Currently I have one tattoo on my arm. a Cross that I had done for myself that represents the kind of cars that I like(the ‘M’ in the middle is for Mopar..), and has Hemi pistons.. Since this tattoo, my little brother died in a car accident. We were less than a year apart.. I want to get a least one, maybe a couple tattoos in his memory on the same arm as my cross.. I have a few general ideas, but would like some more input to develop my ideas further..
Ideas of what I want to include:
1.the words “Psalsms 23:4”. the KJV of the actual verse is “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.”
As a possible alternative to getting ‘psalsms 23:4’ I might get a mural of some sort of walking through a dark valley.. This quote is significant to me, as to me it essentially means “though I walk through this world, which can be a dark place with alot of bad, I dont fear anything, because I know I have God(and my brother in heaven) watching over me at all times.. I’m not super religious or anything either..
2. at least one sort of disguised pot leaf(I dont really smoke, but this is the main thing that I will remember my brother for..huge pothead.)
3. More automotive related tattoos, like maybe a spark plug or something..also, the years of all of the old cars that I have owned.. like “’67, ’73, ’74” somewhow addded in.
4. possibly a portrait of my little brother
5. maybe included in this tattoo, or maybe a separate one later on I want a SF 49er’s tattoo.. Probably something saying “Faithful, since 1991” in the same font that the official Faithful logo is in..
6. possibly this quote, “gone but never forgotten”
7. Maybe include my brothers birth/death dates
8. something sort of small that represents my 2 grandparents who have also passed away in the past year. (maybe like a little heart with both of my grandparents initials in it?) something small but meaningful like that..
I think I included everything..I’ve been planning this tattoo since almost a year ago when he died..Its time to get it. And my sister is visiting from out of state in 3 weeks, so were going to go get our memorial tattoos together. I want to turn the current cross that I have in this picture into a half sleeve all the way down to my elbow, and I dont care how high onto my shoulder(and maybe chest), that it goes.. also some suggestions on fillers..
Thanks in advance for the help! and sorry for the LONG post..
I reallly want to sort of develop the whole idea of a mural signifying the psalms 23:4…
Like a dark valley landscape, with a grim reaper on top of a hill…but somehow signify fearlessness within the scene as well..I’m not sure..
I am sort of thinking I wont be able to fit it all onto my arm that already has a cross..so i might make my other arm the half sleeve..and do this whole mural idea on that arm..
That’s a lot of ideas. I have a lot of ideas in my head also. But most of them will just remain ideas. You need to stop trying to figure out what you want, instead focus on what you want right now. If its a memorial piece for your brother then it can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. I would advise against drug related tattoos especially if you don’t do them. If your neighbor sees a joint or a pot leaf on you then automatically your a drug user.
Ask yourself this “do I need other people to understand my memorial tattoo or do I just want something to remind me of my brother?”
If you’re going to go with a portrait you had better do your homework. Last thing you want is a portrait of someone you love looking like they have down syndrome (here it comes) when they dont. Find an artist that does great portraits. Don’t be afraid to seek artists outside your area if you can’t find someone local.
Ask yourself this “do I need other people to understand my memorial tattoo or do I just want something to remind me of my brother?”
If you’re going to go with a portrait you had better do your homework. Last thing you want is a portrait of someone you love looking like they have down syndrome (here it comes) when they dont. Find an artist that does great portraits. Don’t be afraid to seek artists outside your area if you can’t find someone local.
I get that its alot..I dont want everything.. I just want to get a couple of these things..I talked to an artist who is drawing some stuff up today though.. He seems to really get what I want, even without me showing him pictures..he did a quick sketch and it looks great..
As for the pot leaf I said ‘disguised’ on purpose.. So that there is no way you’d even know it was there unless I pointed it out.. I’m not talking about getting a giant leaft that just POPS out of the artwork..just something in the background, even partially covered or something.. I’m not getting the leaf for anybodys sake except for my own. I have lots of good memories smoking with him in the past. I do know about the portrait though… It amazes me how many people dont research their artists first…ESECIALLY for portraits.. my dad being one of them.. He got a portait of my bro that looks decent, but could have been far better from the right artist..
does anyone have any thoughts on this artist? http://www.wild-bills.com/nate/nate_index.html
Absolute crap!!
Thats what I thought too, that it was not good work at all.. He was the only one who gave me the time of day today though at 5 shops that I went to locally.. Which explains why..
I’m having him do a sketch, and after I get the sketch(that I paid for with a $20 deposit), I will take it to a better artist.. As far as ‘tattoo edicate’ goes, do you guys think that is alright? He is the only one willing to work with my idea that I have thus far.
This one artist that I talked to yesterday was way excited about taking on this tattoo.. And he has done tattoos for half of the people I hang out with him. He is unique becuase he does just about everything freehand from what he was telling me. And from what friends have told me.. Thier pieces all look good in my opinion, but I am far from artistic or an expert or anything..Does it seem legit to say that you’ll just to a pretty rough sketch of like locations/outlines of everything with paper/pencil. to see if I want to move anything around, And then just do all of the detail once he is actually doing the tattoo on me? here is also a link to his portfolio.. http://www.cartelinkworks.com/Sterling.html What do you guys think? He has done a couple different landscapes, and cityscapes before that he showed me that turned out good. the online portfolio doesn’t have that much work though. I am just more the type of person though that has to see exactly what the completed drawing looks like, since I’m not creative enough to fill it in with just what I think it will look like..
Regardless of him though I will be going to Pretty Ink tattoo for Jayme for a consult on tuesday, and we will see if this is something he’d want to take on. becuase the art from his portfolio at http://www.prettyininktattoo.net/gallery/jaymes-tattoos/ is just amazing..
What are your thoughts about the whole freehanding though? I mean I KNOW he can do good work. and for the half sleeve he gave me a high estimate of 10 hours @ $100/hour..so $1000 job. Does that seem high for the work that sterling does? It’d be a grayscale is what he has in mind..maybe a few light colors in clouds and stuff.. He also said that he wanted to do the mountains in a specific way that he makes all of the detail in the rocks and stuff with a bunch of different sized dots. So this would be a time consuming part.. He said alot of the time when he estimates high, like 10 hours it could come out around 7 or so hours, but he would rather aim higher than lowball. Does anyone have thoughts on that? I guess it might be hard since you dont know exactly what we have discussed..But its pretty much a scene of a valley, with a grim reaper in it, and in the far distance of the foggy valley you can see rays of light/sunchine coming through..
I sort of worry though about not being comfortable since I cant see what is going to be on my arm on paper first.. I can see a sketch(maybe it will be a really good one) but the sketch he said wont have all of the full details that he would want to include on my skin..
There are a couple things to consider when talking about an artist free handing it.
I let my tattoo artist freehand most of my work now. Unless its something iconic like a fiend skull or something like that.
If you are going to let an artist do freehand work you had damn well better trust them. I wouldn’t risk letting an unknown artist freehand anything. My artist has started free handing my work in the past few years. But I completely trust his judgment after working with him for 8 years.
I feel like if you have a good artist then free handing shouldn’t be an issue. It will almost always flow with your body shape better then with a traditional stencil. If you feel good about the guy and his enthusiasm for the piece, go for it. Nothing makes for a better tattoo than having a subject that the artist is really into.
You must be logged in to create new topics.
