Mountain Bike Grease Makes Tattoo

December 27, 2008 6:47 AM

Do you have design ideas for a tattoo which incorporates some existing scars?

Summer of 2008, twice I hurt myself with the gears of my GT Backwoods mountain bike. [Self link to Flickr photo: Thinking About Getting a Tattoo]. I suppose the scars will slowly fade eventually. However, the last several years, I've been wondering about getting my first tattoo. I don't know what design I want. I don't know where I want to put one. Yet, recently, the idea of putting a tattoo on my calf has started to appeal to me. A design that would use these bike scars as part of the image.

I am thinking something abstract. Tribal? Maybe a bike gear? Some type of pattern or image that basically stays on the back half of my leg, rather than wrapping all the way around. Maybe some complicated design that expresses who I am at this point in my life.

Also, I don't know where to find, in South Central Wisconsin, a body art expert to help design and/or perform the work.

Do you have design ideas for a tattoo which incorporates my existing scars and/or recommendations for a local consultant/artist?

posted by chase to media & arts (13 comments total)

Don't get a tribal tattoo. Those things are going to date themselves really badly.
The bike gear idea doesn't sound bad, though.
posted by dunkadunc at 7:09 AM on December 27, 2008

Maybe a map of some sort?
posted by jeremias at 7:13 AM on December 27, 2008

Go to Cap City Tattoo in Madison. My next work's coming from there. I've seen the quality and vibrancy that Brian's done on a friend and it's amazing. Don't know if he's one for drawing custom work but definitely call the shop and ask which of their guys would. You can do a lot with those scars: I see wings in those patterns, flames, starbursts; it'll be really easy for a good artist to work with them. Good luck!
posted by cuddles.mcsnuggy at 7:23 AM on December 27, 2008

Don't get a tribal tattoo unless you have a mullet to go with it. The same goes for barbed wire tattoos, especially if it's drawn like it's digging into your flesh.

You say you don't know if the scar will remain. If you're unsure of the scar's permanence, maybe it's a good idea to wait and see if it's going to stick around before you design a tattoo around it. The tattoo is definitely going to stick around.

Maybe it's a good idea just to get a tattoo of something that you're going to like that has nothing to do with the scar.
posted by Modus Pwnens at 7:27 AM on December 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

How about a tattoo that follows the path of the scar? I've seen some pretty decent scar/tattoo combinations that use the tattoo over the scar as a kind of way of holding the wound together. Things like stitches over the scar, or clothespins holding the scarred wound together. Nthing the no tribal thing. They have very little to do with tribes, and less "al" than you can imagine.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:29 AM on December 27, 2008

The tattoo (and perhaps scarification) galleries here are a real resource for these sorts of questions. You'll have a chance to see a lot of really terrible work, plus some good stuff, and you can look up specific artists if you are liking the work they do.

Don't get a tattoo of the grease mark a cog or chain makes on your calf -- I've seen three or four of those tattoos, and they aren't nearly as spiffy in reality as they seem like they might be in theory.

And if you aren't sure if the scars will stay, centering a tattoo around them strikes me as a mistake, unless you are also open to re-scarring them for effect.
posted by Forktine at 7:41 AM on December 27, 2008

I used to know a guy who had a zipper tattooed over his open-heart surgical scar.
posted by acorncup at 7:52 AM on December 27, 2008

Pshaw! Those scars will fade away.
posted by IAmBroom at 7:52 AM on December 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

Really, those scars ain't nothin'. They'll fade.

However, I've often said that if I ever got a tattoo, it would be a permanent version of the "chainring tattoo" I seem to get from my greasy big ring, every time I ride.
posted by notsnot at 8:34 AM on December 27, 2008

Sounds very silly to try to integrate a scar in a tattoo. Scars change radically, and non-linearly. You could have a stable scar for 10 years, and then it just ups and leaves. And your tattoo is hosed. Gears might be cool though.
posted by fcummins at 9:21 AM on December 27, 2008

i wouldn't worry about the scars, they will fade, but if you really want a tattoo, what about a bird? a big one, with wings that envelop the scars? that might be cool. or, if you wanted to go creepy you could make a big bug and make the scar marks the legs. just MAKE SURE you reaaaaallly want it there or else you'll end up with more scars to deal with. try drawing it on with a permanent marker first *a general idea of what you want* and walking around with it for a couple of days to see how you feel.

if you get a good idea but can't design it you could try posting fliers at the local art schools advertising you need a picture drawn for a small fee. you can also contact someone if you like their art. comic book artists are usually a bit underpaid and willing to help out. sometimes.
posted by big open mouth at 12:55 PM on December 27, 2008

Any good tattoo artist will be able to work with, and around scar tissue so that it doesn't look bad. There's really no need to "integrate" the scars into the design.

Also: if you get a good idea but can't design it you could try posting fliers at the local art schools advertising you need a picture drawn for a small fee. you can also contact someone if you like their art. comic book artists are usually a bit underpaid and willing to help out. sometimes.

Any decent tattoo artist will also be willing to draw your tattoo, usually for a drawing fee. Tattoo art is fundamentally different from other art, and just because someone can draw doesn't mean that they can draw a decent tattoo.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:49 PM on December 27, 2008

When I look at them I see a grand wingspan of a regal bird, and eagle perhaps.
Or a "Hang In There Baby" kitten ripping the flesh.
posted by Acacia at 5:16 PM on December 27, 2008