After creating this thread asking for help with my tattoo design, I realized we have no dedicated tattoo thread. Since this thread is already talking about tattoos, it's a perfect spot for a tattoo thread to share pictures, designs, questions, tips, stories, and ideas to do with tattoos. :)
Original OP: I'm getting tattooed tomorrow. Here are 2 variations of my design. One has a large curl and the other has a small curl. Being an atheist tattoo, I figured the best people to ask would be yall. I'm open to other suggestions for alterations.
Symbolism: It is a broken infinity symbolizing the beauty in a finite life with hidden lowercase g to take the power away from God and a swirl representing wind and symbolizing that even the invisible is not exempt from scientific proof.
*Scroll down to see a pic of my tattoo!
While I have no opinion for or against the symbolism, I like the "Large" one purely on aesthetic grounds, presumably because the vertical pieces are closer to the same size as the horizontal pieces giving a more symmetrical look. Of course, depending on the size and location on your body, this may be less of an issue (ie the horizontals may wrap around your arm distorting their apparent size)
^ this
Well i'm not gonna tell you which one to get, I'll just give my opinion on the one I like. Which is the large one, It basically looks more even then the small one.
Also agree with Poison. Has better symmetry.
Wow every one stole the words out of my mouth. I think the large one is better.
Tada! Check out my new ink yall!
Just think..someday you'll get old and have a big blue blob on your skin.. Betcha can't wait..
Quote from: AllPurposeAtheist on April 21, 2016, 02:10:06 AM
Just think..someday you'll get old and have a big blue blob on your skin.. Betcha can't wait..
The getting old part or the blue blob part? XD
Really, it can be kept beautiful with proper after care, an occasional touch up, and applying sunblock when it will be in the open. And even if it does turn into a blue blob, who cares? One, it's a symbol of finite life so for it to break down and fade would be full circle of its meaning, two it will mean I have lived to an old age, and three rather it's perfect or a blob it will always represent who I was at this moment in my life when I embraced being an atheist. I could never regret such a thing. :)
Quote from: AllPurposeAtheist on April 21, 2016, 02:10:06 AM
Just think..someday you'll get old and have a big blue blob on your skin.. Betcha can't wait..
This tat was done in 1970.
(http://i65.tinypic.com/htdyr4.jpg)
No particular symbolism. Just liked it. Hurt like a bitch around the hip bone.
Wow! Nice pieces guys! ^_^
Has anybody else used Tegaderm? It's a fairly new method of healing and I'm loving it! My artist put on some A +D, wiped off excess very thoroughly, did a tight sterile witch hazel wrap to suck out excess plasma, wiped off again, and then applied Tegaderm. It let's it breath because air can move, but liquids can't get in or out. It's clear, sterile, very flexible, feels like wearing nothing, has kept me from feeling sore post tattoo, and protects my ink from germs, dirt, and pain if it's bumped. I can wear whatever clothing I like without it bothering me, I just got out of a nice shower without any problems, and I didn't have to worry about staining my sheets!
My artist said to leave it on 5 days. If plasma builds up, you can either lift a corner, drain, and replace or you can remove it, sterilize and dry, and add a new sheet (they sell it at stores such as Walgreens in the first aid section in the US). All artists recommend using it at least 3 days to get over the worst part of it.
After 5 days, you take it off and the ink will be at the flaky stage. Then it's just a little lotion and gentle soap from there. No hassle and no infection risk like with dry healing. The only thing extra you could do during the healing process is use an ice pack as needed which is recommended even if you dry heal. It's good for after showers or other times when it has some heat in it.
I almost forgot to ask, @Gawdzilla Sama and @TomFoolery , how many hours did you have to sit for them? Did yall do it in one sitting or multiple? What aftercare method did yall use?
Mine was two sittings, about 3-4 hours each.
Quote from: TomFoolery on April 22, 2016, 03:56:28 PM
Mine was two sittings, about 3-4 hours each.
Ouch! No wonder the hip part hurt. How long ago did you get it? Where did you get the design from?
Quote from: Bluewind on April 22, 2016, 04:21:32 PM
Ouch! No wonder the hip part hurt. How long ago did you get it? Where did you get the design from?
I got it last June. I had a friend design it for me.
Quote from: TomFoolery on April 22, 2016, 05:14:49 PM
I got it last June. I had a friend design it for me.
Well your friend is very talented and so is your tattoo artist. The line work is divine and it looks like it healed beautifully. :)
Quote from: Bluewind on April 22, 2016, 03:32:58 PM
I almost forgot to ask, @Gawdzilla Sama and @TomFoolery , how many hours did you have to sit for them? Did yall do it in one sitting or multiple? What aftercare method did yall use?
It took five men four hours to do all twenty tats, one for each of us. One of the team drew that on the flight from Seattle to Hong Kong, and we got it done there while we had a sixteen hour layover. This one is the last one left. After care consisted of not getting it dirty.
Quote from: TomFoolery on April 21, 2016, 12:08:21 PM
(http://i65.tinypic.com/htdyr4.jpg)
No particular symbolism. Just liked it. Hurt like a bitch around the hip bone.
Nice detail work and there are no: skulls, skulls with daggers, H/D logos/jargon, flames, or exes names in it! Very nice!
Don't have any myself; thought about it many times over the years though. In the end.................it's a fairly permanent choice, and given my "somewhat" mecurial nature.............I could easily love it for
fill in the blank; wake up the next morning and detest the damn thing! I know I'm not manly enough to lean into the belt sander and 60 grit long enough to get rid of it! :)
@Gawdzilla Sama
I love your stories. So many are bittersweet, but still wonderful :)
@Flanker1Six You can always go for a henna tattoo. They last about 2 weeks and can be very beautiful. It's fine if you never go through with a permanent tattoo, but if you get the wild hair and get worried about changing your mind later, just do research and find something very meaningful to you and then wait one year. If you still love it and it still means something to you, odds are that it still will later. If you hate it, then you just saved yourself a headache ;)
Quote from: Flanker1Six on April 22, 2016, 06:23:10 PM
Don't have any myself; thought about it many times over the years though. In the end.................it's a fairly permanent choice, and given my "somewhat" mecurial nature.............I could easily love it for fill in the blank; wake up the next morning and detest the damn thing! I know I'm not manly enough to lean into the belt sander and 60 grit long enough to get rid of it! :)
Having a large piece that runs from one set of sexy bits to another isn't as weird as you'd think. Mine isn't in a place that's usually exposed, so often I forget I have it. Except when I'm fresh out of the shower, looking in the mirror and putting on deodorant, and then it looks like the fox is laughing at me as it moves with my skin. I laugh every time and then go about my day.
The most awesome tattoo I've seen was on a guy's back. Across his shoulders was an English landscape, woods and a manor house. Below that were several people on horseback. Lower still was a pack of hounds. And at the "bottom" you could see a fox's tail as it disappears into it's "den". He said it was a two year project.
@TomFoolery
Ha ha! I love it. That's the perfect way to enjoy a tattoo. Plus with it being covered, you don't have to worry as much about fading :)
@Gawdzilla Sama
Oh my god! That sounds insane! I bet it was a beautiful sight to see. I wonder if he ever expanded it into a full suit?
I'm getting a good laugh out of my tattoo today. The ink from the epidermis is being flushed out of my body by plasma, so I have a plasma buildup that's stained black underneath my Tegaderm. It's good for it because it keeps it moist, but it looks so weird! I took a pic of it and sent it to two friends. The uninked one automatically thought something horribly wrong had happened and my entire tattoo had blown out. The inked one who used the dry heal method thought it looked really freaky and thought something was wrong at first. Then she said it looked like I had the predator symbol on my leg. I laughed my ass off at them. XD
Quote from: Bluewind on April 23, 2016, 01:42:33 PM
@Gawdzilla Sama
Oh my god! That sounds insane! I bet it was a beautiful sight to see. I wonder if he ever expanded it into a full suit?
I saw rather more of it than I wanted to see. :huh:
Quote from: Bluewind on April 22, 2016, 06:33:47 PM
@Gawdzilla Sama
@Flanker1Six You can always go for a henna tattoo. They last about 2 weeks and can be very beautiful. It's fine if you never go through with a permanent tattoo, but if you get the wild hair and get worried about changing your mind later, just do research and find something very meaningful to you and then wait one year. If you still love it and it still means something to you, odds are that it still will later. If you hate it, then you just saved yourself a headache ;)
Those (henna tats) were fairly common in some circles in Israel, Jordan, and Iraq----I'd actually kinda forgot about them as I've been back in the US for about 4 years.
Yeah, henna tattoos aren't that common here, but they are done. The only place I've personally seen it done was for the Indian American community.
My Mamaw use to sing Red Red Robin by Doris Day (link (https://youtu.be/Tc95FaqWKJA) to me every morning when I was a kid to wake me up. I decided I want to get something to remind me of that song tattooed in the area behind my ear to remind me that she will always be a part of me (I have a bigger piece I'm saving for later). I know it will hurt like hell, but I like that spot for this.
I'm thinking a robin would be my best bet or a robin feather, but I'm not sure which one as neither are actually red. I suppose the American one would be best as I am in the US. I thought of replacing the orange with red, but I'm not sure if it will end up looking like a bird other than a robin.
I've yet to nail down a style. I know it can't be realism because the area is too small and almost the robins I've found are all in realism or actually sparrows. I've only crossed out a few others leaving tribal or black work with a flash of color (to help identify it as a robin), old school (the small birds I've found I've really dislike so far), neo traditional, new school, and cartoon off the top of my head.
Anyway, I would love some opinions on this. I would like to have a better idea of what I want so I won't waste too much of my artist' time.
PS: Before anyone asks, I'm not getting a fast food mascot or a comic book character instead :P
I had a new tattoo designed, but then my dad lost his dog. I used the money I saved up to adopt him a really sweet little guy. I can get a tattoo any day. :)
My ex has a tuttle tat:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyle_Tuttle
He arrived in San Fran as a navy recruit and the first day in town he got his tat. He had no idea this was "the man" until later. We would go into tat shops (mid 80s) and when he would say he had the tuttle tat, shop would stop and they would discuss the tattoo and how things had changed from the 'old days' to then.
Example: his tat has a flag and they would discuss how in the past, they filled in the stars and left the field light (opposite of a flag color) and that was because of the amount of ink and for blurring.
Maybe next time he stops by I will get a pic and quiz him a bit to refresh my memory.
Quote from: chill98 on January 19, 2017, 06:02:44 AM
My ex has a tuttle tat:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyle_Tuttle
He arrived in San Fran as a navy recruit and the first day in town he got his tat. He had no idea this was "the man" until later. We would go into tat shops (mid 80s) and when he would say he had the tuttle tat, shop would stop and they would discuss the tattoo and how things had changed from the 'old days' to then.
Example: his tat has a flag and they would discuss how in the past, they filled in the stars and left the field light (opposite of a flag color) and that was because of the amount of ink and for blurring.
Maybe next time he stops by I will get a pic and quiz him a bit to refresh my memory.
Wow! I got to say that's pretty amazing. How has it held up? Has he ever got a touch up on it?