[Warning: body mods]
I liked Ieva’s badger design so much I asked my old friend Leah K. if she’d be willing to turn it into a tattoo on me. I was scheduled to have that done last December but I was interrupted by my kidney stone. Her schedule’s very busy but she poked me a couple weeks ago and offered to come in on her off-day. And, so it happened.
My first piece of ink was done by Tux Farrar in 1984, back in Baltimore. In those days, it was a kind of sleazy thing and the tattoo shops were usually in the bad part of town next to the porn theaters (back when there were “porn theaters”) – I was the quintessentially nerdy kid who showed up on a bicycle.
The technology and techniques have changed a lot since then. They used to use deodorant as a transfer medium to move a copy of the design – now it’s all inkjet transfer paper. Even the needle-machine is different; nowadays Leah is using some cool-ass rotary thing, which has a horizontal motor instead of a doorbell interrupter. I’m sure that’s a much more reliable design.
I’m so white.
Thanks Ieva and Leah! I will keep this always.
Leah usually does her work in “watercolor” style. It’s fantastic. [instagram] It has been so fun and fascinating to watch her style evolve over the 20-odd years I’ve known her. This is “hufflepuff” – another badger design Leah did on someone else:
That’s beautiful! Nice job, Ieva and Leah! I love Leah’s style of tattoo art. She has done some amazing things, her watercolor type technique is really lovely.
I agree that Leah’s “hufflepuff” design is very beautiful.
Over the years I have seen artists doing watercolor-like artworks in various other techniques, for example acrylics or drawing inks. And then there’s me who doesn’t get a similar look even when I’m actually using watercolors. For example, I did this painting https://img00.deviantart.net/707d/i/2017/185/4/b/badger_tribal_by_avestra-dbf1aal.jpg with watercolors, but it doesn’t even look like it. It’s interesting how a certain look can be achieved by using various different art materials. Or how one and the same medium can be used to achieve various very different looks.
This is very cool even as (the idea of) tattoos really creeps me out.* I love the … flowyness of the fur in your design, Ieva.
The Hufflebadger looks awesome, I would hang it on my wall!
*Thank you for the warning, Marcus.
DUDE! You have no idea (or maybe you do). I can never tan, I only burn, when exposed to the sun without sunscreen for more than 15 minutes.
Mother Nature is making changes to my carcass every day. Few of them involve increased loveliness or liveliness. Cannot imagine adding body art to the scene.
I’m remembering that way back when, the army said one tattoo was OK, but two were one too many. Plus, we were warned that an infected tattoo would be cause for courts-martial (damaging government property, you know). Also, remembering my abnormal psychology course where more than one tat was deemed proof of mental illness. Times and mores change, not always for the better.
A beautiful design beautifully inked.