Inked Again

Something a bit different today. Millions of people have tattoos, they've been getting them for centuries and by no means am I covering any ground that hasn't been trodden a millions times before by writing about my experience.

But you never know, there might be someone out there who gets inspired or educated from this one post, and ultimately, that's my goal.

Since getting my first tattoo from artist extraordinaire, Amy Duncan, in November '08, I knew I would be getting another as soon as I could, I just had to decide on a design. I knew I wanted Amy to ink me again and I wanted us to actually work together on a design, rather than a simple tracing job. To cut a long story slightly less long, I decided on a bat. I booked my flight to Melbourne and a two hour session at Chapel Tattoo.

In searching for bat images for ideas, I stumbled across this amazing painting "Bat Before the Moon" by Biho Takashi.

I love the way the moon fades into the night sky. I also love the way it's almost like a comic panel in its layout. But the bat itself is more like a flying mouse, and as a tattoo design, I would prefer if the bat was facing the viewer.

(more after the jump)