TATTOO YOU?

[Automorph]

Very cool.

Thanks - that's kind of you. All credit to the tattoo artist, Mike, at Electric Tattoo Company in Bracknell, who had the idea of making the bear more naturalistic and then delivered on that idea in a way I hadn't even imagined

[TheAlex]

The bear looking at the Blackstar is a nice touch. And I like the bear too.

[TheAlex]

This is what I ended up having done on 14 Jan. Delay was due to the tattooist being much in demand and appointments needing 2 - 3 months' notice.

We 'repurposed' the original spec a bit to get a more detailed bear rather than a silhouette, and also to build in - via the black star - a little nod to Bowie's passing (the 1st anniversary of which was just 4 days before my inking session). Now in my 6th decade, it's my first tattoo and I love it, but I hope folks aren't too annoyed by the changes to the pure 'Open Season' design. My wife also had her first tattoo 4 months earlier, and as a big Bowie fan herself, had a design based on his 'blackstar' album, so the inclusion of the black star in my tattoo is also intended to link with her.

Ever observant, I've only just noticed the Keep on Trying artwork points to a black star.

[Automorph]

And I only just noticed that on your prompting, ta!

[Slim]

I'm encouraged to see a thread dedicated to idea of BSP-themed tattoos, and quite intrigued to see there was an initiative by the band to raise some cash by offering tattoo-validated gig packages.

Like others who have posted here, I'm not a tattoo person. I managed more than 50 years without having one. But at Sheffield earlier this year, arms aloft, enraptured by the life-affirming chorus of Bad Bohemian, I decided that I wanted to make some sort of permanent dedication - a commitment - to the idea of the song, to the band, and to the moment.

At Nottingham earlier this month I had the same experience and that cemented my intention. So I made the following image, actually a composite made from several frames from the video, and of course inverted.



From this, on Monday this week, a tattoo artist made a outline transfer which she applied to my upper arm at her premises in Ashby. It reads down from near the shoulder, down toward the elbow. It's 120mm in length.

Then when I gave her the nod, she made it permanent, with needles and ink.

It was bloody painful. Not agonising, but definitely an ordeal. I started to feel dizzy and sick after the first 15 minutes or so. She told me this was due to a reaction to adrenalin, and normal. I recovered after a few minutes and was OK after that, but I was very glad when she told me she was finished.

All a bit grim at first with redness and soreness and traces of blood smeared under clingfilm, but I have taken great care of it with simple soap, moisturiser and Savlon as recommended by the tattoo lady, and it looks rather good now. The skin where the letters are indelibly printed feels dry and rough still but it's no longer sore.

It's pretty discreet. I wear t-shirts most of the time and under some, you can't see it at all. Under others, the last couple of characters extend out from the left sleeve.

Even so I must admit I did go through a WHAT HAVE I DONE TO MYSELF phase on Tuesday. But that has passed. Certainly, there's a certain dichotomy with my urbane, middle-class professional self-image. But that only enhances the appeal. I'm rather pleased with it.

[Blackout]

Well done. Photos when it's healed please

Ref my 2016 post up there, I did do the fan funding, but never got round to getting another tattoo...

(my original one when it was relatively new... http://blackout300.tumblr.com/post/5541 ... 21104-that ... and no my arm isn't really yellow, was bad lighting/camera)

[Slim]

Thanks! By this afternoon, after going through a frighteningly itchy phase earlier in the week which tested my self-discipline to its very limits, it had settled down sufficiently for a photo.

[Blackout]

* goes to hit "like" button *

* remembers this isn't facebook / twitter *