The Satisfaction of Transforming Tattoos!
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
There are some tattoos we out grow. Some that didn’t really fit us even in the first place. Maybe we had good intentions and an idea we liked when we first thought of it, but somehow the execution just fell short of the ideal. Wearing a mark that no longer serves us, or perhaps never did, creates a kind of dissonance with our self image and sometimes even a disruption to the flow and/or energy of our bodies. At the very least these kinds of tattoos can cause mental irritation and a nagging sense that something is not as it could or should be. Sometimes a wrong tattoo can be far worse in the ways it influences our self esteem and even significantly distorts other people’s perceptions of us. Tattoo cover-ups can be an effective means for bringing these issues to rightness and balance. Not only does a satisfying cover-up restore beauty where there has been discord, it can transform negative messages into validating affirmation.
The process of designing a cover-up involves not only choosing subject matter that supports our best intentions, but that also visually integrates the previous design in a way that disguises it as components of the new image’s texture, form, contrast, color and positive and negative space. To transform a tattoo is to solve a fascinating puzzle. It is deeply satisfying to see beyond the constraints of the prior image and envision the new possibilities built on the bones of the old.
This solar lion tattoo is the completed work in the first of two sittings. Today we focused on design, outline and the shading which shall mask the previous image as a part of this new one. Next time we will add new layers of color and texture to make this a great golden cat of the sun. At this point, we’ll be giving this tattoo a few months to heal and let the old pigment truly merge with the new. Then in October we’ll be going back in for round two. I’ll be sure to keep y’all posted!
