Body art, dragons and commissions
Jan. 25th, 2008 12:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wildestrangerI've been thinking a lot about tattoos recently (and there's a post about writing on female bodies and resisting heteronormative constructions of womanhood coming up *g*), and about the kind of tattoo I want to get next. I have been planning the kind of tattoos I want to have overall - how many, in what locations, what kind - and the next one, I think, will be the most important. Not only because I'm thinking of getting it next summer once I finish my PhD, but also because this will be the largest and most noticeable one.
I'm still a bit undecided about how visible I like my tattoos to be. At the moment I have a celtic knot on my lower back and a swirly green thing on my calf, both something I can show and hide as I choose. Not that I'd ever be ashamed of my tattoos, or think of them as something that shouldn't be seen, but I like the idea that letting them be seen is something I can choose. And I like having the option of not showing any of them, so no knuckle or neck tattoos for me. ;)
But for this one, the most significant one, I started thinking about what would be the ideal tattoo. If I could have only one, what would it be. What would be the best location, among all my various body parts. And, of course, where do I most like to see tattoos on other people.
In my first year at uni I remember meeting a girl at some party who had a gecko on her belly, with a long tail that curved down so that it could be easily seen under her shirt. I remember thinking that that was the coolest and most beautiful thing ever, and talking to her about it, about tattoos on bellies. I also remember that my friends and I expressed some concern over what would happen if she ever had children, and she pointedly said that she wasn't going to. And for the rest of the year, all the fake tattoos I got were on my belly. *g*
As body parts go, my belly has always been the part I like least about myself. Those of you who've seen me know that I am a very small person, and very thin, but the belly has been the one place where I do have some extra fat. I have spent years trying to get rid of it (and really, there isn't very much of it, I'm the only person who notices) and hating it. However, in the past few years I've become used to having a little belly, and stopped seeing it as a horrible deformity marring my body (I know, the drama of teenage years!). It's actually the part of my body I'm most likely to show these days - I like flashing my hipbones at people and it's become sort of my thing - I may not have curves or cleavage but I do have sharp hipbones! - and something I'm inclined to like about myself.
The idea of having a tattoo on my belly has always been attractive, but there have been reasons why I've chosen not to. One, that in case of pregnancy, it might get distorted. And two, since it's the part of my body most likely to develop flab, the skin might get stretched anyway. However, at the age of almost 29 I can easily say that I'm not going to have children. And that my belly is unlikely to increase (or decrease, for that matter) for other reasons - my weight and shape have been pretty much the same for 15 years now. Considering how difficult it is to make myself eat anything at all, I'm really not worried about getting fat.
And also, I've noted that tattoos on bellies have not become less appealing over the years. I don't find Pete Wentz that attractive, but the bartskull tattoo? Hmm, yeah. Not something I'd ever say to him, but really, he looks best without his shirt on (and with his pants ON, thank you). There's also a picture about Lyn-Z with a tattoo peeking from under her shirt, which makes me reconsider my sexuality (much like the doctor, I'm slowly coming to think that I might have one. Maybe.).
So getting my next (biggest! most important!) tattoo on my belly is starting to sound like a good idea. I like the idea of what it says about me, both to others (no, I am not going to have children, no, I'm not scared of not having unblemished skin) and to myself (no, my belly isn't that horrible, or something to be ashamed of).
Now, what image? Fortunately, I do have an answer to that. Which is...
Dragons!
Yes, you can laugh at me. *g* And no, I've never played D&D or videogames, or been into that kind of fantasy art. Until recently, the only fantasy books with dragons that I've read have been The Hobbit and Harry Potter.
However, dragons do possess two of the necessary requirements for this - they have wings, and they have tails. I have a thing about flying, you see. And it needs to be something with a tail, so that they tail may curve along my waist and tease viewers with what else is hidden under my shirt.
Also, I've been reading and really enjoying Naomi Novik's Temeraire series - not in such a way that I'd get a dragon tattoo because I love Temeraire so much, lovable as he is, but in the UK editions there is some really interesting cover art. Stylised, mostly black and white drawings of dragons, with Temeraire growing from a slim and svelte little dragon in the first book to one with larger wings and a little pudgy belly in the later ones. And there is, you know, a dragon with a little belly. And I may have a thing about bellies. *g*
So, a dragon it shall be, but I'm still debating whether I want to use whatever I can find online, or get one commissioned. I like the idea of getting one drawn for me, something that would be unique and just what I like, but I'm not sure about how long it would take, or how much it would cost and such. I know some of you have done that; what would you advise? Have you had good experiences with commissions? Who would you recommend?
Having looked at thousands and thousands of dragon designs online, I'm not sure I could find something that I liked well enough. And since this is going to be permanent body art, it does need to be perfect.
Any thoughts, comments? Pictures of dragons? *g*
I'm still a bit undecided about how visible I like my tattoos to be. At the moment I have a celtic knot on my lower back and a swirly green thing on my calf, both something I can show and hide as I choose. Not that I'd ever be ashamed of my tattoos, or think of them as something that shouldn't be seen, but I like the idea that letting them be seen is something I can choose. And I like having the option of not showing any of them, so no knuckle or neck tattoos for me. ;)
But for this one, the most significant one, I started thinking about what would be the ideal tattoo. If I could have only one, what would it be. What would be the best location, among all my various body parts. And, of course, where do I most like to see tattoos on other people.
In my first year at uni I remember meeting a girl at some party who had a gecko on her belly, with a long tail that curved down so that it could be easily seen under her shirt. I remember thinking that that was the coolest and most beautiful thing ever, and talking to her about it, about tattoos on bellies. I also remember that my friends and I expressed some concern over what would happen if she ever had children, and she pointedly said that she wasn't going to. And for the rest of the year, all the fake tattoos I got were on my belly. *g*
As body parts go, my belly has always been the part I like least about myself. Those of you who've seen me know that I am a very small person, and very thin, but the belly has been the one place where I do have some extra fat. I have spent years trying to get rid of it (and really, there isn't very much of it, I'm the only person who notices) and hating it. However, in the past few years I've become used to having a little belly, and stopped seeing it as a horrible deformity marring my body (I know, the drama of teenage years!). It's actually the part of my body I'm most likely to show these days - I like flashing my hipbones at people and it's become sort of my thing - I may not have curves or cleavage but I do have sharp hipbones! - and something I'm inclined to like about myself.
The idea of having a tattoo on my belly has always been attractive, but there have been reasons why I've chosen not to. One, that in case of pregnancy, it might get distorted. And two, since it's the part of my body most likely to develop flab, the skin might get stretched anyway. However, at the age of almost 29 I can easily say that I'm not going to have children. And that my belly is unlikely to increase (or decrease, for that matter) for other reasons - my weight and shape have been pretty much the same for 15 years now. Considering how difficult it is to make myself eat anything at all, I'm really not worried about getting fat.
And also, I've noted that tattoos on bellies have not become less appealing over the years. I don't find Pete Wentz that attractive, but the bartskull tattoo? Hmm, yeah. Not something I'd ever say to him, but really, he looks best without his shirt on (and with his pants ON, thank you). There's also a picture about Lyn-Z with a tattoo peeking from under her shirt, which makes me reconsider my sexuality (much like the doctor, I'm slowly coming to think that I might have one. Maybe.).
So getting my next (biggest! most important!) tattoo on my belly is starting to sound like a good idea. I like the idea of what it says about me, both to others (no, I am not going to have children, no, I'm not scared of not having unblemished skin) and to myself (no, my belly isn't that horrible, or something to be ashamed of).
Now, what image? Fortunately, I do have an answer to that. Which is...
Dragons!
Yes, you can laugh at me. *g* And no, I've never played D&D or videogames, or been into that kind of fantasy art. Until recently, the only fantasy books with dragons that I've read have been The Hobbit and Harry Potter.
However, dragons do possess two of the necessary requirements for this - they have wings, and they have tails. I have a thing about flying, you see. And it needs to be something with a tail, so that they tail may curve along my waist and tease viewers with what else is hidden under my shirt.
Also, I've been reading and really enjoying Naomi Novik's Temeraire series - not in such a way that I'd get a dragon tattoo because I love Temeraire so much, lovable as he is, but in the UK editions there is some really interesting cover art. Stylised, mostly black and white drawings of dragons, with Temeraire growing from a slim and svelte little dragon in the first book to one with larger wings and a little pudgy belly in the later ones. And there is, you know, a dragon with a little belly. And I may have a thing about bellies. *g*
So, a dragon it shall be, but I'm still debating whether I want to use whatever I can find online, or get one commissioned. I like the idea of getting one drawn for me, something that would be unique and just what I like, but I'm not sure about how long it would take, or how much it would cost and such. I know some of you have done that; what would you advise? Have you had good experiences with commissions? Who would you recommend?
Having looked at thousands and thousands of dragon designs online, I'm not sure I could find something that I liked well enough. And since this is going to be permanent body art, it does need to be perfect.
Any thoughts, comments? Pictures of dragons? *g*
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-25 02:41 pm (UTC)But yes, I shall try to find someone in fandom. Not that there aren't artists out there who'd do it as well, but I'd feel slightly more comfortable if it was someone from fandom. But we shall see.