koi has a different meaning depending which way its facing. A up swimming koi means that you are currently facing a challenge and trying to overcome it, a downward swimming koi represents you having already overcome something difficult http://www.irezumi.us/eg/koi.html.
Chinese cherry blossom represents female sexuality, power, and beauty. The Japanese see the cherry blossom more of a symbol of life transitions and death.
Lotus’s represent rebirth, goodness, peace and enlightenment. Since the flowers grow from mud and swampy conditions.
Phew…i could go on forever…
Learn somethin’ new everyday. Now I definitely want my koi swimming downwards. Take that, eating disorder, and fuck off!
I have lots of dream tattoos. The one that has been on my mind lately is this:
Celtic tree of life: http://www.kelticdesigns.com/Media/WebLogos/TreeofLifeByJenDelythN.gif
Where: Back of my neck.
Details: Probably about 2.5 inches in diameter, or so (it’s kind of tough to measure the back of my neck with a ruler). My last few tattoos have been just black ink and I think I’d like to stick with that. Unless, of course, there’s a way to incorporate some color that isn’t really striking me. The image in the link has Celtic knotwork around the tree. I could take that or leave it, depending on how it looked. I’ve got a couple of other tattoos featuring Celtic knotwork (Irish heritage and all that) and I love it, but the tree stands well enough on it’s own.
Ive got some shit going on right now but once its cleared up a bit I’m going to get to work on these
Sweeeeeet. =^_^=