At the tattoo parlor...

My "errand" today was to go to the most well-known tattoo parlor around here and see if they couldn't sketch me up something to forever-paint on me. They couldn't. (Not only that, but the lot of them were smoking IN the parlor, which made my contact lenses want to leap out, made my lungs dry up and hack, and made me feel like the place was dirty. Also, it's illegal.) The guy I talked to was honest, though: he said the designs I wanted would only blot and smudge within a few years because of where I wanted them. A different artist showed me the tattoos on his wrist and how they had all smudged over the years. It definitely looked ugly. (But maybe that's 'cause they were green skulls.)

I want a circle of four animals around my wrist in simple, black line-art: an iguana, a dog, a flying bird and a dolphin. But because my wrist is so small, the tattoos would necessarily be incredibly small and the ink would just all bleed together. I have to think of something else. He sketched out the general minimum size and shape of what would work ("I don't know how to draw dogs," he said as he did a stick figure dog. "Good to know," I told him, already deciding to have someone else do it.) I think he might have done it crappy on purpose, so I wouldn't take it somewhere else and get it done. I get that.

A few years ago I solicited the help of any online artist friends to think of a design. I got one sketch from one, and half a sketch from another. I don't blame folks for being wary of sketching what might someday turn into a tattoo. (I asked the tattoo guy today if I could take a sketch home and stare at it for a week to see if I found anything I hated, and he shot it right down. Art never leaves the tattoo parlor unless it's permanently on you, period.) I know artists are weird about their work; god knows I am, too. But I really can't draw to save my life, and none of the tattoo artists are willing to help me out, either. I just don't know what to do.

I guess what it's going to have to be is two animals on one side, two on the other. But I want them linked in some way, a definite bracelet pattern, and that won't work if I have to stack them. I'm really disappointed, you know me. I want what I want when I want it. Once I get something in my mind I can't get it out until it's done.

On the other wrist I want a maile fern with 'ohialehua flowers in it. And while he said he could probably do the fern (though he'd have to make that bigger, too,) the flowers would be too small to do details and would look like red dots. I know he's right on that count, too. Now I have to think of something else.

I really want them to be on my wrists because, what's the point of having tattoos that most people are never going to see?

And let me add that, while I like lower back tattoos, I'm so sick of the pointless, meaningless "tribal" ones that people get. It's such a fad and it signifies absolutely nothing apart from, "Next, look at my thong!" There's nothing tribal about it.

I dunno. I guess I'll have to just try to design it myself and then have the artist who's going to do it fix my mistakes. It's just a shame I won't be able to look at it long enough to decide if I hate it or not. :/ Blech! Disappointing.

At the tattoo parlor...

My "errand" today was to go to the most well-known tattoo parlor around here and see if they couldn't sketch me up something to forever-paint on me. They couldn't. (Not only that, but the lot of them were smoking IN the parlor, which made my contact lenses want to leap out, made my lungs dry up and hack, and made me feel like the place was dirty. Also, it's illegal.) The guy I talked to was honest, though: he said the designs I wanted would only blot and smudge within a few years because of where I wanted them. A different artist showed me the tattoos on his wrist and how they had all smudged over the years. It definitely looked ugly. (But maybe that's 'cause they were green skulls.)

I want a circle of four animals around my wrist in simple, black line-art: an iguana, a dog, a flying bird and a dolphin. But because my wrist is so small, the tattoos would necessarily be incredibly small and the ink would just all bleed together. I have to think of something else. He sketched out the general minimum size and shape of what would work ("I don't know how to draw dogs," he said as he did a stick figure dog. "Good to know," I told him, already deciding to have someone else do it.) I think he might have done it crappy on purpose, so I wouldn't take it somewhere else and get it done. I get that.

A few years ago I solicited the help of any online artist friends to think of a design. I got one sketch from one, and half a sketch from another. I don't blame folks for being wary of sketching what might someday turn into a tattoo. (I asked the tattoo guy today if I could take a sketch home and stare at it for a week to see if I found anything I hated, and he shot it right down. Art never leaves the tattoo parlor unless it's permanently on you, period.) I know artists are weird about their work; god knows I am, too. But I really can't draw to save my life, and none of the tattoo artists are willing to help me out, either. I just don't know what to do.

I guess what it's going to have to be is two animals on one side, two on the other. But I want them linked in some way, a definite bracelet pattern, and that won't work if I have to stack them. I'm really disappointed, you know me. I want what I want when I want it. Once I get something in my mind I can't get it out until it's done.

On the other wrist I want a maile fern with 'ohialehua flowers in it. And while he said he could probably do the fern (though he'd have to make that bigger, too,) the flowers would be too small to do details and would look like red dots. I know he's right on that count, too. Now I have to think of something else.

I really want them to be on my wrists because, what's the point of having tattoos that most people are never going to see?

And let me add that, while I like lower back tattoos, I'm so sick of the pointless, meaningless "tribal" ones that people get. It's such a fad and it signifies absolutely nothing apart from, "Next, look at my thong!" There's nothing tribal about it.

I dunno. I guess I'll have to just try to design it myself and then have the artist who's going to do it fix my mistakes. It's just a shame I won't be able to look at it long enough to decide if I hate it or not. :/ Blech! Disappointing.