Last Sunday, I got the new tattoo work done that I'm rambled about on the board a little bit over the past several weeks. I did take pictures Monday morning, after the first lubrication, but haven't gotten around to posting. It's healing nicely (though the itchies are very annoying at this stage). Was 2.5 hours of work getting it done (did outline and shading in one sitting). That is definitely around my limit for this sort of thing. I was completely wiped out.
I designed and drew the central medallion (I can't free-hand blackwork curves at all, so Dan, the tattoo artist at Industrial Strength Tattoo and Piercing did that part and merged the design, though I did the final re-draw on velum of the outline). What is this mess? Okay, the central piece, in celtic knotwork, for me represents human-created approach to the divine, of all sorts. It is intricate, and often beautiful, but also twists in various ways. Within the center of its weave are darkness (the black shading), because humanity casts shadows when they create. Within the shadows are four hebrew characters: Ayin, in Green (with green bounding in that quadrant) for Earth, Tzaddi, in Purple (with purple bounding) for Air (purple being the chromo pair to yellow, the usually air color... I did want to use yellow), Samekh, in Red (with red bounding) for Fire, and Qoph, in blue (with blue bounding), in the West for Water. Thus, all the elements, and thus all creation, are wrapped in our created perception. This all rests upon a tribal black work pattern of wings, that is the unconscious and intuitive perception of the divine, for indeed it is upon this that the approach is carried forward. In the center, balancing and mediating all, is the Chi Rho, which is Christ. It isn't shaded or emphasized, because it is integral to the pattern, not something apart.
I designed the piece to express my own belief patterns, and am very pleased with it. Center Medallion, Left Edge, and Right Edge of the work. Sorry about the glare... taking the picture with flash, not being able to see exactly how it looked, and having a new coat of moisterizer led to it. Some of what is covered by glare can be seen in the edge views.
Just sharing.
LthrOttr |
