Tattoo 101 : Tattoo Design

There are two main things when it comes to preparing for a tattoo…numero uno would be of course picking the tattoo design (duh!) and second of all is picking the location of the design. To me the latter is just as important as the design itself cos different designs look better in certain locations.

Rihanna's hip tatt

 Which is why I always advise people to do a thorough internet search first to see what other people have done. I usually research each tattoo for about a year cos it’s absolutely vital that it looks fab and in the location I want it at. This is for life after all peeps!

Nicole Richie's bow on the neck

Or sometimes you might have a rough idea of what you want but you could be artistically challenged like me (I can’t even draw a decent stick-man!) and need to see what others have done to help ‘shape’ your idea and design. And unless you’ve got a relative or friend who has the innate talents of Picasso…ok so that’s a stretch…maybe not Picasso but at least someone whose drawings elicits ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ as opposed to laughter (yes I’m talking bout me!!!), I would highly recommend either looking through tattoo books (which are available at the tattoo parlours of course) or the internet.

I prefer the internet cos you can Google the most insane things (like “tattoo you should get if you want to kill your grandma and bury her under the stairs”) and still come up with results which are pretty darn close to what you were looking for!

Alyssa Milano's orubus on the wrist

So for ideas on designs, you can check out this website which has pictures of people with their ink(s) all categorized nicely for easy navigation : Tattoo Designs

And while I know they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, that adage does not apply in the world of tattooing. In fact nothing screams loser more than copying someone's ink and it's (more than enough) reason to get bitch-slapped into oblivion.

So only use it to get ideas for your own design(s)

Good luck!

Images : Source Google Images

Tribute to Michael Part #1

I've been back and forth about whether or not i should get a Michael Jackson tribute tattoo

But the other day, while listening to his album in my car, i found myself in tears....for the hundreth time since his death. And somehow that helped me make up my mind about it....cos frankly i don't think i've cried over anyone...be it relatives who have died, friends who have passed on, dead pets, ex-boyfriends etc etc....for this long!

I mean sure you feel the pang of loss and everything but to still sob one year on is quite alien to me. This man has without a doubt touched me in such a profound way...of course i would have preferred it literally la :p

For the uniniated, Michael, the first true love of my life, passed away on my birthday. A cruel cruel irony i know. And this friday marks his 1 year anniversary so i've decided to get him immortalized on me forever on that day itself.

I have spent the last one year trying to decide on what exactly to get cos of course i didn't want to get what everyone or anyone else had. An internet search revealed some pretty interesting and some scary tribute tattoos

I had actually initially decided on getting his legs in his signature 'point' pose cos i noticed no one had done it before and if anything, Michael was the one who started me (and about a million other people) on my deep love for dancing. And when i did my search last year no one had gotten it done yet.

But when i googled it again this year i found that quite a few people had gotten it done, so that sent me back to the drawing board....quite literally cos i figured i would actually have to design the tattoo myself. Which has proven to be very very challenging cos i am artistically challenged...i can't even bloody draw a stickman!!!

Design i had initially wanted to get

I did really want to get a potrait of him but i am very very sceptical when it comes to faces, cos one wrong 'stroke' and it could end up looking like Donald Duck with a facial tick! So i gave up on that.

But after several hours researching and going through all my Michael Jackson stuff i have finally settled on a design. It will still reflect his musical influence on me and will hopefully be one of a kind, and more importantly worthy of him

One of the best tribute tattoos i've seen!

I will be getting it done with Spec Ung, the dude who did my first tattoo 10 years ago in penang!! An appointment has been set and hopefully it will turn out fantastic! *Fingers crossed*

Miss you Michael!

Source : Google Images

Kev's Labarum

Kev picked the Labarum for his first tattoo

Ernesto's initial 'sketch' of the design.....LOL!!!!

"The Labarum was a military standard that displayed the first two Greek letters of the word "Christ" (Greek: ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, or Χριστός) — Chi (χ) and Rho (ρ)


It was first used by the Roman emperor Constantine when he converted to Christianity

Ernesto at work

The labarum has several 'meanings', among them being it symbolizes crucifixion; the combined letters Chi and Rho standing for chrēston, meaning "good." etc

Bringing the design to life

But i'm not quite sure why Kev got it. The official story is that it symbolizes his faith, but the true story is that he got it as a conversation-starter with the ladies......:p

The completed design....the excessive blood is because Kev was drinking before and during the making of this tattoo :p

The tattoo artist was Ernesto Kalum, who has been extensively featured on this blog. And as expected, Kev was very satisfied with his work and is planning on going back and getting another tattoo done.



Source : Wikipedia

Now I Really Have To Get It Done!