Personally, I have always been of the mindset that every tattoo I get should have deep meaning to me (well, maybe not DEEP meaning, but at least have some meaning behind it). I’ve been tattooed 7 times so far, but overall it’s only 4 pieces, the other 3 were just to make the existing pieces look cooler.
Now, I look at my tattoos, and all the way back to my 1st one, I love every single one of them. The actual artwork of them is decent but nothing AMAZING….I mean, some of the work on this site alone is absolutely incredible. I have a friend that has 2 full sleeves of AMAZING top of the line artwork, done by an artist who has to make appointments 1 – 1.5 years in advance!!! But the meaning behind his amazing artwork….well, there really isn’t any other then the fact that he just likes cool looking tattoos (which is fine!)
But I love my tattoos more then anyone else’s I’ve ever seen. Do I wish that I would have shopped around a little bit for a top-notch artist that could have done my tattoo’s even better? Eh, not really. Sure there are artists out there that are better then the guys that I had mine done by, but there’s always gonna be someone better then the next guy. My artists were pretty damn good IMO….not the best in the world, but damn good IMO. I always went to reputable shops, and viewed the portfolios beforehand, and made an informed decision beforehand before ever getting tattooed. It’s the meaning behind all mine, and the stories and memories that really makes me really love them though.
After every piece of ink I get, I learn more and more about tattoos. In fact, from this site alone I’ve learned more about the tattoo industry…..I still have my back completely bare and ready to be inked. I will use that for both something extremely meaningful and artistic.
But do I have any regrets, hell no! Not a single one.
Here’s my first one. It’s a leprachaun, and I’ve never seen another like it. The artist who did this one was probably the least skilled of all the artists I’ve went to. This is before I knew shit about tattoos or professionalism. This guy was recommended to me by a friend, and apparently he was still an amatur, but I loved the shit out of this tattoo from the day I got it, and still do today!
I got the tribal done a few years later, because I always liked that look:
Then I got this done because playing guitar is my passion in life. The skeleton is actually playing one of the guitars I have, a Jackson DKMGT:
Then years later I was in Flordia with my ex-gf, and completely impusivley we both decided to go get tattoos. She got a tiny little shamrock on her ankle, and I got this. It was flash art, with absolutely no meaning behind it….but still, I always just loved how damn cool it looked, plus it reminds me of my impulsive nature, which I love about myself, and the good times my ex and I shared together:
Even years later, I regretted the fact that I got ‘wall art’ and not something original, so I had it made my own:
Not long after that, I really liked how the guy transformed the panther into….well a cooler looking tattoo, so I decided to go back to him to have him add some stuff to my guitar playing skeleton. My roots of playing are all metal, and I tear that shit up, and will always love metal….so I figured I’d get a ‘metal scene’:
Then lastly, I got the ‘circle of fifths’ tattooed on my forearm. Music is my shit, and I’ve never been formely taught, but I taught myself enough shit about music theory that I could sit and have an intelligent discussion with someone who has a degree in music. Rather then going with a music note, or song lyrics, or something like that…I went with what basically represents music theory as a whole (and it also has practical use for me, as a chart to refer to while I’m playing):
So that’s it….Love em all, will get more!
Hi
Nice collection of ink.
Personally I have a lot of reasons for each of my tattoos but in general public I do just say I got them because I like them.
Sometimes I think it is just something you have to share with another enthusiast the deeper reasons (if any) behind your ink.
I always felt people either get the art or not and trying to explain to those who don’t is like head and wall.
Take Care
Matthew
Personally I have a lot of reasons for each of my tattoos but in general public I do just say I got them because I like them.
I do the same thing. It’s not only for my own privacy but its annoying to explain to 100’s of people about my fear of the end of the world or what that symbol on my arm means. In a lot of cases the explanation of what my ink means to me would cross into sharing things that I just don’t want to share with everyone.
At the same time, it’s art and it still a little fringe so I can’t be upset that they ask either. To me, telling someone I just liked the art/artist is an easy way out of a tough question with someone I don’t really want a deeper relationship with.
Interestingly enough, I don’t mind sharing with a bunch of strangers on the internet, but I guess that’s a different thread.
Well this is being said as a tattoo virgin (till tomorrow!!!) BUT:
I’m getting mine for a lot of personal meaning, but I’ll probably only explain the literary meaning to people – they don’t need to know how each bit relates to a different part of my life history etc.
I couldn’t do it if it wasnt meaningful, but it needs to be beautiful as well. People will accept the literary meaning as the deep one because I’m an english student but there’s a lot more to it as well.
You have to like how it looks to have it on your skin, i assume anyway, but I think meaning makes it better
My 1st tattoo was a dragon and I got it since my friend got a dragon and thought it was cool. I am also born the year of the dragon so I guess it had meaning.
My 2nd tattoo was a butterfly. I got it because I like butterflies.
Unforuntately I never really liked either one. They were done by an ok artist but 15 years later I realized they were not what I wanted anymore. They were both black/grey and I prefer color. Both have been lasered into oblivion.
My 3rd tattoo is cherry blossoms on my foot. I thought about them for about a year, trying to decide where I wanted them. Originally it was supposed to run up my back but I just can’t commit to that much ink right now. The don’t mean anyting to me other than I think they look pretty.
I get em for the “deeper” meaning. Every tattoo I have has been thought out since I was about 17. Doing this has weeded out some of the ones I was planning on getting in the spur of the moment but thought it was better off that I didn’t.
But it’s like inkmeolaf said…
I started in November after over a year of trying to figure out exactly what I wanted. From the beginning I looked as getting a tattoo as another art form that I can express myself like no one else could.
Since November my phoenix has gotten a friend, but most people only see a dragon and phoenix fighting/ in conflict, but to me it’s what each one represents. The easiest way for me to explain what it means to me is that they represent my personal ying yang/ past and future. It sounds silly but the phoenix is my past, and dragon my future. I feel that you can’t create your future if you simply forget your past, because your past is what molded you into who you are now. So for me living on a “farm” breeding chickens since I was five was one of the most important things that happened to me. I have made so many friends since then and because of that I couldn’t imagine what I would do without those birds. So since I have a had a phoenix as a pet I knew I had to combine the typical mythological phoenix with my phoenix.
Now since I have been in college for 2 years, I have learned a lot about how I need to work on creating a future. So looking for a way to represent my future was sorta simple- a dragon. I had seen a few pictures of phoenix/ dragon fighting tattoo’s and looked into what the represented. With the simple dragon definition of power and excellence it made sense. Me dealing with college to create a future, while remembering my past is extremely important to me personally. So now i have an amazing backpiece that shows that.
I just tell people its just a fancy personal yingyang rather then confuse them.
http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w40/s8dwelsh/back/?action=view¤t=IMG_0527.jpg
http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w40/s8dwelsh/back/?action=view¤t=IMG_0527.jpg#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs172.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fw40%2Fs8dwelsh%2Fback%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DIMG_0589.jpg%26
My first tattoo is my sons handprint. below it its the legal adoption date, well when I adopted him. And I decided to get it over my heart to represent that he touched my heart, hence me adopting him.
My second tatt, which I got 2 weeks ago, is a phoenix. which represents my rebirth, my new life after divorcing my ex-wife. These last 6 months have been pretty tough, so I got this tatt for me. And everytime I look at it when Im down somehow its always cheers me up. Its not done yet, still need to get the bird itself colored and shaded.
Now I keep trying to find more reasons to get some more ink done on me. I guess Im one of those that have to have a special meaning behind it. lol
love the handprint, lovely idea.
I got my cherry blossoms on my back to represent my family. Each flower represents a different branch of my family. The opening flower is me starting to live my own life/my partner and I. The top one is for my dad’s side of the family and the petal falling is my granny. She died a few years ago and is the first person close to me that has died so it really affected me.
The shamrock is to remind me of ireland when im away from home. Im moving to australia in just over a week. The rose on the inside is to represent my partner.
I have a fake meaning behind my first tattoo.
Nobody truly knows, but me :D.
My second is a UV ring on my wedding finger…
Again, the meaning is kind-of jaded when I talk about it.
But basically it just symbolizes being complete with or without a significant other.
It is always there. But not always visible. Reminding me that love comes and goes…and women suck :p
But my third…
I just found a couple of gorgeous trees on the internet…
And thought I’d have my artist incorporate the two ideas about the trees (one was twisty, the other was knotted) into one.
It DOES stand for hope with my one bud of life on the trees…but frankly, that part is so insignificant…I wouldn’t even mind it not being there.
Then I got a moon-set behind it. For shits and gigs.
You must be logged in to create new topics.
