Tattoo art?

[Big Mikey]

Two things I noticed in your post.....1) you say you "think" you know what you want and 2) you can't decide where to put it. As an owner of many tattoos, IMHO, you need to definitely know what you want. As for placement, if this is your first ink, the chest will be VERY painful. The leg is not too bad. To aid in your choice, are you getting the tattoo for yourself or to show your heritage and love of country? This may sound funny but I have suggested this to a number of people and they all swear it helped them.... get naked and stand in front of a mirror. Imagine the tattoo in place and see how you feel.

This is a piece I had done on Dec. 8. I hope it inspires you.

[McMurdo]

As for placement, if this is your first ink, the chest will be VERY painful

I would have to agree with you on that, BM I have 2 tattoos on my chest, one on each side, the only one that hurt worse is the one on my ribs, and it was done in one 5 and a half hour sitting.

The design sounds good, and you wont find it in any flash book, so my advice is to go into a tattoo in your area that has a good reputation, ask people you know and trust where they got their tattoos. Once you have found a reputiblie shop go in with your ideas and see what they come up with, also it sounds like it might be a large piece given that you would want some detail to the tattoo, always remember tattoo ink spreads slightly over time and if the piece you are doing is too small to begin with, over time it might not look the way that you envisioned it.

So talk to the tattoo artist of your choice and see if they can help you out with your decition about placement, all of my tattoos can be covered up easily if I want them to be, that is the way I want it you might want something different but it might be something for you to think about.


Good luck with your ink.

[Colin]

great advise Big Mikey.

[Navyguy]

The best advive I ever got about a tattoo is "Decide what you want, wait one year, if you still want it get it". I made a spurr of the moment decision on a tattoo, and now I want it covered. Now I am in the decide what you want stage. (fewer options on a cover up.) If you are SURE I like the back of the calf.

[ccga3359]

You can place flags where ever you wish. My main concern is the amount of red you are considering. The Canadian flag as you know is red and white. If you get white ink it will turn beige when tanned. Red will also fade, especially from exposure to sun. I've got tattoos where the red has completely disappeared in five years. Consider in perhaps ten years the only thing that would end up standing out would be the blue background of Old Glory. To make it last then I would suggest on your chest as it would not see the sun as much. Let me be the first to say, if this is your 1st of many, "Welcome to the club".

[Barclay]

Thanks! This advice is great! I have heard that chest can be a bear as far as pain is concerned, but I didn't realize that red faded so badly. As for timing, this is something that I've been sitting on for years, literally, and I am more and more sure that I want it. I just want to work out details. One bit of advice that goes along with what a couple of you have mentioned, from a tattooed coworker, is to find my artist and get a henna tat put in the place where I want my real tat to go to make sure that's the spot I want permanently marked. That makes sense to me, too.

Although I still like the idea of placement over the heart, I'm still leaning to a more visible placement - I thought the side of the calf, but maybe I should think upper arm or somewhere else that won't get quite as much sun, and hopefully not as much fading, as my calf.

Big Mikey - that's a nice design! I like it.

Thanks for all the insight and advice guys. This is a great help!


Chris

[ccga3359]

Although I still like the idea of placement over the heart, I'm still leaning to a more visible placement - I thought the side of the calf, but maybe I should think upper arm or somewhere else that won't get quite as much sun, and hopefully not as much fading, as my calf.

Big Mikey - that's a nice design! I like it.

Thanks for all the insight and advice guys. This is a great help!


Chris

Watch the upper arm, it would most likely get more sun than your calf. Especially left side, you know driving down the highway, arm hanging out the window... Tattoo can indeed mark a chapter of your life, but the visual of your tat seems that it might be overly big for a calf, though some like wrap-arounds. Any thoughts of breaking it up into two tats? Remember this, tattoos are very adictive, they get under your skin. I like the idea of a trial in henna, that is quite brilliant.

[Barclay]

... but the visual of your tat seems that it might be overly big for a calf, though some like wrap-arounds.

I'm envisioning 4-5" in height, and not much more in width. The selected artist will have a lot to say in that regard, I suspect. Because I am in business, and a very conservative business at that, it needs to be located where it can be concealed, but I also want it where it will be visible when appropriate.

I'll be in Burlington for a day or two at Victoria Day, if not sooner. Beer at Emma's?

[flairball]

As a rather heavily tattooed member I'll toss my 2 cents in too.

It can't be emphisized enough; find a good artist. Look at photos of their work. Most artists have portfolios where they can be viewed by perspective costomers.

Also, like any kind of art, everyone has a different style. If you find an artist who is good, but their style doesn't suit you they're not the one. If there is an artist you like, but they're not local, don't be afraid to travel. I've endured several 14hour flight to visit my tattoo artist, and we're still a long way from being finished.



My opinion, go a little bigger than you're thinking.

[Warlock]

De gustibus non disputandem est. Nice tats. Mine is on the left upper arm. 15th century locksmith guild sign. BTW there is an article in todays paper about Castle Bran being for sale. A steal at $78,000,000.00 {Castle Dracula}