I'm not particularly against tattoos (as long as they're done by a professional using sterile equipment), but I've never seen a piece of art that made me go "I need to put that on my body forever." But if others want to do that, I don't have a problem with it.
Plus I'm a cheap son-of-a-gun, and they're SO expensive.
Actually, Mike, tattoos can be rather inexpensive if you know your stuff. I've always liked them, but then my Pop had a few so there were a part of my family. MH had a few when we got married, and it wasn't too long afterward that I got my first one. Granted, I'm nothing like the people you see who use their skin like a canvas to paint upon, but I do have a few that are personal to me, chosen and designed by me for that purpose. I do have one *pet peeve* when it comes to tat's though, I've never understood people that get tats where they can't see them, so mine are all where I can see them. They're for me and my memories, afterall.
Oh, and raven? The holes close back up. *snicker* 0>;~}
DL, I am sure they do. It's just personal aversion to stuff that oughta be outside, going in, and stuff that oughta be inside, going out. Each to their own.
What DL said. I got all of mine--every one--for the price of a box of Cracker Jack. And they had the added advantage of not lasting to ugly me up in my old age.
I'm crazy for the decorative arts, myself, especially when applied to 3D objects with interesting shapes, like the claw feet on my bathtubs, which arrive in an uninteresting flat white, or Christmas tree ornaments, or furniture, which is just crying out to be painted full of writhing creatures and vines. The more miniaturized the design is, the better.
So in principle I should have all kinds of tattoos. But what's the fun of letting someone else do the decorating? And as far as my working on other people goes, it's so much more convenient to paint something that can't move. If I enjoyed interacting with people more, I'd probably be a good candidate for a nail-salon worker. These days everyone seems to be painting little miniature works of art on their fingernails.
Most tattoos horrify me, but for the same reason that t-shirt designs fail to satisfy: so often the designs are tacky, and there's so little thought given to matching the design to the sculpted surface. Give me a good dragon coiled around a wrist and I'm happy.
Also, to be honest, Hep C. I wouldn't want anyone else ever to have gotten near the ink or the equipment.
"...and there's so little thought given to matching the design to the sculpted surface. "
Your architectural training is showing ;) I completely agree. Many are nice pictures, but a tattoo is not a picture on a canvas. It's an embellishment of a surface that moves, changes, has a purpose, relates to other parts of the body- that lives. That's a lot of responsibility. Too many can't live up to it.
I remember a revelation in an art history course thirty years ago: an ancient vase, roughly spherical, with an octopus painted on it. The octopus spread its tentacles all around the shape instead of being confined to a framed plaque on one side of the vase. It was intoxicating. What a wonderful course that was.
13 comments:
Grim said- "I'm a member of the 'No ink, just scars' club myself,"
Amen, brother! Don't need any more voluntary extra perforations!
I'm not particularly against tattoos (as long as they're done by a professional using sterile equipment), but I've never seen a piece of art that made me go "I need to put that on my body forever." But if others want to do that, I don't have a problem with it.
Plus I'm a cheap son-of-a-gun, and they're SO expensive.
Actually, Mike, tattoos can be rather inexpensive if you know your stuff. I've always liked them, but then my Pop had a few so there were a part of my family. MH had a few when we got married, and it wasn't too long afterward that I got my first one. Granted, I'm nothing like the people you see who use their skin like a canvas to paint upon, but I do have a few that are personal to me, chosen and designed by me for that purpose. I do have one *pet peeve* when it comes to tat's though, I've never understood people that get tats where they can't see them, so mine are all where I can see them. They're for me and my memories, afterall.
Oh, and raven? The holes close back up.
*snicker*
0>;~}
Oh yeah, inject unknown stuff under your skin that is going to stay there forever.
I see too many fashion victims where I live. They are not going to look pretty when they get old.
DL, I am sure they do. It's just personal aversion to stuff that oughta be outside, going in, and stuff that oughta be inside, going out. Each to their own.
...they're SO expensive.
What DL said. I got all of mine--every one--for the price of a box of Cracker Jack. And they had the added advantage of not lasting to ugly me up in my old age.
Eric Hines
It's like a cattle brand. If cctv cameras see it, it's an easy way to identify the livestock.
Although ones hidden show some sense.
I'm crazy for the decorative arts, myself, especially when applied to 3D objects with interesting shapes, like the claw feet on my bathtubs, which arrive in an uninteresting flat white, or Christmas tree ornaments, or furniture, which is just crying out to be painted full of writhing creatures and vines. The more miniaturized the design is, the better.
So in principle I should have all kinds of tattoos. But what's the fun of letting someone else do the decorating? And as far as my working on other people goes, it's so much more convenient to paint something that can't move. If I enjoyed interacting with people more, I'd probably be a good candidate for a nail-salon worker. These days everyone seems to be painting little miniature works of art on their fingernails.
Most tattoos horrify me, but for the same reason that t-shirt designs fail to satisfy: so often the designs are tacky, and there's so little thought given to matching the design to the sculpted surface. Give me a good dragon coiled around a wrist and I'm happy.
Also, to be honest, Hep C. I wouldn't want anyone else ever to have gotten near the ink or the equipment.
Yanno, Ymar, at some point in time you just have to live your life.
"...and there's so little thought given to matching the design to the sculpted surface. "
Your architectural training is showing ;)
I completely agree. Many are nice pictures, but a tattoo is not a picture on a canvas. It's an embellishment of a surface that moves, changes, has a purpose, relates to other parts of the body- that lives. That's a lot of responsibility. Too many can't live up to it.
I remember a revelation in an art history course thirty years ago: an ancient vase, roughly spherical, with an octopus painted on it. The octopus spread its tentacles all around the shape instead of being confined to a framed plaque on one side of the vase. It was intoxicating. What a wonderful course that was.
Texan99,
you would probably like this bronze mirror from Iron age Britain-
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_image.aspx?image=ps300390a.jpg&retpage=22941
Beautiful! The Bronze Age always speaks to me.
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