I’ve had this idea bubbling around in my head for a while now. A simple black line, about one inch wide and straight when the arm was outstretched. But, as we rarely hold our arms out straight, the line would curve around. I’m a little unsure about the shoulder. I like the idea of a circle there, similarly thick and black, but part of me thinks it might be good to have it traverse the tops of the scapula and meet the line from the other arm. I’m leaning towards the circle

I really like the idea of the curves this will make. A straight line, and yet, when typing it will start at the outside of the wrist then curve off to the side as it approaches the elbow. I probably wouldn’t run it over the actual elbow, as I’ve drawn it. I was just having fun with how the muscles curve as our forearms twist.

This tattoo has already passed my primary requirement, which is to like the idea for over six months, and due to its simplicity I think I could actually do the left arm myself, which would be pretty cool I think. I wouldn’t attempt the right arm. Of course, one handed tattooing isn’t something you’d want to attempt on a normal tattoo, but for something like this…. Maybe I could have the person who does the right arm just do outlines for me on the left which I could fill in.

[Update Aug. 2 2008] I see tattoos as petty serious endeavors that should not be entered into lightly, and one of this size and visibility would really suck to be stuck with if it didn’t end up looking as good as you imagined it. Fortunately, there’s a simple way to find out, especially with simple solid color designs, and that’s Sharpie. Pretty much every time you’ve seen a tattoo on some hot model (male or female) in a commercial or magazine ad, it’s actually just Sharpie. Sure there are some exceptions but…

Anyway, with that in mind I set to work. The first problem was how to get the line straight. Truth be told, I didn’t think it would be nearly as difficult as it was. I thought, I could just hold out a retractable ruler, or piece of tape and follow the line. While the ruler might have worked it would have required two people and even then it would have been hard to follow the contours of the flesh. So, I went with the tape idea, which was still damn hard. I was mentally imagining it being a straight line going down the middle of my arm, but it turns out that in most arm positions that actually ends up being the back, and I wanted something that was down the middle when viewed with my arm hanging in a relaxed position to my side, but, that was also visible when in my more frequent hands on a table (typing, eating, holding a drink) type position.

After about ten minutes of taping, untaping, and retaping I think I got it. One thin line with a non-permanent ball point to make sure the positioning was decent (which sadly involved taking the tape off and then trying to get it on and lined up again after) and then on with the sharpie. Tammy suggested I go with a thinner line than I had originally drawn here, and after much consideration I think she was right, but looking at the pictures below, and talking with friends who, like me, liked the drawing better, I took the line in the pic, starting at the elbow and widened it out to about half an inch as it reached the top with an angled top line similar to the drawing. It made a world of difference. For the top I’m thinking of a circle like the drawing but more akin to a chinese brush-stroke.

My favorite part of this design is the curve. I love the fact that a straight line bends into such a graceful curve. Tapering the line emphasized it even more. I don’t think people realize just how much their flesh twists and stretches around them on a regular basis. While it’s not shown below, when my arm hangs down in a standard relaxed position the line curves forwards just a little.

I think I’ll wear what you see below for the rest of the weekend (not that I could wash it off sooner if I wanted to), and if I’m still happy with it stroll down to one of the local tattoo places and have it made permanent before the sharpie wears off entirely and I have to figure out the positioning again. Now if only I could draw it on my right arm too.

After talking with friends, I tapered it. And this is exactly why you don’t just rush into getting a tattoo:

Tags: me, tattoo

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