Multi.Colored—tattooed people, tattoo dreams

In my series of articles on getting your first tattoo (you can find the index to that series here) I talked about the issues involved in using Other People’s Art. (You can read that article here).

Besides the practical matter of getting permission to use artwork, there are other issues one should consider. Primary among them is whether the artwork you love will translate well into a tattoo. Many designs need to be simplified because the shadings and lines won’t work well on skin, and matching the colors exactly is not always possible (the combination of tattoo ink and your skin tone makes the match tricky). There are many artists who can do incredibly detailed fine line work, but the ink may spread out over time and the fine lines will merge together and blur the design.

Sometimes artwork in color translates better to skin in shades of grey, and this is often done when the tattoo is a portrait or reproduction of a photograph of a person. The artist can translate the photo freehand, or run it through photo editing software that will turn it into a “pencil sketch” to use as a basis for the tattoo.

And there’s also the issue of translating two-dimensional artwork into three-dimensional body art. What looks great on paper / canvas /etc might not do well when wrapped around your arm. Keeping the lines in the same relationship on a differently shaped surface is a challenge. And even the most precise reproduction of a two-dimensional artwork can alter over time as the body inevitably changes. (No, most tattoos don’t “sag” but skin loses its elasticity and changes color with time.)

My quest for real art

A few months ago we went to a gallery showing by our favorite local artist, Kythera of Anevern (you can see some of her work in her portfolio here). One small print called to me from clear across the room when I walked into the gallery and I bought it at the speed of light. In looking at it since I brought it home, I realize that in many ways it represents me and my mother, and it would make a great sleeve tattoo that could be coordinated with the “swoosh” of stars over my right collarbone. And of course I have the advantage of being able to commission the artist herself to adapt the work, so I know the changes would be with her approval.

If you select artwork by a living artist for your tattoo, asking the artist’s permission to reproduce the art should also include asking the artist’s permission for the tattoo artist to simplify the art if that is necessary. Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to commission the artist to do an adaptation, but the artist’s permission should always be sought. You wouldn’t want someone stealing something of yours and wearing it forever.

Do you have tattoo artwork that’s been adapted from another medium?

Submit this post to:

Hide Sites

I’m going to be traveling for a couple of days.

One of the things I really enjoy doing when I’m away from my familiar surroundings is to check out regional variations on popular tattoos.  It seems that just about every area has its own style, and the fun is in discovering what it is.

Here in the Los Angeles megalopolis, pretty much anything goes.  But in other areas you may see more military souvenirs,
or more flowers and hearts, or tribal arm bands…  or something else unique to the area (we are not talking about those in-your-face gang tattoos on people’s shaved heads, because you don’t really want to be caught checking those out).

Have you noticed a regional style, where you live?  I haven’t been back to many of the places I grew up in, but I sometimes get the giggles thinking about a standard tattoo for some of them.  Like LOUD MUFFLER FTW in Wichita, or HOLIER THAN Y’ALL in Lynchburg.

I hope you’ll leave a comment telling me what kind of tattoo would be most appropriate for the area you live–either a real observation, or a funny thought.

“The world is so full of a number of things, I think we should all be as happy as kings.”  Robert Louis Stevenson had it right!

photo credit: nariposa

Submit this post to:

Hide Sites

Besides being careful about not copying images that represent other people’s religious or spiritual beliefs, I think it’s important not to “pirate” other people’s artwork as well.

Sure, there is a lot of flash out there on the internet and a lot of artwork posted by incredibly talented people. A lot of it would be fabulous as tattoos. But to just blithely assume that because something is posted on the internet it’s free for the taking is, quite simply, dead wrong.

The first and most honest approach is to email or write the artist and ask for permission to reproduce his or her work as your tattoo. Yes, you may have to pay a royalty for that privilege, especially if the artist is trying to make a living from the sale of his or her work. You won’t know till you ask, and if the artist does request a payment, my own feeling is that you shouldn’t haggle too much. Artists put a lot of time, effort and talent into what they create, and to suggest a lower price might well be insulting.

A second approach is to use someone else’s work as an inspiration for your own design rather than trying to copy it directly. This is what I did when I designed the dragon on my back–I found someone else’s work that I liked, and then used that as a starting point for my own adaptation. My dragon looks only vaguely like the one that inspired it, but if I had not seen the other artist’s work I wouldn’t have gotten the inspiration I needed to do my own work.

A third approach, if you see someone’s work you like, is to offer to commission the artist to create something unique for you. The fee for this may be surprisingly reasonable and you’ll be assured of high quality artwork that’s customized for you.

Sure, it might be true that nobody would know that you’d copied someone else’s design without their knowledge or permission… but is that what an ethical person would do? As Jiminy Cricket would say, let your conscience be your guide.

Submit this post to:

Hide Sites