memento mori: the conclusion

Yeah, remember how I designed a tattoo of Rukia with memento mori themes?
I got it done!  Yay!  Here is the album.

Biggest tattoo yet, 2 sittings for a total of 4 hrs 45 mins.
I think it turned out great.  The only thing about it was getting used to something so big covering my leg.  But it's pretty much solidified my resolve to become a tattoo covered freak, starting with my legs :) Calves/shins are next!

This will probably be my only 'anime' tattoo, and I don't think I could have chosen a better character.
In my case, my tattoos are about loving something so much and my enthusiasm and belief in them so great that they need to burst out and be manifested into pictures on my skin.  Every one of them gives me kind of a private happiness.
Fuck what anyone else thinks. (unless they think you're a total badass.  That's ok)

Will You Regret That Tat? #Shit Cosmo Says

A truly regrettable article, published by Cosmopolitan (US) in their August 2012 issue.
Reposting this from when I wrote it on facebook back in July 2012, because articles like this still make my blood boil.

Worst.  Issue. Ever.

Here is the article.

Usually I don't care about the trivial fluff printed in Cosmo.  I do not take them seriously.  They are so full of shit all the time that it's hilarious.  Very few things get me riled up when the objective is brain candy.

But when they try to approach a topic that concerns young women and their health, identity and safety and EPICALLY FAIL at providing advice for it, I simply could not sleep until I cast my two cents into the void that is their editorial mailbox. 

Here is my letter to the editor.  I didn't make the editorials page (lol), nor did they apologize for the article :P

Hi Cosmo,

I am writing out of concern with your flowchart feature "Will You Regret That Tat?" in the August 2012 issue of Cosmo which made the most appalling conclusion in determining what kind of tattoo would be "least regrettable".  The resulting advice was that if the planned tattoo were a song lyric or quote (some ELSE's words... with deep personal meaning of course!), in black or blue ink, SMALLER than a compact and being tattooed anywhere but the lower back, chest, neck, face or finger... then "GO FOR IT!"

The resulting tattoo that I could imagine makes me cringe- how much text can you fit in 3-4 inches?.  It would be a smooshed, illegible mess in a matter of months.  Terrible, appalling advice from a writer who clearly has no idea what makes a successful tattoo.

ANYONE considering a text tattoo should make DAMN SURE the thing will be legible in 10 years, which means large, easily discernable letters with proper spacing and a bold, attractive font- because you also want it to look good, right?  Ever seen Lady Gaga's upper arm tattoo?  Smaller than a compact my ass.

Obviously, if you aren't willing to make the commitment to the large size- especially with text- DON'T.  WHY would you get a text tattoo only to NOT be able to read it?!

I have taken the liberty of composing my own version of "Will You Regret That Tat?"

DON'T

• if it is flash art*, or directly from the first 5 pages of Google images
• if it is ANYBODY'S name- pet, husband/boyfriend, deceased relative or band/artist.  Wouldn't they be better commemorated with a picture representing them? (I don't necessarily mean portrait)
• if you are getting it to impress/rebel against somebody.
• if you are going to be stingy with the cost.  Pay to get it done right by someone reputable.  If you can't afford it, DON'T.

GO FOR IT

• if you have personally gathered picture reference for it and designed it, or had your tattoo artist design it
• if you are willing to put sunscreen on it constantly every day that it will be exposed to the sun- forever.
•  if it is easily hidden with both casual and conservative business dress.
•  if you are willing to commit to a size that will properly convey the detail that you want- LISTEN TO YOUR TATTOO ARTIST ON THIS ONE.  If they are any good, they will give you a heads up on how it will age. Small (less than 3 inches square) is only good for extremely simple, graphic renderings.  Nervous about your tattoo being seen?  Then why bother with one at all?

A feature which could have been simplified with more practical advice or focused on health and safety in regards to this popular cultural trend turned out to be profoundly disturbing by how ignorantly it was composed, seemingly by the opinions of someone who has never had a tattoo.

... closing greeting to editor, hopefully conveyed with a chilly tone of voice.

/endrant

*I am aware that there is some really incredible flash art by awesome artists out there- if you can wade through everything else. This is still a don't because so much flash art is reproduced without consent or acknowledgement of the artist!

Also.  This is just the basic shit I could come up with WHILE READING THE FEATURE.  Common sense, really. 

EPIC FAIL COSMO.

My personal rule is "go big or go home".  And I learned that from experience.

memento mori

My mortality tattoo design.  Time flies, beauty is fleeting, etc etc.  There is so much personal symbolism and meaning embedded into this design that when I look at it I get that super-hyper-anxious feeling that I need it tattooed NOW NOW NOW.

I admire the hell out of sugar skull-painted girl tattoos but was never sure if they would suit me, or if I was badass enough to rock one.  But then I realized: why the hell not?!
My only regret with my current tattoos is that I did not go bigger and better.  So I might as well start somewhere.

Wondered briefly if I would regret having Rukia tattooed on me, but my husband brought up a good point: "You will never stop loving anime".  It's true :)
And outside of a Bleach reference, people will see a tattoo of fierce, short-haired asian woman with sugar skull makeup, on a fierce, short-haired asian woman.
That's not going to change :)

Will hopefully have this on my right thigh by the end of the year.  Biggest tattoo yet.

Rukia: Death Goddess

Dia de los Muertos style Rukia: Ink and Watercolor

Combining my love for Rukia and tattoo style art.

 Sado Yasutora would approve...?

A note about my art: I don't have much free time to draw and I am a speed demon-- I complete whatever I want to draw in 1-2 hours.  Maybe another 2 hours if I color it completely, like this one.

Almost everything you see here will be in pencil and occasional ink pen.  I very rarely color anything but I prefer colored pencil or watercolor.

Sadly, I just can't compete with all the digital painters and tablet drawings about there-- I'm super duper old school.