RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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I got a tattoo-of-my-choice as a birthday present from my girlfriend and have a sketching appointment next week with the artist. Problem is - I have NO IDEA what to get.
It'll be my right shoulder, that's for sure. But... what?
A d20 on a Games Workshop black sun, surrounded by Paizo goblins?
An anchor, a mermaid and the name of my just-born daughter?
The guy doesn't do stuff out of books, and refuses cliché work... which means I need to show up with some decent ideas and sketches, so we can work them out and decide on a final design.
You guys got any ideas?
You probably want to really think about this a bit. I have a tattoo that I'm really happy with but I really had to think about what I wanted to put on my body since it's permanent and all. I have a picture of the grim reaper with words around him that say "In life only one thing is certain". It has some personal meaning to me and that's why I got it. If you are just going to get a tattoo to get a tattoo I suggest "Ask me about my tattoo!" It will be one of those metahumor things.
I got a tattoo-of-my-choice as a birthday present from my girlfriend and have a sketching appointment next week with the artist. Problem is - I have NO IDEA what to get.
It'll be my right shoulder, that's for sure. But... what?
I just suggest you get the >Duchess of Cambridge's Face< as a tatoo on your shoulder.
Seoni...better yet, this version of Seoni!
In all seriousness, though, I would go for your baby girl's name; it seems like the least chance for an appointment for laser removal at some point in your life. I've never gone for tattoos, but if I ever changed my mind, my daughters' names would be the first.
IHO don't get any kind of gaming tat, i.e. dice, iconics like Seoni, Valieros, etc, brand names of any kind. The same goes for tats of comic book or real book characters. To the non-gaming community you'll look like a dweeb and be the subject of derision.
Your best bet is to go with what looks good and has a timeless value so 5 to 10 years down the road you don't regret getting it and it won't look dated.
If you get any kind of script on the tat make damn sure that your tattooist can spell.
If you spend a lot of time in the sun avoid colors as they will fade fast and sometimes not evenly, use black only. Fine line work has a similar problem with sunlight, the tats will blur and become a big blob of ink.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Heathy, Velcro Zipper, those sights will haunt me every time I open close my eyelids! Spectacular! Hard to beat!
I've already got a few boring little tats, this will be the first "serious" one. It's as much about what not to do, and what sort of background to use to link a few special items or symbols together. That, and narrowing the field of all the cool stuff that could go in there!
Caffeine molecule, star wars (though after Heathy's link...), rpgs, 80's arcade games, cthulhu, guitars, cyberpunk, various equations... too much cool stuff in the world :-)
My personal policy was always that I wouldn't get a tattoo until I found something I believed in enough that I was SURE I'd want it on my body for the rest of my life.
Seconded. This isn't a new haircut you could try out. It's not a sweater you're not quite sure about.
This thing is going to stay on. Getting them off the skin again apparently isn't a trivial matter.
So I wouldn't look around until I find something I don't mind having on me. The idea would have to positively jump out at me.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Thanks for the concern everyone :-)
I should have been more specific, I think. I'm not asking for an idea that makes me say "Cool, let's do that tomorrow!" I've been talking about getting a new, decent tattoo for about the last ten years and in that time I've thought seriously about everything from cartoon characters (Lone Wolf & Cub, Calvin & Hobbes, Billy & the Boingers, Groo, Sandman) to molecules (caffeine, haemoglobin, serotonin, LSD, MDMA, dopamine, adrenaline) to chemistry (whole periodic table, various syntheses, d-orbitals, pi-bonds, benzene ring as monkeys) to maths (Mandlebrot set, strange attractors, Konigsberg bridges, quotient rule, quadratic equation, pi, platonic solids (dice!!!)) to oriental stuff (medieval prints of samurai - the ones with moustaches and no perspective), celtic symbols & patterns (I'm Irish), RPG imagery (mind flayers, aboleths, beholders, an SSI Gold Box cover, my Asheron's Call character, the Balrog...), something from my childhood - films (Star Wars, Gremlins, Alien(s), Bladerunner, Buckaroo Banzai, Bill & Ted's, Predator) or TV series (Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, The A Team, Dr. Who, Battle of the Planets, Monty Python)...
The list is almost endless and I've sketched, discussed and picked out hundreds of scenes, images, combinations, logos and texts in that time. The thing is, it's all a blur now and I've forgotten how stoked I was about the ideas I had first since they seem passé now.
I had this idea that this thread would have me look at stuff in a new light, get inspired about things I'd forgotten and also help me see the things I don't want or that are mediocre after all. If I have five or six ideas by Tuesday that I really, really like then I can go to the appointment well-prepared and talk to the artist about them all. We'll make some sketches, and then probably another sketch appointment.
At the minute it's not separating wheat from chaff, but separating wheat from slightly less delicious wheat.
I've thought seriously about everything from... to maths (Mandlebrot set, strange attractors, Konigsberg bridges, quotient rule, quadratic equation, pi, platonic solids (dice!!!))
I had a student last year who had a fibonacci sequence tattooed on the inside of her wrist. Good kid...