Hey guys, been looking into getting a tat on my right shoulder for almost 7 years now, wasn’t always sure, but in the past 2 years I’ve been more serious about it, drawing up designs etc. I can draw half-decent, so I always wanted a tattoo that was at least derivative of something i could draw (if not a direct trace) and I’ve come up with this. Granted its still just a bit more than a sketch at this point, but this is the basic image that I would like =) I’ve got about 3-4 months to rack my brain about it and perfect it as I’m planning on getting it early summer.
Thing is, I’m not a tattoo artist, so I have no idea how these details will blur over time, and whether the design will make the artist end up with carpal tunnel. I wanted to keep it simple black, with some pseudo-tribal embellishments.
Anyway, here it is
Thinking the dimensions would be roughly 5 in x 7in.
So I’d like to know, what do you guys think about this? Will it work aesthetically on my right deltoid? are some of the details too minute? will it pass for a decent tattoo? ^^
thanks in adv., looking forward to hanging out here very much =)
thanks for the honest input! again, I’m a total newb when it comes to tattoos, so I do appreciate. I’ll think about this more – tackle it from a different standpoint and and hopefully it’ll turn out better =)
as for the design itself, it’s an abstract of a dragon, a shield, and a skeletal arm, guess I need to put more thought into how i want to convey it
and I don’t belong to any tribe, not in this day and age, I just have a personal preference for the style conveyed by the tattoos, and think it’s the best aesthetic match for my skin tone and physical features
Part of the problem here is that you’re drawing it up yourself, and that is a problem, because that tribal dragon thing sucks my left nut, and let me tell you brother, the left one ain’t the good one.
The other part part of the problem is that not only is that design a god damn mess, in a few years it’ll turn into a giant ink blob.
What you need to do is find a reputable tattoo shop, go in without that shitty design and ask the artist to draw up the design for you from scratch. This design work is part of what you pay your artist for, it’s part of his job, so take advantage of it.
And on the subject of tribal as an art form, it gets a bad rap because it’s so often done poorly, both in design and application. It so often just looks stuck on and not designed to fit the area and follow the lines of the body. Go to any gym in America and you’ll find at least ten meat heads wandering around with a shitty tribal design that just doesn’t fit.
But when it’s done well….
Well, it still isn’t to my taste, but I’ve seen some seriously complex and valid pieces of art along the tribal lines.
For my two cents, tribal is like spinach. Delicious as a side dish, but if that’s all you got, it’s kinda bleh. Straight tribals come out as boring and out of place, and, if you ask me, their best served purpose is to emphasize another design. They can add movement and drama to a piece if used properly.
Anyway, go talk to a god damned tattoo artist.
Love. Peace. Metallica.
thanks for the input, I should probably explain myself though, the reason I’m looking into getting a tattoo at all is because i want to design it myself, no matter how long it takes to get it ‘right’. There’s no reason for me to get a tattoo if it comes from the creative mind of the tattoo artist alone. at the very least I’m looking for an artist who’d put their ‘take’ on a design that I create myself, so going to the tattoo artist without a sketch at least is a moot point for me. I don’t mean to underplay the craft and talent of tattoo artists at all, I’m just being selfish on what I want because I want my body to reflect something I created (that isn’t shitty, heh), which is where the meaning of the tattoo would be coming from.
from what you mentioned, though, it seems like I totally underestimated the value of the design highlighting physical structure, I’m definitely going to have to learn more about it and experiment with it. In that vein, I’m going to look into minimizing the use of ‘tribal’ style and giving the design some actual substance. I think I should also talk with a real tattoo artist like you said and get things figured out (but I’d want to do the design myself, still). =)
Hi
As been suggested I could tell it was a tribal dragon but I had to look twice. Which during my years of research and looking at thousands of tattoos is an indication it needs to go back to the drawing board. 😉
The sizing is fine as is the concept if you like tribal by itself as a stand alone piece.
Me and KH will will disagree to a degree over the issues here;
You can take that sketch to an artist and say you want something based on the shape but more professionally done and sized for a tattoo.
You can also continue to sketch your own but bear in mind that the reputable artist will know what will work best on your body in terms of ink to flesh rather than ink to paper. How something looks on the board often looks different to when on skin because of contours of body etc.
The whole stand alone thing is personal taste – personally it is not mine and I consider it to be boring in appearance when you could easily add so much more detail to it.
That said if you like it that way it your body but you want a professional drawing.
Having seen hundreds of tribal dragons you are not breaking new ground but can at least get a unique drawing styled to your tastes.
Take care
Mattthew
You must be logged in to create new topics.
