signs on skin

[wildestranger]

Lately, I have been thinking about getting another tattoo. And okay, this might have something to do with the many, many pictures of Frank Iero that I've been forced to look at recently, but I have also become more curious about the aesthetics of tattoos - what makes tattooed skin beautiful? Is it beautiful? What does it mean when you put such signs on your skin? What does it say about you?

I've had my one tattoo for seven years now, I've not regretted it once but I've also not been tempted to get more. If I do decide to go for it, there will have to be a lot of thinking and discussing and practising with permanent markers first.

And while I do that, here's a poll. ;)

What do you think about tattoos? Your own, other people's? On shoulders, bellies, thighs, on Pete Wentz's hipbones, on Frank Iero's arms? What makes a tattoo sexy, or not? What makes it interetsing?

[Poll #1064065]

[Poll #1064066]

Comments

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

What are you thinking of getting a tattoo of and where? I would quite like a dragon curling around my hip (something modern and minimalist-looking, not the standard fantasy-art thing) but I fear this would involve displaying my arse to the tattooist, and I don't think anyone should have to put up with that sort of unpleasantness in the workplace.

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, there is monetary compensation for workplace trauma. :)

And I'm thinking of a curling vine, with a few leaves and such, around my knee. Either above or just below - will have to see what they look like first.

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

That sounds very decadent - all Bacchanalian and such. Yes.

Also, are you on y!m? I want to piss and moan but I can't be arsed to sign on if there's no-one there.

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Bacchanalian is just what I'm going for - my love of wine being my defining characteristic. *g*

And no, sorry, I'm at work till five. Might be on later in the evening, though. :)

[stentoriansista.livejournal.com]

Having never met you, I don't know if you're the impossibly slender sort. If you are, I say rock on with the knee tattoo action. However, if not, I would suggest you check out some old ladies' knees before you do anything, because that's one of those weird places that gets inexplicably droopy in old people. :)

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

I am, in fact, one of those impossibly slender people. ;) But yes, knees do get more wear that one would think, which is why I'm thinking below the knee rather than above.

[cedarlibrarian.livejournal.com]

I don't have any tattoos, but my mom and both of my sisters both have more than one (I guess they're compensating for me and my dad). I know they all love theirs, and the tattoos are special to them, but I don't know of anything I'd want on my body for the rest of my life. The exception to this may be a dragon, because I was born in the Year of the Dragon and that's considered very lucky. But ultimately I think I'm too big a wuss.

Back to your questions:

I think any tattoo is good if it means something to the person who has it, even if the "meaning" is that they like the design. It's not my body so I don't really judge tattoos on other people. They can put them wherever. My youngest sister's newest tattoo is on the top of her foot, and it's absolutely beautiful and very meaningful to her (and the rest of our family). I think the most interesting part of a tattoo is not the design itself but the explanation behind it.

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

I think any tattoo is good if it means something to the person who has it, even if the "meaning" is that they like the design.

That's pretty much what I think about my existing tattoo (it's celtic design, a wheel with spikes, and doesn't mean anything), and probably what I would get for the next one as well. I'm kind of suspicious about too overt symbolism - not that I disapprove of them in others, but for myself I think I am too cynical about signifiers and the signified. That said, I'm considering getting a curling vine around my knee - I'm sure my love of wine will never leave me. ;)

[eudaimon.livejournal.com]

I've got two tattoos - a stylised flower in black line on my left shoulder, and I just got "I think someone will remember us" in black in the middle of my back.

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Where is that line from? Sounds interesting.

[eudaimon.livejournal.com]

It's a line from Sappho. The full quote is actually "I think that someone will remember us in another time."

When it's healed, I'll stick it up.

[misslucyjane]

I have six: I got my first one when I was 27 and the last one about 3 years ago, and I intend to get at least one more, possibly more since I have a few ideas of what I want.

What do you think about tattoos?
I love seeing people's tattoos. It's like a small autobiography on someone's body.

Your own, other people's?
I love mine dearly and I think they're sexy. I like telling people their stories when they ask (though not many people ask: mostly they assume I was a wild child, which is not true at all, but what are ya gonna do.)

On shoulders, bellies, thighs, on Pete Wentz's hipbones, on Frank Iero's arms?
Anywhere they want to go is good, though I do wonder about facial tattoos sometimes. Painful. Eek.

What makes a tattoo sexy, or not? What makes it interetsing?

What makes a tattoo sexy is placement and design, I think, as well as the attitude of the person with the tat. You can tell a lot about a person from their tattoo: the person who gets a flaming skull tattoo is general not the same person who gets an Om symbol. I like hearing people's stories, why they got a particular tat and so on.

<-- You can see my ankle tat in this icon. This was my first one, and it says "little critter" or "little bug," depending on who I ask :).

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Please tell me about your tattoos. I'd be very curious to hear the stories behind them. :)

[misslucyjane]

Okay :). The pictures aren't great. I need to take some new ones with a better camera.

First was the ankle tat, which I got a few months after my dad died. It's kind of a memorial: the intention for this one was for it to mean butterfly (and I had this whole complicated explanation about how souls become butterflies after death), but then I was told what it actually means. It still works for me, though: I certainly still remember why I got it whenever I look at it.

Number two is my favorite, and of course it's somewhere I can't see it. It's a simplified, stylized sacred heart. I studied art in college and while I'm not Catholic, I love the symbolism of the sacred heart: that a saint is so full of love for God, or Mary or Jesus is so full of love for the world, that their body can't contain it. I got this at a fan gathering, and one of my closest friends held my hands while I was getting it.

Three I got in Las Vegas, because I wanted to get tattooed in Vegas. Not so much of a story there, though I got the Celtic know because I'm more interested in the Irish part of my ancestry than any of the rest.

Four and five are on my tummy, and I got them in Atlantic City at another fan gathering. Four or five of us got tattooed that day. They're the Nordic runes for Wunjo and Raido, and I intend them to mean "joy in the journey", which is a motto I try to live by. I'm told they also mean "blessing on the traveler," which works for me, too.

Six is hardest to see in the picture. About three years ago Neil Gaiman did a speech and a signing at the new Salt Lake City library, which is about 40 miles from where I live, and at the book signing he drew that rat in my copy of "Coraline." I liked it so much I got it tattooed when I was in Las Vegas for a wedding a few months later. It's my most fannish :D.

My next one will be to celebrate me being published: either a heart, like people usually get of names or "Mom", but with "words" instead of a name; or a Chinese dragon, because I read somewhere they're a symbol of creative energy. Or Tigger. Because I like Tigger.

[coffee-n-cocoa.livejournal.com]

I'm too needlephobic to ever get a tattoo. Strangely enough though, I know exactly what design I'd like if hell freezes over and I do end up getting one someday!

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Oh, what's the design? Share the insipiration. :)

[coffee-n-cocoa.livejournal.com]

It's a yin-yang symbol with a stylized dove and raven. The dove's eye is black and the raven's eye is white. I wish I could draw so I could show exactly how I imagine it!

[madeline871.livejournal.com]

Interesting how so far that out of everyone who has a tattoo none have said they don't want another one. I've got 2 and I'm thinking about number 3

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the lines do seem to fall that way. Once you start...

What tattoos do you have?

[madeline871.livejournal.com]

2 Chinese characters on my ankle: Remember, father (Dad died in 1998) and a sunburst that I designed myself on my shoulder (since my astrological sign is Leo).

I think the only reason I haven't gotten number 3 yet is because I can't decide on something that will continue to have significance for me for the rest of my life.

[prettykitty-aya.livejournal.com]

mmm, frank.

*cough* sorry, got a little lost there...

and pete's bartskull tattoo is an evil, evil thing.

...yeah, that's about all i've got as my brain has been reduced to mush at the aforementioned band boys and their ink. ughfrankierogetinmypantsnow.

right. >_>

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

You know, that's precisely what's happened to me. There's me thinking about aesthetics and body-signs and cultural markings, but then there are boyhips and arms and tight arses and mmm, yeah.

Frank Iero is the man. I start grinning madly whilst walking down the street because of him. *is stupidly besotted*

[prettykitty-aya.livejournal.com]

(http://photobucket.com)

(http://photobucket.com)

...it's a pretty common disease, trust me :D

[spessartine.livejournal.com]

I'm very, very fussy about tattoos. I have three myself, but the vast majority of tattoos I see on other people I abolutely hate. I think you have to be really careful about them - design and placement - in order to avoid them looking tacky, honestly.

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Can I ask what and where your tattoos are?

[spessartine.livejournal.com]

They're all blackwork and very simple. I have a line of old welsh on the back of my neck, and an abstract design on the inside of my wrist, and behind my ear. The last one isn't really visible though, because of my hair.