Tattoo Envy

Have you ever seen a tattoo that you just HAD TO HAVE?  While I don't believe in copying a tattoo that BELONGS to someone else, a certain style can certainly be recreated without plagerizing the original piece.  Well, I have just had this experience.  I can't get this tattoo off of my mind!!

This week I have been pouring over portfolios of local artists.  To admire the work, check out local talent and look for artists to refer a friend to for some black and gray work. 

I’d venture to guess that the most famous local tattoo artist in the Northern KY/Cincinnati area is Dana http://www.danatattoo.com/home.php.  One of Dana’s shop locations is not far from my apartment, so I thought it would be prudent to check into the work done there a little more thoroughly.

All of the artists’ portfolios were impressive, but the one that stood out the most to me belonged to Steve (http://www.danatattoo.com/gallery.php?spgmGal=steve)

One tattoo in particular……… well it caused me to salivate, literally.

This tattoo is so fucking beautiful that I want one, NOW…..

I have read differing opinions on tattoos without outlines, a lot of opinion is that they don’t last as long and maybe don’t maintain their integrity.  So I posed the question to Steve in an email.

His response was this :” Thanks for the note. In outlined, color tattoos can be an option, but only if you know what the realities are. Depending on the size and density of the color field they can hold up,for some time, but all will eventually fade and need some maintenance. Color linework is too fragile and usually won't hold up longer than a few years. My wife has some un-outlined Japanese maple leaves that are at least twenty years old and other than the yellows are still fairly viable. We'll be re-coloring them in the not too distant future.”

That settles it for me, I will have one.  I mean, tattoo maintenance is a reality. From immediate post-tattoo cleansing and moisturizing (which you will get different instructions at every shop you go to), to sun protection, tattoos must be maintained just like any other piece of art. Even the frescos in the Sistine Chapel require attention.  Art is a living entity, whether a painting, sculpture or skin art, it’s ever evolving with time and environmental factors.

(Michelangelo had some mad skills, can you imagine the tattoos he could knock out?  I will not comment on the genitalia in this painting…… refraining……. No comment here….lips are sealed……… OH DAMMIT, seriously Mike, that is some teeny tiny junk, I hope that for your sake you weren’t basing that painting on yourself.  If you did, I’m really sorry dude)

So…… I plan to stop by Dana’s in Covington this weekend, set up an appointment with Steve and pay my deposit.  I want some watercolor flowers in the center of my back, I might take a few ideas, but I want to leave most of it up to Steve’s artistic discretion, I already know that I am in love with his work.  I have a birthday coming up soon, so it will be a nice gift to myself.

But first, I have an appointment tomorrow with Dustin Zion at Asylum Tattoo in Latonia to get my blue poppy on my left arm, with a little honey bee.  Hopefully over the next year I will be able to complete both half sleeves.

I want a blue poppy like this, with the honey bee nearby, placed directly below the daylily pictured below.  I want them all to be incorporated into one piece, which will eventually be the half sleeve.

The daylily pictured above, was done by the awe inspiring Kevin Byers http://tattooedtv.com/kevinbyers.html, of Truth and Triumph Tattoo in Dayton, OH http://tattooedtv.com/
I am in love with his adaptation of the photo I presented to him...... Kevin will absolutely do me again...... wait...... that sounded wrong didn't it??

(the photo)

(Kevin hard at work)

Well my friends, have a fantastic weekend!! Stay cool in this brutal heat!!
I am off to see a minor league baseball game tonight, which I'm sure it won't be hot there at all. 
At least the beer there is cheap, and we all know that it's great beer drinking weather!!!