Sunday, April 01, 2007

Ink

As some of you know, I've been considering a tattoo for quite some time. A number of factors have deterred me from ever actually following through with these thoughts. One was the simple fact that tattoos are a fad right now and I don't like doing anything that smacks blatantly of mainstream. The other is that I've never had enough faith in the fortitude of my own personal taste to want to permanently affix an image to my body.

But lately I've been going through a few changes in my life. With these changes comes a certain need to have faith in myself. I realized that I can express myself via a fad by interpreting it my own way, and also that I have loved art and making art for so long it seems only logical to extend this love to the very vessel of my being - my body.

Other inspiring factors - the tattoos my new friend Judith is having done on her back (and her useful knowledge of all things tatoo). Also, Brian confessed he's always had a secret tattoo fetish.

Anyway, with this new spring season, I decided to do it. I took quite a while designing and talking to people about who the best artist would be for me. And then I did it. It hurt and took a long time and all that, but I am pleased to say it looks mostly like I envisioned, and I've started to love it.

Here's a photo. I might extend the linework and add colors later, but I'm staying pretty basic for now.

Feel free to tell me what you think.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is absolutely freaking gorgeous. I've always thought arm tattoos are pretty awesome, but I've confined mine to my back for many reasons, lately mainly Steven, who decidedly does NOT have a tattoo fetish. :) But yeah - I can't wait to see your tattoo in person; very beautiful!

Judith

Anonymous said...

gorgeous. a great combination of the simple and the chaotic, the elegant and the abstract.

may i ask, which artist did you work with? i've been planning a new piece for a while, but am still pretty new to the area.

-jessica
(the english student who has the same birthday as brian)