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12pups

Lifer
Feb 9, 2014
1,063
2
Minnesota
Great stories, guys. Have thought about getting the tattooed wedding band, but satisfied myself the turtles are roughly the same thing.
One that hit home hardest for me -- the father who has a portrait of his son, who at 29 left the world too soon.
ssjones, I've thought about having my family crest as a tattoo. I love our family name and its history. I can only trace it back six generations with confidence, though. There's that, and... that fact that I'm adopted... holding me back. :)
As for the Nike swoosh, I interviewed a guy who'd only been employed by this oil-drilling tools manufacturer for less than a year when he had one of their products tattooed on his arm. My first thought was, "Whoa! It's not usual in these times for someone to be with a company their whole career. He's gonna regret that when he gets canned, or sees a better job open up with their competition!" Five years, he's still with them -- and now he's a nationally recognized expert on their rock drilling tools. Gives trainings, does presentations at trade shows, and is an on-site consultant in technique and products. Got another product tattooed on his other arm since then. His job has now out-lasted three of his marriages! (The tattoos will last forever, though).
I see kids who get them sort of carelessly (two of my kids, in particular). I wince because I know they haven't weighed the permanence of what they've done, in spite of techniques to try to get rid of them later, or change them. And then they go crazy talking about what they want next... and after that... and... it becomes a "thing."
Mine I am proud of, though until I got them, I was totally against getting tattoos. The body is beautiful and amazing as it is -- don't put graffiti on it! ... I've changed my mind, obviously, as I got older. I still wince, though, when the tattoos are capricious and without meaning.
-- It's why I was interested. And you guys have interesting stories!

 

phred

Lifer
Dec 11, 2012
1,754
4
I have a piece of knotwork on my left shoulder - specifically, a design called a shield-knot. It's a protective emblem, and in fact the Swedish government uses a variation of the design on their signage designating protected archaeological and historical sites... :D
I've designed a Thor's Hammer that I'd like to get done as a tattoo, although the original artwork is the size of a full back piece. I need to run it through a scanner and shrink it down to shoulder size for the right arm.

 

pruss

Lifer
Feb 6, 2013
3,558
370
Mytown
Great thread, 'Pups! Thanks for starting it.
I have one tattoo, so far, and am planning at least two more. My first tattoo was 15 years in the planning.
I have always related to bears. They are big, lumbering, physically ungentle, but present, in the moment, very aware. They are hardy eaters, protect their kids and are comfortable in their environment. They are also one of the most recognizable animal symbols of the two places I've spent the most time living, Ontario and Colorado.
When I was 20, I wanted this tattoo to be a simple bear paw covering my right calf (I have sizable real estate there).
As I bounced around from pillar to post through my 20s and into my 30s I began to redefine what 'home' meant to me. I began to relate more completely with being a Northerner. So as my personal view change, so did my design ideas for my tattoo. When I was finally 'ready' (mostly financially) to get my tattoo I knew I wanted a tattoo which incorporated a bear paw, the constellation of the big dipper and a calling out of Polaris (the North Star), and if possible, the Aurora Borealis. I also knew that I wanted a full-colour tattoo.
The next step, for me, was to find an artist who would do the work well, and who I could relate to. I searched high and low for the best custom tattoo studios and artists in Toronto, and went to meet with two artists after telephone chats with five. Of the two one was well established, with a solid reputation and great body of work, who was booking 24 months out; the other was just finished her apprenticeship and could have me in the chair within three weeks. I had both draw up concept sketches (and paid for both). The established artist basically sent me home from my meeting with homework. He asked me to pull together a list of my favourite artists/illustrators/comic-artists and if possible provide him with reference images. He wanted me to provide him with some bear pictures or images that I liked, and to do the same with constellations and images of the Northern Lights. I ended up putting together a 12 page powerpoint presentation for him... The new artist took notes during our meeting, and called me two days later to review the concept sketch.
In the end, I went with the established artist, and the 24 month wait. He was thorough, engaged, got-off on the idea of my tattoo, took his time, and put together a brilliant sketch that made me feel like he "got" what I wanted. In the end, I only waited 18 months until my first session, and then waited another 2 months to have the piece finished.
Patience, research, perseverance and clear communications were what made this a tattoo that I am super proud of.
I hope some of you like it too:


-- Pat

 

12pups

Lifer
Feb 9, 2014
1,063
2
Minnesota
That is awesome, Pat! And the story of the planning, that's something I'd like to show my dang stepdaughters, who tend to think of something on the spur of the moment then want it to happen immediately. Hence, bodies covered in goofy stuff.
I suppose to each his own, though. They'll look back and relive the spontaneity, the good fun they had doing that on a lark.
You, on the other hand, are a walking story that begs the onlooker, tell. Amazing concept, and beautiful job by the artist!

 

pruss

Lifer
Feb 6, 2013
3,558
370
Mytown
That is awesome, Pat! And the story of the planning, that's something I'd like to show my dang stepdaughters, who tend to think of something on the spur of the moment then want it to happen immediately. Hence, bodies covered in goofy stuff.
I suppose to each his own, though. They'll look back and relive the spontaneity, the good fun they had doing that on a lark.
You, on the other hand, are a walking story that begs the onlooker, tell. Amazing concept, and beautiful job by the artist!
Thanks for the kind words.
Truth be told, if I had the available funds to get a quality piece done when I was younger I likely would have. But years of prioritizing other things ahead of a tat meant that my desires changed and my budget needed to expand. This was five hours in the chair and a sizeable chunk of change.
The other nice thing about tattoos that no longer fit, or that fade in interest, over time... There are some great cover up artists out there!
-- Pat

 

crusader

Can't Leave
Aug 18, 2014
396
357
Nebraska
A 3"x3" Marlboro man on my left shoulder. 18 and defiant got me there. I do regret it every time I look at it. Tats have gotten pretty mundane as far as I am concerned. Most of th girls on my daughters 18 and under softball team has them across their backs, it leaves me thinking, "what the hell are the parents thinking when they go and sign consent forms".

 

12pups

Lifer
Feb 9, 2014
1,063
2
Minnesota
Worse yet, crusader, is when you daughter tells you it didn't cost her anything. She was 15. The guy did it free.
Free?
That's when the Old Man's pulse races, horrible thoughts spin in his head and the hair on the back of his neck bristles.
Tried to find out who did it. That was years ago now. And she went from wild rebel "cabrona" (she's Latina) to the most conservative, dedicated wife and mother
Tatts she has are the only reminder of those those years. She can't erase them. Without them, I could totally forget the predawn moment I caught her by her legs as she pulled herself up to the back porch roof hoping to sneak back into her open bedroom window before we woke up.
Damn dogs. They bark at every little leaf that falls, but don't sound off when your teenager is sneaking out of the house.
They don't all have their parents' permission!

 

blueeyedogre

Lifer
Oct 17, 2013
1,552
30
I have several and they all mean something to me. They are........

Right forearm: "Father to Son, Son to Father, as it should be" written around a Maple leaf (Canadian)

Left Forearm: "Vincere Vel Mori" The motto of Clan MacNeill of Barra, Scotland.

Right Shoulder: Tribal tattoo featuring the Dave Mathews Band Firedancer

Left Shoulder: Sacred Heart for my affiliation with the Catholic faith.

Left Bicep: A Tiki Mask surrounded with tiger lilies. It was a tribute to my dad after he passed away.

Right Calf: A Celtic Tree of Life.

 

iamn8

Lifer
Sep 8, 2014
4,248
14
Moody, AL
I went to school in Bozeman Montana. At the time I also happened to be running guns and LSD. I lived on Main Street in downtown Bozeman above a clothing store and across from The Leaf & Bean, a Bozeman coffee tradition. In the back alley, behind my apartment, was a tiny one room tattoo parlor owned by a guy, RJ rosini. Turns out he's a major figure nationally in the business. We came to an agreement, free tattoos for my friends and I in exchange for allowing him to hang a neon advertising sign in my very visible Main Street window. Ah such good times we had... right up until the Feds raided my place and I was shipped away.

My favorite is a tattoo of The Little Prince on my right shoulder.

 

johnnyreb

Lifer
Aug 21, 2014
1,961
612
One of my ancestral lines goes back to the Old Three Hundred with Stephen F. Austin. Several of my ancestors served early in the Texas Rangers. Back in the 1990's I started researching them, made a couple of trips to the Texas Rangers Museum & the Research Center in Waco. Somewhere along the line I got the idea for a tattoo of a Ranger badge of the period like they would have worn and photographed just such a badge in the museum to be used for the tattoo.
Several years went by and my research on such matters continued; it never really ends when you are interested. I just never took the time to study the tattoo artists to find one as Pat has described doing for his. Over time I came to realize that I honor my ancestors every day with the way I live, by having done some of the other things I have done in life, and by doing the research. The tattoo is still something I might get around to but it seems less important to me personally then it once did even though I'm proud of my ancestors and think of them often.

 

okiescout

Lifer
Jan 27, 2013
1,530
6
Great stories!
I'm probably one of the few people anymore who doesn't have a tattoo.

Me too, drwatson.
I am so fickle about things like that. If I got one, in a month or year or so I would see one I liked better. After 10 or 15 years

I would look like the Big Chief tablets I use to doodle up by the end of the semester in grade school.
Orley, you are quite a man. I respect that type of commitment, brother.

 

maxpeters

Can't Leave
Jan 4, 2010
439
20
No, no tattoos here either. I agree with you shutterbug, tattoos on women just seem all wrong. The tackiest thing I ever saw was a beautiful young girl in a white wedding gown, with tattoos running up her arms, and on her back. I was thinking " damn, and she's proud of that?" Just all wrong.

 
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