I've thought about getting a tattoo for quite a while - probably ever since seeing the celtic knot skin-art that Flea had on his chest. I've thought a couple designs would be cool, like a compass rose on the pointy vertebrae of your neck (the one that sticks out if you look down) but mainly just a bass clef of some sort. So thinking about this I ventured into the realm of "what do other people do" and boy oh boy was I surprised. Knowing that tattoo-ing involves lots of needles and permanence, what these folks go through is downright scary. I've found some great stories and illustrations on Dynamic Tattoo (just check out their 'Profiles' - 6 straight days of tattooing? Are you kidding me?) which happens to be on the Lonely Planet Blue List.
Overall, no ink for me (you can stop worrying Mom and Dad.....for now!) but the idea of a permanent and immediate
reminder of an action, event, accomplishment or sorrow is one I'll likely not forget. I've already got the scars from bike wrecks, a knee surgery, an appendectomy, lawn shears incidents, and one on my thumb that I've had for so long I don't remember what happened. I do remember when and where Dad got the cross on his arm from and the frightening energy of the fire that day - and I can't forget Tim's scar from when I hit him in the head with a wooden stool...sorry bro. All of these reminders serve nearly the same result, they maybe just don't look as intricate, clean and colorful as some of Sara's work like this one. Have to say it looks pretty 'bass'-ic (Full credit to Sara Bowyer for the artwork - nice job!)
1 comment:
At first glance I thought that it was you in the photo showing off your new tattoo. I kept thinking to myself, "That doesn't SEEM like Josh's style, but..." The beard and the belly gave away that it wasn't you.
A friend of mine from art school days is a painter/tattoo artist out in San Fran and just finished up his book of tattooed portraits. So, go and get yourself a new tattoo and then have Shawn Barber paint a portrait of you with your new ink.
As for me, no tattoos in my future. I greatly admire the skills involved with producing high quality tattoos, I just think that my tastes and artistic moods change too often to commit to anything quite that permanent. Thanks for the post, Bro. And no worries about the stool. I'm fond of my battle scars too. :)
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