@Anthony DiLucido 140681 wrote:

I just feel like if I’m going to get something that’ll be on my skin forever I want it to mean something to me

Oh, I *HATE* it when people insist tattoos have to have some deeper meaning. It misses the point of tattoos entirely, and it also causes people with mediocre or worse ink to defend their pieces to the death, as if the anthropomorphic dick riding a skateboard, smoking a bong applied to their right ass cheek by a half blind little person strung out on crystal meth gains some sort of legitimacy just because they got it for their bro who died last month in a freak gasoline fight accident.

In any medium, once an artist exhibits a piece, they lose control of it. Any and every person who comes to a piece will bring in their own personal experience and life with them, and that will color how they perceive the piece. Some artists try to control this, by writing explanations and manifestos. These artists are failures. They make their art less than it is. The more explanation your piece needs, the more of a failure it is. Art exists to elicit a gut level reaction. To grab you by the balls and say “FEEL SOMETHING, YOU FUCKING CUNT!”. Monet’s waterlilies forces you to slow down, sit, and examine the colors and the light. A good song, say by Rancid, makes you smile. Hell, even Kiss My Royal Irish Ass by Cheryl Donegan or Piss Christ makes you feel something, and that’s the point. To shake you out of the stupor of everyday life, of bills and responsibilities.

In short, art exists to be awesome.

I’ve got two tattoos that have meaning to me. I have Gossamer sitting on a stool crying on my thigh, and an imagine of Calvin and Hobbs walking away, with the caption, “You’ll find love there” on my neck. Both have deep personal meaning to me, but I rarely, if ever speak of what those meanings are. Those supposed meanings do not matter to anyone but me. To everyone else, they are what they really are: well designed pieces by my man Troy Coe at Lambadi City Tattoos. That’s what matters. The craft, the skill, and the solid design. That’s all anyone who ain’t lived my life can see.

In short, tattoos don’t need meaning. They need craft and design. Anything else is LA Ink bullshit, and those guys all make us look like assholes.

Love. Peace. Metallic.

That’s it. When I die, I’m having these guys make a Knighthawk skin leather jacket for my wife to wear.

Love. Peace. Metallica.

That is pretty killer my an.

Love. Peace. Metallica.

It may just be my ancient ass monitor, but the pic doesn’t seem to be clear enough for me to see what’s going on there. All I see is a bunch of squiggles. I ain’t saying that’s what your ink looks like, I’m just saying I have no idea what’s going on in there in this pic.

Love. Peace. Metallica.

Damn those colors pop! That is some killer ink. Wear it with pride!

Love. Peace. Metallica.

@ArniVidar 140263 wrote:

If you want to nitpick, that one leg seems to be sticking out of the middle of the bird’s stomach, so adding another one without some serious consideration won’t necessarily be any better.

The entire bird is just strangely proportioned, and twisted, which creates the unfortunate situation that you find yourself in.
I think I would vote for making the entire thing bigger and adding background to hide or down-play the leg.

You need to find a proper tattoo artist for the job though, else the laser will become your only option. It’s already on the verge of needing that anyway..

This. This right here is more or less what I was gonna say, except with less cursing.

Fuck.

I feel better now.

Love. Peace. Metallica.