Tattoos

This Exercise did not immediately appeal as I don't have any tattoos and don't intend to get any, but my 5 yearold is very keen and kept me going.

I found an interesting site regarding the history of tattoos on the internet and discovered how ancient the art of tattooing is... (5000 years). I was also surprised just how many cultures have a rich history of tattooing. Reasons for getting tattoos range from status plays, beautification, identification and medicine.

Tattoos have been used for masculine shows of strength (all over) aesthetic reasons (Persian ladies), theraputic (Iron-Age), punishment (Ancient Romans and Greeks), branding (Nazi camps).

There are some incredible images available on the internet as well.

The sheer number of tattoos amazed me on this man

These tattoos are more in keeping with the breif

Freak Show or work of art?

This almost looks like a lace bodice top

All this aside, we were asked to design a tattoo based on the word 'Mum' which could also be used as a card. So, as ever, I began with a visual brainstorm. 

Page of ideas including a celtic interlocking bracelet design

At the same time as doing this exercise I had borrowed book called 'Hand Job: A Catalogue of Type - by Michael Perry. I was impressed by the  imaginative ways that letters of the alphabet can be rendered. 

I think that this must by Perry himself

By Adam Hayes

Fascinatingly wierd rendering of words - 'The Be Cause', 'Be Kind' and 'Help me please' by Luke Ramsey

This was the Front Cover of a Royal College of Art Magazine

However, I imagined that I were designing a tattoo for a friend and decided that they would probably like something quite small and subtle, so the idea of a 'friendship bracelet' came about. I thought that I could repeat an interlinking 'MUM' to create a bracelet effect around the wrist. This could then be adapted for the card.

I created the Card using a lino-cut 

And then had a play with it in the computer to see if i could get a more Earth Mother feeling!

I then cut the MUM out to see if it would work as a tattoo in it's own right. I don't think it does. So I went back to the bracelet idea.

I like the friendship bracelet idea which hasn't developed much from my first sketchbook page. Below is a large font version of the 'chains' in the friendship bracelet and a small logo style interlocked Mum for a small tattoo.