why you chose your tattoos

I only have one, and it means a lot to me - both in design aspects and in remembering a special time in my life when a lot changed. It's a simple black design in the small of my back - a thin crescent moon with an 8-pointed star in the hollow of it. This is packed with symbolism for me. The 8-point star is a symbol for Venus, which represents femininity (which also ties in to the moon aspect of the tat) but the design of the star is formed from two 4-point stars - one representing the four directions (North south east west) and one representing the four elements (Earth Air Fire Water). I designed and got this tattoo when I was 17-18, at a time in my life when a lot of things changed, and I learned to really embraced womanhood and the more feminine aspects of my being, and also to embrace my wandering spirit. I feel like this tattoo helps me to stay grounded in my life, and rooted to what's important to me.

My next tattoo is going to be an Anime character named Totoro, from the Hayao Miyazaki movie "My Neighbor Totoro". He's a forest spirit of sorts, to represent my connection with nature. This is just the beginning of a bunch of similarly-themed tats I want to get, from other Miyazaki works. Eventually, sometime, I also want to get a Stealie on the back of one shoulder and a Righteous Babe on the other one. My two greatest musical influences in life.

 

i have this on my bum



i love dogs & wanted a dogs pawprint & thought this was a dogs paw print but its not its a bears paw print but not many people get to see it unless i have white trousers on or going swimming so i'm not to bothered.

and i have this done on my hip, its a cover up of a chinese symbol that an ex made me have done when i was 16 & i just wanted it covered up.



i have this on my ankle, it is my name



this is on my lower back & i have a piece of tribal underneethe it that i dont seem to have a picture of for somereason. but the tribal looks like a heart in the middle & all spiky round the edges which is perfect for me because i can be rather snappy & hostile sometimes when i dont know a person but once they get to know me & me them, they realise i'm lovely really, its done in pink too to show my girly side & because everyone seems to have black tribal & i wanted to be different.

the "Made in Sheffield" i had done when i moved to doncaster, i felt i was leaving my roots behind so wanted something done to celebrate where i am from & seen as sheffield is a big producer of stainless steel & famous for its cutelery which has Made in Sheffield stamped on i decided to have that done.

 

my tattoos have no significant meaning 2 me, i saw them and liked them, all done spontaneously........ at the moment know regrets 10 years later.


and when i do proberbly regret them ill be 80

and at that age i wouldn't care

 

I have one tattoo at the moment, its a barn own on my right arm called Fred. It didn't take long to choose the design, but the meaning is always there. I chose an owl to symbolise all the family and friends I've lost over the years, its comforting to know that they are always there with me. The guy asked if I was going to name the owl and off the top of my head I sayd Fred, my granddad could never remember thier names so he would call them fred, Thats where he gets his name from That was 9 months ago, I've already got my second planned, its a fairy holding a staff with a scorpio glyf in one hand and a pentagram or earth symbol in the other, and thats going on my back.

 

I've been wanting to get a Pheonix done for quite some time, and they represent resilience and arising from adversity, which is something I thought could mark my survival from an abusive upbringing.

 

My first (and only tattoo so far) was a light blue lotus with a green-and-yellow butterfly flying out of it on my right forearm.
I was at a point where I was emotionally unstable for about a year, but getting it under control. I wanted something beautiful and peaceful, and something I could see whenever I wanted. One day at work I had drawn a sun on my hand, and was in temporary freak-out mode over some stressful customers, and suddenly I noticed the sun, looked at it for a second, and felt calm wash over me.
So I went with another design, but the placement was designated by that experience. I wanted to accidentally look at it, and realize things will be okay.
The week before I had it done I found a quote- "Everything you need is within you." So now every time I'm freaking out over something, or majorly stressed, I happen to catch a glance at my arm (how could you not?), and it reminds me of that quote. And I'm okay. It means a lot to me and I love it <3

 

took me a long time to design my right sleve,(tribal design with a tree and suns).
my left sleeve is all floral with a frog and suns.(only down to my elbow so far,will be done this winter)the flowers are from my moms garden)
on my neck is my dads signatchure
and on my hand is a tribal frog
lots of thought in all of them,they are sperital to me
peace
frog

 

I've gotten my snakes started. They are very special to me. The two I have now represent Death (my Mom and my siblings) and Madness (my father) and the third will represent Illness (me). Their names are hiddenish in their scales.

 

my first tattoo is of music notes and stars. it has meaning to me because i love music and i'll never want to remove it or cover it up.
my second tattoo is a rose and a heart on my breast and it also has meaning to me. it represents love and when i look at it i'm reminded to continue loving regardless of how often i get hurt.
my third tattoo is a skull holding a broken heart on my back with the words "in love and death" i got the statement from an album name but the tattoo represents hurt and painful times in my life.
my fourth tattoo was a skull on my forearm. its a really cute girly skull with eyelashes and a bowe and everything. i'm not sure if she represents anything but i dig her.
my fifth tattoo is a dave grohl tribute tattoo which i love but am planning to cover up because i have always wanted a half sleeve of flowers on my arm and refuse to cover up my music note tattoo.
my sixth tattoo is a rainbow on my forearm and i don't like how it turned out so i am also covering it up although i'm unsure what i'm covering it up with right now.

 

this is a crappy paint attempt to draw my tattoo.. it's something i've always doodled as a kid and i got it tattooed when i was 16. it doesnt necessarily "mean" anything, but it does have personal attachment. the A is there for Angelle.. and the wings and halo represent the innocence I held as a child. I forget i even have it sometimes because its so much a part of me..

my next is going to be in my ear.. growing up, i always hated the way my ears stuck out. but as i got older, I learned to embrace everything about myself as beautiful... it can be easily hidden by my hair, so its not as drastic as a face tattoo... but i'll get to see it everyday as opposed to something i get on my back or neck.. etc. so the top of my ear is a pretty big canvas, and i've already met a wonderful girl who said she'd gladly tattoo me. ive been thinking about a being that's holding a ball of light but i dont have any concrete designs drawn out. i want something to remind me of my connection to everyone and everything pure in this earth.. its going to be done in a color close to my skin tone as well instead of black so it blends in i think.

and someday when i finally decide my favorite tree.. i want a sleeve. i belong in the forest.

 

My biggest/most well-planned idea is a back piece. I don't have any tattoos yet, because there are no shops around here (closest one is about an hour and a half away) and we just can't afford it right now, but I KNOW what I'm getting as a back piece.
It's a scene of the valley (we live in mountains) with the mountains in the back, sunset behind it. There will be a train going across the valley, and the tracks will fade off into the base of the mountains, kind of a "stairway to Heaven" idea, with train/tracks instead of the actual stairway. With the words "Wish You Were Here" kinda faded into the sunset. I want it because I want a FULL back piece, and it's the one idea I've had that's most worthy of one of the biggest skin surfaces on my body.
It's for my stepdad. He worked on the railroad (Canadian Pacific) from the Summer after he graduated high school, and the day he died, his keys, thermos and work hat (Canadian Pacific hat with seniority/achievement pins) were laying right on the kitchen table about 15 minutes before he was supposed to leave for work. It'll have his nickname/last name - "Gordie J. Pears" and the years, "1958-2006" underneath the big picture, and when my mom dies, her name/years will be right there beside him, where they belong when her time is up.

So far, my plans for sleeves are Florida and BC, because I was born in Florida and lived there until I was 14, then for 5 more months when I was 15. Whenever I haven't lived in Florida, I've lived in BC and this is where I plan to stay. The Florida theme will go on my right arm, and the BC theme on my left because that's where my wedding ring is, and I swear that's the reason I came here. (I just didn't know it at the time)

On the front, I want a lot of small-ish black work, the mudflap/trucker girls under my collarbones just 'cause I've always liked them... a spider/tarantula under my navel, where the front legs come up over my navel (so the top piercing is right between the front legs) and the bottom legs end about 6" down from the top... other spiders/spider webs, because I absolutely love spiders and my tarantulas are my babies (the one under my navel will be based, by shape/body structure, on one of my tarantulas - Gracie).
And somewhere, I want the poem, "God's Presents/God's Presence". I have too many reasons for that one.

 

i have 2 tats....the one that is on my ankle is of a grateful dead bear that has butterfly wings...there were a few minor details that were changed....the reason for that is i wanted something to symbolize my grandmother who was very important....and her favorite color was red....so i have the blue bear with a red neck thing (i really don't know what to call it) and the wings are teal....and on my lower back i have the chinese symbols that are peace love happiness (but i was recently told that it actually on says love and peace--which is still fine with me)....and the one that i just designed and sent to a tattoo shop to have them work on making it better for me is of a peace sign that has a verse from 'wish you were here' that actually makes up the peace sign....and on either side (on the inside) my best friends astro sign is on the left and mine is one the right....i know that i want mine as a rainbow but she is still not sure what she wants hers as....but besides that there are still many more that i want to get....but all in due time i guess

 

I have three tattoos
The first i got in vegas and it's the 69 cancer sign on my left chest that i drew myself but had to get touched up once it all healed

my second tattoo was a cross with a rosary wrapped around it, mainly just to symbolize my belief's, also something i drew myself it's on the back of my neck

the third one i got is a map of croatia *since i'm croatian* and it's coloured in with red white and blue, this on is on my back left shoulder blade

i have a lot more that i want to get and can't wait to get, i just have to start drawing them

 

My first tattoo is a symbol for love, and it's on the outer part of my left ankle. I'm getting a tribal band attached to the top and bottom of it, it will wrap around my ankle twice and have "Live, Love, Life" in symbols down through it. I also have a blue rose on the inner part of my ankle.

 

I like to see something cool and put it on my skin. I will never regret any tattoo because I think the thought of everyone having plain skin is horrible if it wasn't for any form of body art then everyone would be the same on the outside and I like to be different. so long as i look different from everyone else Its all good.

 

I have one tattoo at the moment in the center of my back. It’s complicated to explain it without an image, but I’ll try my best. A red heart is in a circle. Inside the heart is a green eye. The heart is positioned so that it looks like it’s in front of a yin yang. The heart sits within a orange peace sign coming out from the top and bottom of it. Across the top of the circle right to left is a lilac, a rose, and leaf resembling a Japanese Maple leaf. On the left and right borders of the circle are wings made out to look like flames. Each flame connects to a flower on top. At the bottom of the circle is downwards pouring stream with small rocks within it. Below the circle are the words “live and let live”.

It represents many individual pieces, however together the tattoo symbolizes the past, present and future. I got it as a symbol of strength to help get through difficult times.

 

I have five. Working on the next few.

I got my first when I was 16. It's a ball of fire over my heart. I like fire, and liked the idea of fire being over my heart [signifying passion] and had the tattoo artist draw something up, since I refused to use flash art [and still do.]

Got my second when I was 18. I had a short piece by Kahlil Gibran tattoed on my lower back. My dad used to read Kahlil Gibran's stuff to me when I was a kid, and I own pretty much everything he's ever written. It reads "It was but yesterday I thought myself a fragment quivering without rhythm in the sphere of life. Now I know that I am the sphere and all life in rhythmic fragments moves within me."

My third I got when I was 19. I had the word "fight" tattooed on the inside of my lower lip. I've been a martial arts instructor for five years and have trained in various forms for 13 years. Plus, "fight" is something we all have to do throughout our lives. It's a reminder to always stay strong and fight for what I believe in.

My fourth and fifth tattoos were done when I was 20. They're from a piece called the Desiderata. My parents hung a copy of it on my wall when I was young and it stuck with me. It starts of "Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence." So I had "noise" and "haste" tattooed on my ankles to signify walking through it.

I love them dearly. Even my shitty fireball tattoo.

I'm debating my next piece. I think it's going to be a custom combination of rather unknown Dali sketches that will cover my spine. Or I might do my Nizar Qabbani tattoo first. He's a poet who writes in Arabic, and I want to get one of the lines of my favorite poem of his tattooed along my ribcage right underneath my breasts.

I like word tattoos. :]

 

Nice Thread!


I have the word "Aquarius" from shoulder to shoulder. I got it not necessarily because I believe in Astrology (although i find it very interesting), but because I like all the values associated with my sign and hope to live up to them. It's also a good conversation piece because I enjoy talking about astrology and when it's showing people always come up and I usually tell them a little about their sign and how their sign is supposed to interact with the people they're close to which is uaually fun...

 

I have a tribal hummingbird on my bikini line. I drew it myself. It's sipping nectar from a blue rose with a single green leaf. It's me sippin from the cup o' life, in my truest form, a flighty bird! And the blue is my fave color, and green is my next fave. The rest is if course all black. I got stretch marks thru it now tho, after havin been thru two kids. Luckily, it didn't do too much damage. A little touch-up and it'd be kosher again. Now to wait for the funds to crop up....I want to get an anklet of ivy, and a flower of some sort in a subtle design of a pentacle (not an actual pentacle tho)on my other ankle, and a chinese-style whooping crane on my thigh. Oh, and I want to get my nose pierced before I have another kid. I read that in India, it's a status symbol of marriage and motherhood. Something about a nose piercing is supposed to help with labor pains or the like.....

 

The tattoo I want to get I'm having my best friend draw for me. It will be a tribal raven with its wings outstreatched across my lower back. There's a couple reasons. The first is that ravens are my totem animals, i feel as though they're always looking out for me. Raven is also my craft name. The reason I want its wings to be outstretched is because I'm at a point in my life where i'm about to leave home, leave my home state, and possibly the country. It's a representation of new freedom.