squiddish
this covers a tattoo i got while on spring break in college. i’ve spent many years wanting it covered up with something cool (i really like tattoos, and while many may disagree, i think the idea of having them on my body when i’m 80 is AWESOME and i will probably get more!), but always got snagged on what kind of design. recently i’ve been really inspired by baroque line art, such as this by SF artist Hannah Stouffer, and also sea creatures, such as this (thx deborah), and so i worked with an artist here in berkeley on the design and finally did it. i might have more fine lines/tendrils added to it at some point, but after 2+ hours under the needle on tuesday i was done for this round, especially since DURING the tattoo process the flu hit me and so in addition to clenching my fists in periodic episodes of pain, by the end i also had a 100+ degree fever and the chills. at first i thought i was having a reaction to the ink and/or physical stress of the pain, but it just so happened that the flu really hit me during the 3 hours i was at the tattoo parlor and i’ve been sick for the past 2 1/2 days. a bad confluence that was, but my fever finally broke last night (i swear i could feel my whole body relax the second it did) and i’m feeling better now, and the tattoo is healing quite nicely.
it’s been a long and interesting week.
Filed in art, autobiographical, photos | Tagged with tattoo | Comments (5)5 Responses to “squiddish”
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It’s really unusual and beautiful. I love how big it is. You should credit the tattoo artiest here.
usually, i give full props and links to artists that i work with. however, i generally don’t like to give bad reviews, especially for artists in my community, and so i purposely did not mention the tattoo artist. i felt like he didn’t really listen to me in our conversation about my design (even though i took more than a dozen examples of the kind of things i was inspired by) and that he was reluctant to do something a little out of his normal style. i had to take his design draft and photoshop it to make it something i liked, and then i felt it was a push to get him to do it. i actually don’t think he deserves a lot of credit in the design, and he is not someone i would recommend to anyone else who would want anything similar done.
that is really beautiful, i love it! though i can’t tell how large it is from the photo or get a sense of its context on your body. i know i’ve seen your old one but can’t remember its exact location.
i have the world’s best tattoo artist here in SC, i HIGHLY recommend him. he did my last 2 tatts. i was still living in oakland when i got the first one and it was totally worth the drive down here. he even has a website with his tattoo philosophy and i always get such a good feeling from him and he makes me feel so comfortable (well as much as possible while getting tortured
) also he was really willing to work the design to get it just the way i wanted it.
i think having the right person doing a tattoo is almost as important a part of the whole experience as the way it looks. it is one of the most intimate relationships you can have with another person– i really trip out on that actually– in a way, a piece of that person is actually part of you forever.
you can see the size and placement on my body here
and yeah, i wish i could have vibed more with the artist, but oh well.
I like how it came out and am all for recofiguring spring break spur of the moment tattoos into something more meaningful. Shame the artist didn’t want to play ball so much.