Monday 18 November 2019

Number 75: Get a Tattoo and/or a Piercing


Completed - First: 31 July 2011 Second: 20 October 2017 Third: 31st May 2019 and 9th August 2019
Three currently - John Doe / Cyberpunk *power* / Altered Carbon Dragon Ouroboros

They started slow and for this list, but everyone did say once you get one you want more and in this case at least, they were right.



So I always thought to get a tattoo was going to be a difficult one for me, as I don’t really enjoy pain but had always loved the aesthetic and the culture surrounding them. The ultimate avatar customisation, oneself and I originally came up with a set of rules about what do/not to get, which was nothing more than self-applicable. So if you have anything listed below, there is zero judgement 😝



  • Avoid/No Names – Names change, relationships end, the exception I could see working for some would-be children’s names but even then I’d personally avoid it.
  • Focus on themes/ideas/concepts that have been true to yourself for a long time and unlikely to change too much.
  • Don’t get it drunk/while drinking
  • Research the parlour/artists that match art styles with your designs – Something I did not do initially
  • 5 Year Rule, you want a design wait 5 years if you still want it get it. However that has since scrapped for myself lol


Tattoo 1: 31 July 2011 // John Doe
Wild at Heart - https://www.wildathearttattoo.com/



I decided what I wanted for my first (at that stage my only) one, waited for 5 years with the same idea, there was a series called John Doe, late-night, one season but it really stuck with me. The premise was simple “A man who seems to know everything but his own name helps police solve crimes as he searches for his identity.” He knows everything it’s possible to know, except who he is.

So with that in mind, I wandered into a random tattoo parlour in the city, Wild at Heart and booked it in, without checking anything or knowing much about the process at all. I was so nervous I went with a good friend and it was in, trace, 20 minutes or so and done. Really not that bad but hindsight I would have given a bit more feedback before it was started.




Tattoo 2: 20 October 2017 // Cyberpunk minimalist power symbol

Valley Ink (https://valleyink.com.au)  - Mimi Guoh - (www.instagram.com/mimiguoh)

My second had two things I wanted represented, power and cyberpunk culture, generally favoured minimalist line work. I spent a lot of time browsing and eventually finding a base design/inspiration style that I liked, did a bit of modification to it to suit the look I wanted and then booked it in at the nearby Valley Ink. This time going alone, but only a short session in itself with a quick few days turn around for the fact I wanted it before Perturbator toured Australia a short time later.




Tattoo 3: 31st May 2019 / Linework and 9th August 2019 / Shading // Altered Carbon Dragon Ouroboros
Brisbane Body Art (www.instagram.com/brisbanebodyart) - Glitterslug (www.instagram.com/glitterslugtattoo)

Over the next several years the global geopolitical landscape started changing, and not for the better. Governments basically scrapped any illusion of acting in their constituents favouring giant mega-corporations, damage to the environment was reaching a point of critical mass, protests of environment and financial inequality became far more common etc etc. A very very dystopian trend, similar to those out of Cyberpunk fictions, so I thought why not embrace the Cyberpunk fiction we were living in. So my third tattoo ended up being in two four hour sittings, one for the linework and one for the shading of the dragon oroboros from the book/series Altered Carbon.



My longest session by far and with Glitterslug an artist I met through photographing the local cosplay scene. Very cool chick, super talented and amazing taste




Although that’s three done already thinking of my next few, they said once you get one you will want more and that has very much been the case with myself.



But for now at least I’ll consider Number 75 completed.












1 comments:

This was a lovelly blog post

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