Inner Bicep tattoo design concept

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ScrnE011
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:23 am

I've been looking for a good design for my second tattoo. I want it to be unique so I've been trying to design it myself. I really like the look of tattoos that have clouds in them. For example David Beckham's tattoo:
http://offbeatink.com/wp-content/upload ... sleeve.jpg

So I was thinking for a concept, that the light always shines through the clouds. I drew up a rough sketch... keep in mind I am a horrible artist so the tattoo would look nothing like this, but I wanted to get an idea of what I wanted.
Here's my sketch:
Image

The phrase above the picture is in latin and translates to "we are taught by painful experience". I take a more philosophical meaning from it that we learn what makes us everyday by the experiences in our life.

The tattoo would be on my inner bicep and would be black/gray relying heavily on shading.
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kohlhaas
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:31 am

Cool, take that to a good tattoo artist and have them draw it up and design it.
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EvilJay
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:06 am

Its gonna be boring... Theres no subject matter there. People are just gonna see three triangles with some windbars behind them. You're forever gonna have to explain you tattoo, which in my opinion, means it was a bad idea. You shouldn't have to explain it to people. Thats my $.02
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JesterPoet
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:34 am

EvilJay wrote:Its gonna be boring... Theres no subject matter there. People are just gonna see three triangles with some windbars behind them. You're forever gonna have to explain you tattoo, which in my opinion, means it was a bad idea. You shouldn't have to explain it to people. Thats my $.02
I dunno about that. I think a good artist could take that concept drawing and come up with something really cool that he wouldn't have to explain all that often.

I agree with kohl, go have a great artist draw it up and see what you get. I'm a crappy artist, too (in fact, your picture is probably even beyond my ability) so I can sympathize.
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EvilJay
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:51 am

Tell me how you would turn that into something that wasnt a bunch of abstract shapes with some phrase that no-one is going to understand?
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bboarder06
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:37 pm

I kinda agree with Jay on this one. Seems a little boring to me. May turn out good if you go super realistic, but i have doubts about using triangles and simple cloud forms. And definitely kill the Latin shit. Having a lanuage on you that you dont speak does not make it "cool." Just eliminate the words all together.
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EvilJay
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:58 pm

This is the exact thread I thought of when you posted this(it's your luck day, I was feeling up to the search challenge..):

http://www.everytattoo.com/tattooforum/ ... ight=jitsu

Guy had some cheesy ass abstract logo and it turned into a boring lame tattoo.

Here he was being told going into it what a boring idea it was, to which he didnt listen...:

http://www.everytattoo.com/tattooforum/ ... ight=jitsu

Anyway, good luck.
ScrnE011
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 1:35 pm

I think my 2 minuet sketch is being taking to literal here. Here's an example of a tattoo with a similar concept of the beams, not triangles:
http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/b ... 81x211.jpg

then integrate some realistic clouds with good shading into that.

Also, nobody speaks Latin, its a dead language, doesn't mean its a bad idea for a tat. But regardless, the text was a second thought that I wasn't sure about.

A second idea I had was to somehow depict Pieter Bruegel's painting of the blind leading the blind:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piete ... 4._025.jpg
I'm just not sure if something like that could be translated into a tattoo. A lot of the detail would have to be taken out. It wouldn't have any of the background, just the blind men. Also, I don't think this would work on the inner bicep, probably be better on the forearm or back.
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EvilJay
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 1:43 pm

The travis barker tattoo is a big difference from what you posted. It's subject matter and general idea is pretty clear without explanation. If the light/wind bars are what you're focused on, you need to rethink the idea. That shit is background. You can put that behind anything. You're choosing to put it behind three triangles..
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bboarder06
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:04 pm

Yup that's exactly what I meant about using Latin, but the same goes for italian, French, Arabic, whatever language it may be it seems lame to me to have it written on you if you don't speak the language. Just my personal opinion. But I'm pretty much against any text in tattoos because half the time the piece would work fine without it. For example, if you have a tattoo of an apple there is no damn reason to have apple written next to it. Just something continually reinforced in design school which is applicable to tattoos as well.
Ok that's my rant for the day haha.
As for the Travis barker tattoo, something like that would be nice, but boring by itself.
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JesterPoet
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:04 pm

EvilJay wrote:Tell me how you would turn that into something that wasnt a bunch of abstract shapes with some phrase that no-one is going to understand?
Since I am the crappy artist I claimed to be, there isn't a snowball's chance in Hell I could tell you that.

I never said I wanted it... just that a good artist might be able to render it into something cool.
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reefdiver
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:26 pm

i see an unfinished windmill..........
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JimiDanglez
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:53 pm

I agree with Jay. Man cloud tattoos are a lot harder to pull off than you think. I've seen a lot of them and most look like mashed potatoes rather than clouds. Thats why they are usually filler behind subject matter like portraits, angels, etc. And I agree with bboarder, I wouldn't do the Latin.
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JesterPoet
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 6:08 pm

BlackstoneD wrote:I wouldn't do the Latin.
+1
OICUR4692
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:21 pm

I would do a latina
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