Tattoo design ...am I crazy or ...

[BigonaBianchi]

...well I have a hankjering for my first tatoo...to date my skin remains toned fit an unblemished lol....but I feel i would like to commemorate my trans am jolley with a tattoo....only I have no real design ideas in my head other than I though a band around my thigh would be a good starting place....

Im thinking route map? Flag? States crossed..names icons? dates...dunno...but something tasteful...and not blatent...by which I think I would prefer state icons /motifs to the actual words...so that I know what they mean but its not immediatly obvious to all who view....erm...not that many will view it there anyway....but I digress..

some peeps here say I am mad etc.....but I think I have achieved something I can be proud of so why not?

So ...thoughts from the gallery? and design ideas?

I have yet to committ to getting it done...mostly because I have no design. I have been to two tattoo places...one was really helpful the other scared the crap out of me jus tlooking at what that woman had done to her self...

anyway....its a thought ive been toying with ...

 

[Panter]

You need to put some time in now to decide what you want. Serious time, potentially Years!
How about a photo realistic piece, maybe a silhouetted cyclist crossing a map or something along those lines?

Either way, the most important thing is to find a good artist to do it. I'd recommend joining a tattoing forum and asking for artist recommendations based on the style of work you're after. Please feel free to pm me for recommendations (forums) if you wish.
That's the main thing anyway IMO, there's too many sub-standard studios out there. It's on you for life, you want the best you can get!
There may be a substantial waiting list for your artist, I'm in at the end of this Month, having been waiting just over a Year for my appointment! so, you may want to book your slot based on a rough idea and get it finalised as time goes by.

As for whether to get it or not, as you say, why not?
I agonised over getting my first for Years, and even pm'd Ianruk for input which was gratefully received.
It's kind of a hell of a thing, to mark yourself for life (or scar yourself as some of the haters will refer to it )
But, on the other hand, it's also not that big a deal, it's just a picture on your skin. Nothing more.

Good luck!

EDIT: Few artists you can google to see the sort of things that are possible these days:

Nikko Hurtardo
Victor Portugal
Jason Butcher
David Corden
Jeff Gogue

 

[Archie_tect]

I'd think about it a bit longer... then a bit longer....

 

[Marshmallow_Fluff]

I have a similar problem, as I'm planning to have my bucket list tattoed (already got one) and I find it very tricky to symbolise actions (if that makes any sense)! Now yours it's particulary difficult one, if you don't want it to be predictable and/or cheesy!
What helped me most for the first one, was talking to a good tattoo artist! It's their job and if they are good they can give you ideas that you never thought of!
So, I say, first thing first, find the artist and the style that works for you, then go there and talk about it! You don't need to book an appointment and you don't have to like his ideas!

 

[Toshiba Boy]

and then a bit longer

...do you get the point....

 

[MrJamie]

Having read bits of your blog and comments on here, despite me really not liking tattoos, I dont think it's a bad idea. It's a big achievement and a lifetime highlight so would serve as a reminder of what you can do. I'd probably think about the trip and the emotional highlights of it and if you can put any of them into picture, with maybe something like 2 halves of america divided by the route, but im crap at art.

The thigh band sounds a bit too close to a wedding band though to me

 

[Milo]

Just say no.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

First of all look here - http://tattoofailure.com/

I have long admired the art involved in getting a full sleeve tattoo but have no tattoos myself. I wanted to know if I could get used to an inked arm so I got a marker pen and drew myself a hearty Viking and a few other doodles and enjoyed the novelty, to be honest the novelty enjoyment might have been a little bit wine-fuelled because by the end of the evening every guest at our dinner party had added their uniqueness to the collective art piece that was my arm.

It was all a proper chuckle until the next morning when I awoke to find a perfect imprint of my Viking (and his variously obscenely drawn associates) nicely printed across my naked sleeping beauty (a.k.a the wife). I was in a quandary; should I gently wake her and in a softly spoken voice explain that she now had a Viking helmet on her left nipple, or should I leave home and start a new life in the style of the Littlest Hobo. I crept downstairs to knock up breakfast in bed (music may soothe the savage beast, but a bacon buttie made more sense that tootling a lute to break the news), and as it turned out I didn't have to worry too much about my wife's reaction upon waking up covered in my ink, because she was much more animated by the fact that my experimental arm art had vacated my flesh and taken up residence on our only set of bed sheets.

The moral of the story? Vikings make damn cool tattoos.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

Tattoo artist felt a thigh.band.might.stretch as my thigh.muscles grow. He suggests a line down the thigh...but I don't like that.
I guess it's time to get my coloring pencils out and start drawing some ideas.

I want it to be something people would ask me about ..so not on your face stars and stripes etc..
..I will go.back to the ratio artist and spend time with him like he suggested.

Good Advice above. Thanks.

 

[jonny jeez]

thigh tatts are for girls!

your problem here is that to sufficiently describe the achievement you'll need a massive tattoo a bit like a tour t'shirt with all the states, routes etc. It'll be massive and fugly.

I'd consider an alternative that was small and meaningful only to those who either ask...or know.

perhaps a golden eagle on a bianchi.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

I like that...only I rode a dawes galaxy on that ride. But you are right...I can't get it all in one tatoo...like the eagle idea as I was buzzed by.one as I swam.in lake lewis in Yellowstone.

 

[Trail Child]

I always find the hardest part is the design - you want to find something meaningful, personal & symbolic and it's hard to incorporate all of that in something you will jump up and down for. I also recommend going to a good tattoo artist first with the idea of just designing it first. Most of them (that I know of) are artists first and can listen to your ideas and sketch out some samplers for you to choose from. One of the best tattoos I have ever seen is on my brother. He just told his tattoo artist a meandering vague story and the tattoo guy did his own design down his arm.

 

[Marshmallow_Fluff]

I always find the hardest part is the design - you want to find something meaningful, personal & symbolic and it's hard to incorporate all of that in something you will jump up and down for. I also recommend going to a good tattoo artist first with the idea of just designing it first. Most of them (that I know of) are artists first and can listen to your ideas and sketch out some samplers for you to choose from. One of the best tattoos I have ever seen is on my brother. He just told his tattoo artist a meandering vague story and the tattoo guy did his own design down his arm.

+1

 

[Archie_tect]

...or you could get your design tattooed onto a big piece of pig skin then get it preserved and put in a good frame....you get to enjoy seeing it every day, it doesn't hurt, and that way when people come to your house you can proudly point to it and tell them the story of where and how you came to have it done, but then tell them you decided to have it surgically removed..... without anaesthetic.

 

[jonny jeez]

I like that...only I rode a dawes galaxy on that ride. But you are right...I can't get it all in one tatoo...like the eagle idea as I was buzzed by.one as I swam.in lake lewis in Yellowstone.

Perhaps