Eveything Eventually

my tattoo sketches are finally done! the concept was easy to come up with, but it's taken me a while to get juuuuust the right design. the hubs didn't care for most of my sketches at home, and at work, i had my lovely coworker Evelyn to judge them harshly. afterall, this one's gonna be visible, so i didn't want to sketch something that people are gonna go "durr, that looks like insert-something-stupid-here."

so, ok! i was originally looking up sketch-ideas for an ouroboros design. the ouroboros is supposed to represent, not only the undestroyable "origin" of things that recreates and sustains itself, but also the unchanged and untarnished "child" that exists within people. in searching for images of the ouroboros, i came across someone's rendering of a quetzalcoatl in ouroboros-form. the mesoamerican god's name translates to the "feathered serpant," so i started sketching feather-y like snakes, but i couldn't really find one that i liked. i kept finding dragon-looking heads and weird statuesque faces that looked like snake-monkeys.

last thing i need is this friendly doofus staring at me, everyday

finally, i decided to start taking more creative license with the design. i don't know why i hadn't before... i used to sketch and draw stuff a long while back, but i haven't really busted out any sketchbooks in a very long time. i'm not one to really feel like drawing when i'm in a non-depressive mood. emo...i know.

unfortunately, the sketches i was coming up with sucked. really bad. i came up with the perfect head-design, but the part of the tattoo that would connect said head to the rest of the body kept turning out like other crap. i tried designing wings with a celtic knot-esque design, but they looked like a raabit face. i made the entire torso design out of triangles and sharp spokes and Evelyn said it looked like i'd drawn the Decepticon logo from Transformers. DEFINITELY the last thing i want is for everyone to see my tattoo and go "YES! Transformers!!" now, i love me some Transformers... but i don't want them on my person without my permission.

so i did the mopey thing a couple of days ago...came home and tore up the page i'd been sketching on. i took out my old sketchbooks for the first time in 73 years and started flipping through the pages. not to say that i was any good back then, but holy shit, it's as if i'd completely forgotten how to do anything with a pencil in my hand. i stayed up drawing that night, and now i have my perfect tattoo sketch.

i used to draw feathers and wings aaaall the time

my tattoo will start on the top of my left foot and slowly wrap around my ankle 1.5 times, while slightly rising, and finishing on the back of my leg.

i kind of like the contrast between this tattoo and the last. the one on my back is personal and its meaning lies between my partner and i. this one's included everyone in its creation, and everyone will be able to see it (especially since i looove to wear shorts and sandals all year round ^_^).

the most exciting thing is that the hubs seems to finally be on board.  after more of his usual moaning-and-groaning, i told him that he'd better learn to be ok with it, since it was going to happen whether he wanted it or not, and that it was, above all things, permanent.  he surprised me by stating that he'd probably like it once it was actually on me, and that my design was kinda cool.  i also told him that i'm going to go super nerdy with the next tattoos, but that can wait for next year's birthday. giddy giddy me!

<3

PS, everyone at work liked my tattoo idea!!  Evelyn did too, though she said the head reminded her of a penis. i'm ok with that. ;)