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What Inspires You?

KegRN

By KegRN,
in General Tattoo Discussion

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Graeme Autobot

Graeme

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Style, not really. Tattoos tend to look a certain way for a reason and while I think there are some artists who can push the boundaries of what a tattoo looks like, I think it's important to recognize the constraints and limitations of skin, and part of that means that you can't do just anything with a tattoo and expect it to age well. I think the tendency as of late towards "watercolor" style tattoos is an example of that: I think that some people's tattoos in that style may be okay, I'm thinking in particular of Amanda Wachob's tattoos because they're abstract and don't rely on readability in the way that something figurative does, but a pastel-coloured bird with no black outline...forget it, that's nothing in five years.

As for subject matter, pretty much anything is game as long as it can be tattooed as a strong image.

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Delicious Champion

Delicious

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It's hard to say what inspires me. I've always liked tattoos that look like tattoos, and I'm really really into lady head tattoos. I don't draw images from what I see in the real world, I see stuff I like in flash, something that someone else has tattooed, a book I've read or like for my ganesh, a statue I owned. Also, draw inspiration from the things that I like. Always been a fan of the night sky, with the moon and stars. Ever since I was a little girl. So bam, got a lady with a moon, and with a star in her hair.

It's really that simple for me.

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Beth Regular

Beth

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The ones i have and the ones i want are tattoo related at all. They were just stuff I thought where cool. Books mostly, and history. And video games. There isn't really a traditional tattoo that I've been interested in. Like the Climbing Panther or Sparrows or Eagles. For me its I think are cool and want to carry it with me if I cant carry the actual thing. The main reason is I think something is awesome so by getting a tattoo i am able to share my interests with other people.

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cltattooing Champion

cltattooing

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Asian art is very inspiring to me and I want to emulate it a lot more in my work. Not even necessarily the subject matter or themes, but even just the color theory and composition go above and beyond. I also really like Huiliochi art, and I see a lot of those influences in contemporary Spanish tattooers' work. Of course, I do love classical paintings as well, Rembrandt is THE homeboy. I think a lot of what Aubrey Beardsley was doing with his textual elements would translate well into tattoo as well.

I think I am mostly inspired by really powerful images that have a graceful sense of direction. That is how I want my tattoos to look, both in my work and on myself.

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Kahlan Regular

Kahlan

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Everything and anything around me in nature. Being in BC is absolutely inspiring the amount of wild life compared to back home in Montreal. I find inspiration in almost whatever I see, and I take tons of pictures to incorporate it in my drawings. Been really into prehistoric creatures also...

I love buildings, streets, bricks, spray paint, etc..

Let's just say I don't limit myself at all, which is why art is a great reflection of life.

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motsimus Contributor

motsimus

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Life. Death. Mortality. Pain. Pleasure. Folklore. Magic. Mysticism. Alchemy. History (a lot of that one).

this is everything i enjoy about tattoos, some people don't get why i have traditional tattoos (panthers,daggers,roses Etc..) without any deep life meaning behind them but its because they already have meaning to begin with.

also any 90's cartoon style inspires me

Ren and Stimpy

Angry Beavers

Cat Dog

Ahhhhh real monsters

Rocko's modern life

hey arnold

Mmmm Nostalgia...

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Graeme Autobot

Graeme

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@Graeme, current 93...you know that someday we need to meet and get helladrunk talking good music, books and art.

Absolutely, man! Current 93 was the main reason I lived in Glasgow from 2004-2006. They were playing the Instal festival at the Arches in Glasgow and I was in a place in my life where I wasn't really doing anything else so I ended up staying and working in Glasgow for a couple of years. David Tibet was living there at the time too...I saw him at the grocery store doing his shopping.

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KegRN Regular

KegRN

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HP Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E Howard and in general a lot of that Weird Tales stuff

Thomas Ligotti

The music of Current 93

Frank Frazetta

Michael Whelan

Greg Irons

Arthur Rackham

Gustave Dore

Folklore and mythology

Cosmological drawings

Ernst Haeckel

So many things really.

Sigh, I really shouldn't come on here when it's time for bed. I want to stay up and look through Arthur Rackham galleries now...

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CultExciter Autobot

CultExciter

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Absolutely, man! Current 93 was the main reason I lived in Glasgow from 2004-2006. They were playing the Instal festival at the Arches in Glasgow and I was in a place in my life where I wasn't really doing anything else so I ended up staying and working in Glasgow for a couple of years. David Tibet was living there at the time too...I saw him at the grocery store doing his shopping.

Can we all talk about Death In June as well?

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Graeme Autobot

Graeme

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Haha! Agree to disagree...or possibly my taste in music sucks. :)

I just find a lot of that stuff...DIJ, Sol Invictus, Of The Wand and the Moon, etc...to be really one-dimensional. It gets boring. Current 93 has so much going on musically and lyrically that listening to it is sort of like trying to figure out a puzzle and there's always something new there, especially when you start looking into the references David Tibet is making. There's whole worlds in those songs.

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eisen777 Contributor

eisen777

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Love death in June....but not all is great. What do you think of tibets death in june songs? I love those as well. I like current 93 but seem to never listen to it. Thunder perfected mind and all the pretty horses are some of my favorites but thats the typical response. Like some sol invictus as well and the one above the ruins album is good (skethy RAC lineup and all). After that I dont spend much time on neo-folk and dont really get why its almost overnight popular.

- - - Updated - - -

Lately little inspires me....ive dropped all of my interests (except getting tattooed) to spend time trying to get in shape and healthy....so my inspiration is getting healthy then maybe I can think about reading,writing, art and music. One thing ive learned is I cant handle tons of interests and projects on top of work and family(wife/dog) so its nice to clear the mind and focus on one goal and not be spread thin by my own interests. Getting my shit together so to speak.

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Mark Bee Champion

Mark Bee

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Things that inspire me...hmmm...let's see...

Acts of kindness and generosity

People that get involved in their communities

Art and artists

Great authors / books

Great musicians

A good walk in the woods/meadows/greenspaces around my home and beyond.

Innovative architecture and design

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