I got a new tattoo last summer. Nu means Now in Swedish.
Four reasons why I did this:
Today I once again went to Nille at Salvation Tattoo to get some ink done.
I have always been fascinated by mechanics, robotics and mechatronics, and for the last few years I have been thinking about how to incorporate that into a tattoo. Early sketches covered basically the whole back, incorporating the biohazard sign I already have on my back into the design. Though I like biomechanical tattoos to a certain degree I now think an entire backpiece would be too much for this type of design (ask me again in five years though). The particular idea with a cogwheel using a heart as the hub first crossed my mind about a year ago, and shortly after I did the first design.
I have doodled on this design and changed quite a bit during the last year. The main problem lately has been that I have done too much details and thin lines. Since human skin is a living material it is extremely hard to make small details by pushing down ink between the skin layers (which is basically what you do). Even if you do, chances are that the details will be lost. Ink is a liquid, and liquids float and spreads out, making everything a bit fuzzy at close range. This is considerably more noticable on older tattoos, where it can be hard (or even impossible) to make out text that was clearly readable when the tattoo was first made. I have still kept a certain degree of details, mostly for thin light lines and shadows. We’ll see how they look like a few weeks from now. Also, it is quite a bit darker now (especially the lines) than it will be when healed.
I put in some symbolism in it as well, but will not go into details (let’s just say I’ve been hurt enough times). Also, can you find the Douglas Adams reference? 🙂
Tattooing your chest is a strange thing. It really hurts, but you don’t always feel the pain where you should. When Nille first started on the top right side, I felt it in the shoulder. Moving down, all of the sudden it felt like someone put a soldering iron to my nipple. This was not quite as bad as doing the elbow, but not far from it. Good thing I had my phone with me; Playing Solitaire and FreeCell partly took my mind from the pain – It helps to concentrate on something else.
So, what do you think?
I got another tattoo yesterday by Nille at Salvation Tattoo, a serotonin molecule.
Serotonin is both a classical neurotransmitter and a signaling molecule. To simplify things, it is a brain chemical that also can be found throughout the body (primarily in the digestive system). Its functions are among other things to help control happiness, sleep, aggression, impulsiveness, appetite, sexual lust, body temperature and metabolism. Due to a condition of mine, I have lower serotonin levels than most people. To fix that, I decided to add some of my own. 😉
I have stylized the molecule by replacing the letters HO, HN and NH2 with rings. Aside from that, I have thickened the lines and changed the angles on the inner parts slightly. If this should be entirely correct, I should replace the corners with rings as well, as they in this case represent carbon. But I chose style over substance, everything is still explainable and it looks much better this way. Big thanks to Micke Lind for the input on the molecule design!
Tattooing the elbow is probably the most painful ink I’ve done so far. The hearts on my inner upper arms did hurt a lot (and longer), but there were more twitching involved when doing the elbow.
Man, this has been (and will be) a busy week. I’m dead tired as there has been late nights and early mornings. Some renovating is being done in the building, and drilling and heavy machinery has started around 7 all week.
Monday: Shopping round 1 for Friday
Tuesday: Shopping round 2 for Friday
Wednesday: Getting tattooed again by Mikael at House of Pain Sthlm. Didn’t take any pictures but will do and upload later when tattoos have healed a bit. Placed on my upper inner arms, so it hurt a lot more than on the outside of the arm. Took about three hours and is still a bit “fleshy” and red. Shopping round 3 for Friday.
Thursday: Shopping round 4 for Friday. Cooked and baked for about 8 hours. Cleaned a bit.
Friday: Shopping round 5. Other preparations. Final cooking. Big party with mustache theme.
Saturday: My 30th birthday. Cleaning up. Having Cake.
Sunday: Washing. Going to the movies to see Watchmen.
All my tattoos are deeply personal and have a symbolic meaning to me – they are not just there for the looks. Which is one of the reasons I prefer not to reveal the motif to people before getting the tattoo. It’s easier to motivate and explain once it is in place, plus I like to surprise people. But since I have designed (or in the case of Frankenstein/Einstein, heavily manipulated) them all myself, the design is always shared with a few people for feedback before immortalizing it.
I have three scheduled tattoo sessions for four tattoos this spring. All sessions will take about four hours each.
This Wednesday I will get one on each inner upper arm (that’s really gonna hurt).
In May, I will get one on me left chest (also a painful place, I’ve heard).
In April I’ve had an appointment since October or something. When I first started to sketch about a year ago, the motif were supposed to be organic. A number of variants have gone through (biological/technological/numerical/math/art/pop culture reference), but none have felt so right or so personal as the one I’ve finally decided to do (though most people will not understand why). Aside from a much needed reminder it has a deep connection to a certain condition that will always be with me. I’m 90% certain it will be placed around my left elbow and move down the lower arm. Preliminary sketches indicate it will look good. Really good. I will do some more photo manipulations (Frank <3 Photoshop) to decide on final size and angle.
This will be interesting.
Yesterday my gf M went to Salvation Tattoo to get her latest ink from Nille (who has tattooed both me and her in the past).
The motif was a custom scene portraying Snufkin and the Moomintroll on a bridge. It took about 2½ hours (not including preparations), and she was very happy with the results.
If you recognize the tree (previously done) that it joins with, it is the Tree of Gondor from Lord of the Rings.
Gallery: M’s Moomin Tattoo
I just got home from the tattoo parlor House of Pain Sthlm where I have spent money (and some pain) and Micke has spent hours putting ink in my arm(s).
This one only took three hours, compared to about 4,5 hours for Frankenstein. They are about the same size but this has less details due to Einstein’s light hair and smoother skin.
Nah, less talk and more pictures:
I also scheduled a new time for my next tattoo project as well: March 11th. Aside from the two times I already have scheduled in April/May with Nille at Salvation Tattoo. 🙂