Fairy Tale Half Sleeve.

I've been so busy with work lately that I've had no time at all to blog or catch up with the ones I'm reading, so I'm looking forward to spending this lazy Easter weekend doing just that!

I finally got around to taking a few pictures of my new Arthur Rackham and fairy tale inspired half sleeve, which I had done last Friday (I can't believe its been a week already!) I wasn't able to get very good photos of it unfortunately, but I did the best I could. Its quite flaky and fuzzy at the moment as its healing, so its not quite looking at its best just yet but I couldn't wait any longer to show it off!

The whole thing was done in one go and took 5 long and painful hours to complete. I'm so glad now that I got it all done at once though - I would have kicked myself if I had given up or wimped out halfway through, and I feel like I really achieved something now. You cant really tell how big it is from these photos, but it goes right from my wrist (the mermaid is from an original Arthur Rackham illustration and is riding a giant fish) to right up over my elbow and onto my upper arm, so its more of a 3/4 sleeve really i guess. The dragons face is right on my elbow and was mostly definitely the most painful part to have tattooed! Little Red Riding Hood came a very close second on the pain scale (as she is right in the inside crease of my elbow) and she has the wolf's shadow on a teapot moon behind her which is poring out the sea down the inside of my arm. I cant wait until its completely healed and I can start having it shaded and coloured in muted, watercolour tones!

On a little side-note, the A-Z Challenge starts on Monday and I'm so excited to get going with it! I've already got a few of the posts written and am anxious to share all the wonderful mythical creatures I've found with you!

Tattoos In Folklore

As work is soon to start on my own tattoo, I thought it would be interesting to look into the folklore and myths that surround tattoos. I didn't know much at all about this subject when I started looking into it, and I managed to find out some very interesting things.

When we think about tattoos most people picture the traditional sailor, covered from head to toe with old fashioned ink - anchors, naked women and sailing imagery. Many of the traditional tattoos that sailors had have meanings and superstitions behind them.

Pig and chicken tattoos were believed
to prevent drowning.

• A pig and a chicken tattoo on the feet would keep you from drowning if your ship went down. This was believed because the wooden pig and chicken crates would float when the rest of the ship sank, meaning that these animals were often the only survivors of wrecks.

• A tattoo of the North Star would unsure that you always found your way home.

• Sailors would have a cross tattooed on each wrist and ankle to unsure that they would get a Christian burial if they were washed ashore - even if they were washed ashore in several pieces!

• A tattoo of an anchor meant that a sailor had crossed the Atlantic. 

• 'Hold Fast' was commonly tattooed on the knuckles as this was thought to give sailors a good, strong grip.

• A sailor would get a sparrow tattooed for every 5000 nautical miles they had travelled. However, a dagger through a sparrow symbolised a lost comrade. 

Tattoos of 'Hold Fast' would ensure a strong grip.

In some rural and Bedouin areas of Iraq tattoos are used as a form of folk-medicine called 'Dakkah'. This treatment involves a specialist putting tattoos on the pain centres of a patients body - including the face/head for headaches, and the back and limbs for backache or joint pain.

The meaning behind having a teardrop tattooed below the eye is extremely well known - it shows that the person has committed a murder. However, this tattoo is also common within gangs and an unfilled teardrop can mean the death of a friend. This teardrop is only filled in when the person has avenged their loss.

In Russia images of Lenin and Stalin were traditionally tattooed on the chest, as it was believed that firing squads were forbidden to shoot at an image of their leaders. And Russian prisoners often get an image of a spider in a web tattooed on their shoulder - if the spider is climbing up the web it means the person is committed to a life of crime, and if its climbing down it means they are trying to break free of the criminal lifestyle. In Russian prisons a man with no tattoos at all has absolutely no social status.

In the Hindu religion henna tattoos are applied during the wedding preparations.

Many religions include tattoos and in Thailand Buddhist Monks also work as tattoo artists during an annual March festival. The tattoos they apply are intended to work as amulets which keep evil away or bring strength to their wearers. A traditional Buddhist tattoo is the Lotus flower, which symbolises purity and can be any colour except blue. Hindus (the Brahmins) traditionally had a series of lines or circles tattooed on the forehead, cheeks or chest to show their servitude to God and some temple girls received tattoos of sacred symbols on their shoulders and breasts to unsure the salvation of their souls. Henna is used within the Hindu religion to decorate hands and feet with semi-permenant tattoos, and traditional Hindu wedding preparations include applying henna tattoos on the bride and groom-to-be. The darker the henna ends up the deeper their love in marriage will be.

This is an endlessly fascinating subject and something which I will definitely be looking into in more depth in the future. My next aim is to find some fairy tales which feature tattoos.

If anyone has some interesting tattoo meanings or stories I would love to hear them! What pieces of tattoo folklore do you know?

Arthur Rackham On My Arm.

I adore tattoos. Anything that can turn you into a walking piece of artwork gets an A+ in my book.

At the moment I have one tattoo on my right wrist  (a swirly-twirly pattern of sorts) which I had done when I turned 18. I like that its in an obvious place where it can be seen constantly, not hidden away to be pulled out occasionally and shown to friends. I don't like tattoos that can't be seen, I don't really get the point of them. Yes, I understand that some people can't have tattoos on show due to work, and it makes me feel extremely luck that I don't have to worry about such things in my job.

I've known now for a good few years that I want my next tattoo to be on my other wrist, but I only got around to planning it just last week. I had a general idea that I wanted it to be based around fairytale and folklore so I dove into some research and image-hunting with that in mind. After a few hours of manic image saving, I resurfaced from the sea of google with a folder rammed full of Arthur Rackham illustrations and not a whole lot else.

"Right....an Arthur Rackham style tattoo it is then!" I thought triumphantly.
"And lets make it a full forearm half sleeve while we're at it!" - I was obviously mad-drunk on fairy tale imagery.

My favourite Arthur Rackham illustration.
This mermaid riding a fish will be featuring in my half-sleeve.

So, after a mad battle with my printer, off I went to visit my tattoo-man armed with a precarious pile of picture print-outs. I'm not the best at explaining ideas and whats in my head, but he just totally got it. Straight away. We talked for ages about trees and nature, what fairy tales I wanted featured in it and how the pieces would work together and combine. He's drawing up a sketch for me, which should be ready to look at sometime next week. Let just say 'excited' doesn't even come close to how I feel about it all.

Its going to feature a whole mash of fairytale goodness and delight, but some of the things which will definitely be in it are - lots of trees and branches (of course), a dragon, a mermaid (see above), little red riding hood and the wolf, playing cards, mushrooms and a teapot. All in the style of the wonderful Arthur Rackham. I'm so anxious to see what else he comes up with and how it all looks together! I can barely contain my excitement! I have no idea how I'm supposed to wait a week!

In the meantime I plan to placate myself with some research into the folklore and traditions surrounding tattoos. I want to find out about the meanings and superstitions behind them, who got them and why. I'll post my findings here - I just know its going to be delightfully interesting!

I'll keep updating as things about my own tattoo adventure as it progresses, and hopefully it wont be too long before I have some lovely new art on my arm.

Happy Adventuring xx