Okay, so this week I’ve decided I’ll go ahead and and get the dragon done, and probably make it into a (half) sleeve. There are some questions I have on the issue, however, and I hope you guys (Matthew?) can shed at least some light on.

So, before I get to the questions, this is the general concept of the tattoo:

It is a near-photo-realistic tattoo of a western dragon. Western dragons are pretty mean and frightening in general, so I would like the face to convey strength and meanness.
I don’t think I’d necessarily want it blowing flame, but I think some teeth need showing.
The dragon would be somehow standing behind a Beveled Edge Shield, on which there would be ‘engraved’ the Icelandic flag.
The shield would look like it’s curved, and that the flag’s lines are beveled or somehow three-dimensional on it, not just painted on.
I see it maybe like the dragon is resting one or both front claws on the top of the shield, or maybe it even carries the shield AS a shield.. but then I guess the dragon would be more personified which is unnecessary.. and let’s face it, why would a dragon ever need a puny shield for defense 🙂
The legs/back claws would be showing below/to the back of the shield, or if the shield were proportionately smaller it would be maybe knee-high off the ground. I’d want the shield to be one of the important elements of the piece (the dragon of course being the main one) so it should not get lost in the dragon. Both should be able to complement each other.
The wings would of course be in the background, and if the tattoo should flow onto my torso/shoulder/back then that would be fine by me.
I prefer black and gray, but the Icelandic flag DOES need some colors to work. So maybe I would choose to have the entire tattoo lightly colored, if that would work better. (I gather that people generally don’t like ‘color thrown into’ black and gray tattoos). Maybe some brown and green colors would be good for the dragon, or even make it somewhat blue’ish since dark blue is my favorite color.
For a background I figure a dark night would be good. Some clouds and a moon, and some weird ambient lighting perhaps. Maybe the dragon would be standing on the top of a mountain, so all the background is a slightly cloudy night.

The main thing is that I don’t want it ‘cartoony’. Ideally, it should look like it’s just a photograph taken of the actual beast, but I DO realize this is not a very easy request and I may need to relax the standard a bit to get the tattoo I want. This dragon by Boris Vallejo for instance looks pretty good, despite being obviously animated. If I could get Vallejo’s grade of animation done on me, I’d be very happy.

Now the questions:

1.) I’m thinking of putting it on my upper arm. Since my arms aren’t very large and pretty soft and flappy, (don’t worry, that ‘tattoo’ is a spray-on) I have to wonder if they can really carry the design. Maybe I wouldn’t close the sleeve all the way to the back, but if I have an entire dragon with wings on it’s back, even if they aren’t spread very far, will the tattoo end up being smaller and thus not able to carry details well?

2.) If I get it on the arm, it basically bottoms out with the shield and the dragon’s claws… which are actually quite sharp and clear as ‘ends’ go. Not really much room for fading out. Should I choose to continue it later, how would you suggest I end it to make continuing easier? The Icelandic Coat of Arms has the shield standing on bedrock, so maybe that could be another way to end the tattoo.. having the dragon standing on a rock ledge or large boulder, which could then be faded into something else?

3.) In your opinion, would the concept require a back to do it justice? Or would the thigh work, since it is quite a lot more canvas? (A plus to being heavy is that the legs need to carry more, so they aren’t as weak as the rest of me :)) The ribcage is a large open space, but it’s pretty decently bolstered and the tattoo would never last in the same shape because I’m trying to get the bolstering to go away 🙂

4.) I know it’s a silly question, but is a thigh even a place you’d put such a tattoo. I don’t know what I mean myself really.. I just guess I’m hanging onto some notion that certain tattoos ‘should’ be on certain places on the body. Perhaps you more heavily tattooed and worldly people can help me with this conundrum? Do tattoo’s have ‘places’?

5.) I can’t seem to find ANY good sources for well done western dragons, neither as tattoos or just general artwork. Seems the east really rules the tattoo industry. The two obvious places (deviantart and google) have turned my eyes to mush without a shred of help, so I was wondering if some of you had any good pics of western dragons that fit my genre and requirements stashed in your portfolios somewhere? The lone light in the dark seems to be Boris Vallejo’s artwork, which I really admire but he spends more details on the human body than I like.

6.) What do you think of the concept as it is? Is it even tattoo material? Would you tattoo such a piece if you were asked to and possibly like it enough to put it in your portfolio? Are there things that you would have differently from my thoughts?

7th and final question) I know most of you guys are busy with your own work, but would any of you have the ability and will to draw up the entire tattoo (for a price, of course) which I would then take to a tattoo artist locally since I am very far away from all of you 🙂 And please don’t just go “take it to your local artist” because I think many of them could probably DO the tattoo, but I’m not sure any but one of them could actually DESIGN it.