Hello fellow members of TTF!
I just registered awhile ago and I’ve been skimming through a couple of threads. I’ve been thinking of getting inked for a while now actually but I do not want to put something on me that will last forever unless I’m completely positive that I will not regret it.
I wanna begin with telling a bit about myself so that you know what the tattoo is about. I grew up in Sweden and I was a pretty descent kid, but I never did anything about my life. I barely went to school, partied a lot and never actually thought about the future. I (barely) graduated high school and started to work here and there for a while but it was all leading to a dead end. That’s when I decided I wanted to do something with my life. Even though everyone I knew back then told me I shouldn’t I still did what I believed in, so when I turned 19 I moved to Santa Barbara, CA to enroll in College. And now, after 2 years of hard work I finally got admitted to California Polytechincal University of Pomona as Mechanical Engineering major.
Now to the tattoo. I’ve been wanting to put a textual tattoo on my body with the date that I moved to the states. So far I’ve been leaning towards “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step – 21 December 2009”. That’s the date of the day I moved to California and began my new life. Now for the quote. Quite a few have told me that the quote would suit me but some have said that it’s pretty vague or general.
I was hoping I could get some ideas on this one or something else that could fit into my story.
Sorry writing such a long post, but to get great tattoo ideas one must know what ideas to give, right?
Thank you in advance!
Welcome to the forum! Congrats on your successes!
Text is always such a crap shoot, and can be very difficult, especially if there is a lot of it. Have you thought about a picture to represent your “Coming to America”? What about a plane, maybe with a Swedish flag on the side of it, landing in sunny So Cal, over a blue ocean with a palm tree on the side, a big orange sunset in the background? You could have the date you moved there on the plane somewhere? Pictures always do so much better than text only, and make so much more interesting pieces.
By the way, you put down that you moved to California 3 months in the future… 😉
Hahahaha… it’s supposed to be 2009 not 2011, my bad haha..
Yes, I get what you say, but after all, this is my first tattoo and I do not want to start on something magnificent like that, so I was looking more into a small textual tattoo of some kind. Also, I do have a pretty good body with an 8 pack and I’ve heard a rib tattoo would fit me really well. Al though, at the same time people have warned me and told me that it really hurts. But, I think I can sustain the pain though.
I do appreciate your opinion though. Thank you and please, don’t hesitate with any further ideas!
Thank you
I figured that’s what you meant on the date, couldn’t pass up the chance to razz ya though. 😉
It doesn’t have to be something huge, you’d be surprised what a good artist can do with a limited amount of space. 5 or 6 inches across could be more than plenty, and you don’t have to do something like a rib tattoo. Back of your shoulder, arm, even your calf… lot’s a good real estate for something meaningful.
It honestly doesn’t have to be a giant “magnificent” piece. My best advice would be to go with a picture if its at all possible, though. I think you’ll be happier years down the road.
Text is always such a crap shoot, and can be very difficult, especially if there is a lot of it. Have you thought about a picture to represent your “Coming to America”? What about a plane, maybe with a Swedish flag on the side of it, landing in sunny So Cal, over a blue ocean with a palm tree on the side, a big orange sunset in the background? You could have the date you moved there on the plane somewhere? Pictures always do so much better than text only, and make so much more interesting pieces.
By the way, you put down that you moved to California 3 months in the future… 😉
Agreed. And with that many words you can’t go too small anyway or it will turn into a blob over time. Screw the long message and date and get an image.
I know that text tattoos are the current cool thing. try to buck the trend and get an image that represents your story. trendy tattoos are almost always regretful just ask the 40 year old guys with the barbed wire tattoos or the guys from a couple years ago walking around with their nautical stars.
How about this.
sorry I couldn’t help it.
hahah that eddie murphy thing made me laugh.
Well, it seems like everybody is against text tattoos. Well, I wanna start off by saying I am not that fond into color tattoos, even though I’ve seen some magnificent pieces here and there. Now, I really want the date to be included because that is the day I began with my new life. Also, places I could think of having the tattoo is on on chest, ribs or on triceps depending on what it is. It’s just so difficult on coming up with an idea that I wil be satisfied for the rest of my life. I’ve really looked into things that represents California, America, new life, college, opportunity but I really haven’t found a drawing of some kind that I’d like to have on me for the rest of my life.
Also, I must state this. I am really picky when it comes to things like this. I’m not an average teen that could ink anything on their bodies just because they want a tattoo. I really want to have something that represents me, unlike 90% of the tattoos out there.
Thank you guys.
I understand what you’re saying about the date and it’s significance, but don’t you think there will be other significant dates in your life, also? You’re not going to get them, too, are you? How about a black and grey tall ship tattoo, even with a banner and date if you insist? That could represent travel and America I suppose.
That’s the beauty of a tattoo! It’s the only medium where you can combine things that would normally never be accepted together in one form and its okay.
Start thinking of concepts an ideas that represent what you are feeling. A new life: flowers, spring, sunrise? America: flag, eagle? California: beaches, palm trees, avacados? See what I mean? You can combine concepts in one image and it can be awesome because it means something special to you!
Give it some time. It will come to you.
You must be logged in to create new topics.
