HettyKet

The part coloured plant was meant as an example of how botanical illustrations have been part coloured, traditionally. this: http://pinterest.com/pin/270708627574631074/ would probably have been a better example TBH. Not that it's am idea I'm set on. Far from it, I like it but worry it could be gimmicky or just plan wrong. I'm pretty sure that although I'm thinking black and grey with maybe, maybe, maybe a bit of colour a big part the final decision will lay with the artist and the final design - I may well end up with full on colour yet... (UPDATED) Ah right, I've manged to a couple examples of botanically correct stuff getting towards the right flavour. http://adambarton.com/Tattoo.html#17 http://adambarton.com/Tattoo.html#14 http://lonsdaletattoo.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/mark-lonsdale-tattoo-small-flower-and-bow.jpg https://sphotos-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/p480x480/14474_621278771246398_847364976_n.jpg http://tattoo-designs-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Tattoo-female.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C15PpZh9rNI/TjCol9UXj_I/AAAAAAAALmw/W-_uQZCT-9k/s640/narcissus.jpg None is exactly what I'm after but definitely getting there. They include a lot more colour / brightness than I think I want, the style is maybe laid on a tiny tad too thick in some places and I'm not keen on the layering of the crocus with the rose either. these http://www.divatattoo.com/tattoo/botanical/art/01_sunflowers.gif are kind of getting there too I'm pretty sure I'd want a tessellation of individual tattoos like traditional botany prints / multiple flash, thus: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/hort/hortimages/eden.jpg the gorse up the sides here too as well as the general feel http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8521/8592345992_f72e01b1b2_m.jpg It very, very hard to find examples that aren't roses but there is precedent out there. I guess I'm after walking a fine line between traditional realism and traditional old school (my technical terms are almost certainly way out, sorry!). Think my artist is going to hate me?

Yes. Gut, exactly. (@hogg - there's a large cockerel on a chaps thigh and another but with a scull on a calf on the instagram of my artist - that's the chicken version of the botanical style I want. IYSWIM)

I'm kind of hoping that he'll start drawing and it wont be what's in my head, just related to it, and I'll fall in love with with the designs on the spot. I am a hopeless romantic. (I'm also quite assertive when I need to be and certainly wont be going with the tattooing if it doesn't feel like magic)

Oh, I'll be talking to an artist as soon as possible. Absolutely. 17 october at 12:00 to be precise! Thing is, they insisted on booking a 4 hour hour slot for drawing and lining. That worries me TBH and I did say I wasn't sure if I'd be happy going with lining the same day as meeting the artist for the first time. But, well, apparently that's how it's done. I've paid my deposit and if it it just turns into a damned expensive consult, so be it. We shall see. I do very much want traditional flavored tattoos, but little of the 20th / 21st century flash appeals to me. I adore seeing it on other people but I don't think it's what I want for myself. This lady http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/30/article-2270600-17409C19000005DC-452_964x1202.jpg I love, she has quite a lot of 'correct' botanical stuff going on if you look closely. It's all rather realist in style though but it's applied with similar tessellation to what is now used for modern traditional tattooing. A bit crowded on the arms but it's there. The cuffs she has are amazing. So, it seems to (uneducated and here to learn) me that it stuff like, say, this Antique botanical prints from Zorn 1779-1790 this Joel Oppenheimer Audubon and Natural History Prints and this Ferrari Botanical Prints and Allegorical Prints 1638 would lend themselves very nicely indeed to being simplified to a modern tradition style of drawing whilst still keeping the correct leaf and flower shapes for the species. I suppose this http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/gallery/flower-tattoos/14250-img-1868.html is getting towards what I'm after although there's less black than I'd want and if I go with colour I'd want more saturation. This http://pinterest.com/pin/270708627574608650/ is closer in terms of style but I'm not digging the vine trend and botanically it's all wrong. this is also absolutely not what I'd want (too little black, too flimsy, vine-ish but not rose-vine-ish) http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/e5/70/93/e5709396a216e1613b4773ab770be8fc.jpg but, it brings something to the table too. I hope that make some sort of sense! (There's a toad, a wren, maybe a long tailed tit and a few insects I's like in the mix too, if it works out) - - - Updated - - - x post there candy... It's not sunny very often here but I like to stay pale anyway so factor 50 in the summer and factor 20 in the winter is the norm for me anyway.

That really is very, very reassuring, thank you! - - - Updated - - - x post again there. Sorry. Thanks a lot for the post approval hogg. I'll certainly check out Kim Anh Nguyen - nowhere is far from anywhere in this country really! - - - Updated - - - Oh, sorry, yes. I do want the artist to have a good deal of control, it seems like the only way. My partner is a graphic designer and although it's not really the same as such, I've witness many a good design reduced to a horror by an over involved client. Trust is hard though. - - - Updated - - - Blimey, I should go to bed. Keep forgetting 1/2 of what I mean to post :rolleyes: So, yes: I'm thinking black and grey as a whole but I keep coming back to the idea of adding a little colour to one or two peices. Maybe along the lines of this http://images.kew.org/image/epidendrum_vitellinum_654374.jpg , except of course drawn from a suitable plant, as a tattoo (and with the sections that are pale grey in the illustration just normal black and grey). Is that some girly, gimmicky, odd thing do we think? I fear I might have picked it up from Pinterest you see. Not sure. and, also, What's the optimum minimum size for a tattoo in terms of longevity? Not that I want a load of tiny blobs, just think the occasion small one might be handy here and there. Thank you, and goodnight :o

Oh wow, really? That's fantastic to hear - I've been worrying if it was just my untrained eye liking his stuff IYSWIM. A good few of his things that I like best aren't on instagram, just the studio blog and it doesn't link properly. Here | Eat The Rich if anyone CBA.

Thank you both! I'm so excited - it's going to be a long month. Hopefully my first post will be back from the mods soon, it's absence makes my thread quite odd :rolleyes: Sorry 'bout that. Do the Basillus Bresler drawings look like they might translate OK to tattoo? I found some later botanical prints (18th century) that's kind of like the barest bones of how I imagine it might be done. These: Jacquin Botanical Prints 1763 Particularly this" Jacquin Botanical Prints 1764 As well as Besler, Giovanni Baptista Ferrari Ferrari Citrus Prints 1646 and Johannes Zorn Johannes Zorn, Icones Plantarum Medicinalium 1779 really appeal to me. Am I on a path to madness and, well, would it probably look crappy?

can someone maybe define 'solid' and what I should take from the qualifiers 'pretty' and 'fairly' in this context? Please? <british>

I've no experience at all with this, I'm on a steep learning curve with little RL imput TBH. Am terrified of ending up with something crappy - I think it his work looks qualitative but, well, I don't have a clue when it comes down to it. Annoyingly I haven't met him and can't until my design and lining appointment. Any idea if that's odd? So, yeah, nothing to do but over-think everything. - - - Updated - - - Oh, hello Cork - x posted there. I put a shed load of stuff in my first post that's stuck in moderation. They'll probably just vanish to mod again if I give it a second go... Probably best described as a black and grey 3/4 sleeve (in the sense that an arm full of nicely placed flash is a sleeve, as opposed to a japanese sleeve), mainly based on some 17th century botanical drawings with some other stuff in there too. - - - Updated - - - any critique of the chaps work (good or bad) really would be massively appreciated BTW. - - - Updated - - - OK - trying again anyway. Am inspired by this sort of thing: I like the way it ages: Here is some random stuff by Bresler - I'm thinking his work will translate to proper lined and shaded tattoos really rather nicely but I can't be sure: http://www.audubonart.com/00_imagedisp_sc.asp?stockno=BESD-0035-01-13&file=IMAGES/CATALOG/BESD/BESD_035_01.jpg&price=%20$3,800&returnurl=/02_gall_BESD1.asp Flowers at the bottom left and right http://www.audubonart.com/00_imagedisp_sc.asp?stockno=OKBE-145-300-13&file=IMAGES/CATALOG/OKBE/OKBE_145_01.jpg&price=%20$600&returnurl=/02_gall_OKBE2.asp http://www.audubonart.com/00_imagedisp_sc.asp?stockno=OKBE-101-300-13&file=IMAGES/CATALOG/OKBE/OKBE_101_01.jpg&price=%20$800&returnurl=/02_gall_OKBE1.asp peony 'cause it's such a known thing in tattooing so maybe easier to visulise translated. Possibly.

Hello to you too :) Sorry to say I somehow managed to send my first post into moderation when I added some photos / links to it, hoping it'll be back soon... Any opinions on the artist's work at all? (I love my avatar too, she's so very cute!)

Probably should link to some work from to the artist I'm going to, while I'm at it Instagram . Oops. Any opinions on any of the above would be massively appreciated.

Oh, failed with some of those images. Sorry! aging http://ubersuper.com/uploads/2013/04/tattoos-081.jpg

Hi, I'm Hetty - 36 years old, British but based in the Netherlands (Holland). I don't have any tattoos yet but I'm booked in for some work on my arm to cover / disguise / distract from some very old scarring in about a month from now. It's something I've wanted to do for years but now is the time, I feel. I'm pretty sure I've found a damned good artist, although I assume he'll be unknown on here. So, yeah, anyway, there's quite a few questions I'd like to ask. So, if I get the OK from you guys I'll just jump straight in with that later in this thread. - - - Updated - - - I'm looking to do something based on this sort of thing: Am after black and grey with strong outlining and good spacing, along the lines of this: as I think it ages really well http://mariyamileva.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/mim_4097_nm.jpg Starting with a 3/4 sleeve to deal with the scaring and then adding as and when after. I really like the work of Basillius Besler, a 17th century German botanist. I think his work would translate really well but, some opinions would be great. Some random examples Any thoughts on the feasibility of translating these illustrations into tattoo in the sort of style I'm after? - - - Updated - - - Oh, failed with some of those images. Sorry! aging http://mariyamileva.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/mim_4097_nm.jpg Some examples of Besler's work http://www.audubonart.com/00_imagedisp_sc.asp?stockno=OKBE-101-300-13&file=IMAGES/CATALOG/OKBE/OKBE_101_01.jpg&price=%20$800&returnurl=/02_gall_OKBE1.asp http://www.audubonart.com/00_imagedisp_sc.asp?stockno=BESD-0035-01-13&file=IMAGES/CATALOG/BESD/BESD_035_01.jpg&price=%20$3,800&returnurl=/02_gall_BESD1.asp http://www.audubonart.com/00_imagedisp_sc.asp?stockno=OKBE-145-300-13&file=IMAGES/CATALOG/OKBE/OKBE_145_01.jpg&price=%20$600&returnurl=/02_gall_OKBE2.asp