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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

Tattoos: art and design searching.

The Return Of Rothkoid

07:44 / 27.04.03

I've been considering getting a tattoo or two for a long time. And I'm currently sniffing about for designs. So I'm interested to know where people went for inspiration, or what particular schools of tattoo art they chose when they got theirs done. I'll post what I'm kinda looking for and hopefully people will be able to help out - but there's a wider goal here to discuss why people get tattooed, too - possibly with reference to cultural behaviours such as the Maori moku, or Yakuza tattooing.

Now, for me: this isn't something I'm doing lightly, really. I'm going to get one on each rotator cuff/upper arm, methinks, as I feel that I'd feel unbalanced if only one was done. For the left, I want something nautical - engraving-stylee Popeye anchor, fish, ocean, something - and for the right, I want something astronomical - moon or stars. Probably dark coloured - I'd prefer cross-hatched shading than varying colours, and am looking for something that's almost graphical in desig. Basic. Stark. Any clues? If anyone wants to help design, I'm amenable to that.

What're the resources? And what's tattooing mean, these days, anyway?

12:12 / 28.04.03

I dislike tattoo art, or rather I dislike it on people, the style is cool but the skull/snake/heart combo. just doesn't work for me.

I suggest thinking about what tattoo's you really like on other people then, rather than copying them, work out why you like them and find something for yourself based on that.

I liked Spider Jeruselem's tattoos (from the comic transmetropolitan) and worked out that it's the huge bold black designs that I like. Not celtic, not tribal, just big solid black. I wanted something similar but not a copy so I've now got a 2cm solid black band around my upper right arm. No decoration. No detail. I like it.

My provisional plan for my next one is this:

on my back. It's the visual representation of pythag. and the magic triangle. Edges are 3cm x 4cm x 5cm, the two smaller squares have the same area as the larger (9x16 = 25). It's a significator of intelligence without use of symbols. I believe it's part of the message SETI beam into space to pretend we're smart. Mmm geometry.

12:58 / 28.04.03

Kickin' it Fibonacci-style, boyee!

13:00 / 28.04.03

For myself, I have 5 tattoos, which have been done over a period of about 8 years (got my first one when I was 19 - had the last one done a couple of years ago). I take my tattooing seriously and spend a long time on each design - from inital thoughts to drawing it out.

The reasons behind each are different. The first one I had done was for no better reason that 'to have a tattoo' - and funnily enough it is the one I dislike the most. Since then I have only had tattooed things that 'represent' something to me, and I am much happier with all of the rest of them.

NB. a friend once told me he would never get anything that 'meant' anything tattooed, as he may change his mind about it at a later date. I now know that (for me at least) this doesn't work. I still hold the ideals/thoughts/feelings that led me to the design, and if I ever change my mind, then I will be a fundamentally different person...

I agree with elsewhere - find out what you like and what will work for you. Nothing (about tattoos) disappoints me more than a poorly thought out piece - pouncing black panther on the arm, dolphin on the hip etc. Kerrist, if you are going to suffer having the thing done, at least try to have thought about it first! But, if that's what they wanted...

I could go on for hours about this, but I won't as I have to get back to work. Just wanted to add finally that even my folks have been won round on the idea of tattoos as a result of the work I have had done, so its not all bad :-)

Oh, just thought of this - for God's sake find a bloody good tattooist in your area - personal recommendation is how I find tattooists in my area. If you are in the Midlands, I can certainly send you to a very good chap.

13:50 / 28.04.03

The best advice I can give is to get out there and visit as many tattoo studios as you can and look at their portfolios, and if possible talk to the individual artists as well. Most of them would have portfolios of standard stuff and portfolios of their favourite stuff and personal designs, so you can get a good idea of different styles, then you can narrow your search a bit.

Unless you're a visual person, and I'm definitely not, it can be nigh impossible to come up with a specific idea, beyond a vague aesthetic style and the size, and the part of the body where you want it. That's all I had in mind for my second one, and I went looking and as soon as I saw the portfolio of this guy (both drawings and photos of the finished products) I knew that was the style I wanted. And when I spoke to him we got on really well and he was happy to find someone on whom he could go to town with his favourite style, so he could get some good photos for his portfolio. It was a win-win situation. And now I can't imagine ever having had anything different, but if I hadn't seen his work then I may never have discovered this style.

And most importantly, he was happy to draw and re-draw whatever I wanted free of charge until I was happy with it, and he only charged for the actual tattooing time. So don't feel shy to turn up with a scrawled picture of what you want and ask them to re-draw it in their style. As long as they know you're serious, I'm sure most artists wouldn't mind getting involved like that. It's much more interesting for them than doing the usual stuff off the walls.

And my first one was done by Kiwi Kim at the Celtic Dragon on Enmore Road, not far from your house Rothkoid, so get on down there and have a chat. Although I took my design with me for that one, so I don't know what her own stuff is like, but at least you've seen the result so you know it came out properly ...

14:15 / 28.04.03

I thought I was going to wait until I killed my first man, sold my first novel or lost my virginity to get my first tattoo, but I rather like the idea of having the golden mean or the fibonacci spiral or some variation thereof on my body, permanently. I absolutely love your design, Elsewhere, and I bet I could cook up something niiice from that Fibonacci spiral, Mr. Fear.

15:07 / 28.04.03

While I'm getting to talk about me tattoo's (I love an excuse) my first one was based on a design I used on my website back in about '96. I wouldn't recommend this one to anyone else, but I've no regrets. ChaoSmiley. It's been tattoo'd over my heart for about 5 years. 5 very interesting years...

(apologies for the pretentious tone on the page, I was so very young...)

15:10 / 28.04.03

Sheesh, that explanation is a bit cheesy. These days I explain a chaosmiley as a reminder that "we live surrounded by chaos. All we control is our perception, so we might as well decide to be happy."

17:43 / 28.04.03

For the left, I want something nautical - engraving-stylee Popeye anchor, fish, ocean, something - and for the right, I want something astronomical - moon or stars. Probably dark coloured - I'd prefer cross-hatched shading than varying colours, and am looking for something that's almost graphical in desig. Basic. Stark. Any clues? If anyone wants to help design, I'm amenable to that.

Why those symbols?

Anyway, I've got a rune in a compass rose. The compass rose is a nice blend between astronomical and nautical themes. It looks vaguely solar, see.

Mine is (intentionally) simple and a little crude.

These might inspire some visual ideas, even if you want to use 'em as frames for both images to link them together.

Of course, the coolest thing would be to get images from old star maps and nautical maps... like a sea monster from the 1600s vs. one of these guys, or a sextant vs. an astrolabe.

Like

vs.

21:06 / 28.04.03

ooo spooky. When I got the band I mentioned a moment ago the tattooist explained to me about the compass symbol tattoo. Apparently it's a kinda luck thing for you to always find your way home again. Popular with sailors I guess. Or drunks.

22:33 / 28.04.03

My first tattoo was a necklace my parents gave me for my 16th birthday that said it symbolized Protection for Travellers. My girlfriend of the time bought me the tattoo for my 18th birthday. I got it tattooed because I knew I would lose the neclace one day, and I love travelling more than anything.

The tattoo is two circles (front and back of the necklace). One is a pentagram with those old symbols for the planets (greek?), and the other side is a Star of David with more signs.

Above was my next tattoo. I got it to symbolise all the Lot49/Illuminatus/Invisibles/Conspiracy types of thingies and thoughts that I was getting into at the time. Ashamedly, I might have ended up with an 'eye in the pyramid' design, but my older brother got that for his first one years earlier. I also got it because my mother got a second tattoo and I couldn't bear the fact that my mother had more tattoos than I did.

My rule is always to think about it for a year. If after that time I still want one, I'll get it, since if I liked it for a year, that's enough of a significant time span for me not to regret it. The time is ticking for number 3, I think. (blushing: If I still like it, I may get a Barbelith sphere on my other shoulder, opposite tattoo #1)

I've always gotten them from the same artist. He's done my whole family now, (me, 2 brothers, both parents) so we get a special rate. (No, we're no white trash! My father just decided when he was 45 that he wanted to cover his arms in stuff.)

I like that Chaosmiley!

The Return Of Rothkoid

15:20 / 29.04.03

Why those symbols?
I've always just felt drawn to them, I guess. The sea and the moon have always featured pretty prominently in my mind, and I feel drawn to them - mopey Piscean? - so that's why I'm doing what I'm doing, I guess. Felt sometime drawn to some Tarot iconography, but don't know if that would be wise.

The sea beastie thing is kinda cool. I'd vaguely considered a fish wrapping around my arm, but maybe one of those serpentine things would be better? Or a tentacle. Mmm, kraken. The design aesthetic on maps and manuscripts of that era are kinda what I'm shooting for, also...

18:47 / 29.04.03

What about the moon attracts you as a symbol?

Is it a feminine thing? An alien thing? A mood thing?

19:04 / 29.04.03

Oh, and here and here are collections of old lunar maps, dating back to Galileo's.

And (although the page design's not too clear), there's a wealth of images here, from Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr's Atlas Coelestis.

Here's one, shrunken down a little:

Here's another. The ring in the middle showing the moon's phases is especially interesting to me:

19:21 / 29.04.03

Thought you might like this, too. It's an image of Luna from above the stage at the Globe Theater, done after an engraving by Virgil Solis:

The same image shows up in the tarrochi deck, an ancestor of the modern Tarot:

19:25 / 29.04.03

On the other hand, if it's an alien thing you're going for, the moon detail from this, Duhrer's Apocalypse, might be up yer alley:

The Return Of Rothkoid

15:31 / 30.04.03

These are good ideas, grant - much appreciated. As far as why the moon? I don't know - it's just always seemed to draw me in. I like the curvy shape of it at times, and I think it could well be a feminine aspect that's intriguing me, also: those Luna graphics are very appealing.

I do dig on the clarity of Durer's work, too - that's a style I'd really like to get, depending on what I could find. Actually - I've got a copy of Roob's Alchemy And Mysticism which is out through Taschen (page here which I think I'll be plundering for ideas, too - but I wanted to know what people online think in terms of design and stuff. Hmm. The more I look, the more there is to ponder.