Jellyfish tattoos

[Graeme]

I'm glad my masculinity isn't judged by what tattoos I have. If jellyfish are out, I shudder to think what might be thought of a man with a butterfly tattoo.

I live in the gay neighborhood in my city and I can't think of seeing many men with jellyfish or butterfly tattoos. Not long after moving here, however, I realized that I'm not the only hairy man here with a tattoo of a bear.

[scubaron]

Awesome book, agreed.

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I'm glad my masculinity isn't judged by what tattoos I have. If jellyfish are out, I shudder to think what might be thought of a man with a butterfly tattoo.

I thought the jellyfish tattoo I posted looked a little feminine. Could be the flowing curving design. Just my opinion.

[irezumi]

Any well-rendered jellyfish ought to have a flowing organic feel; anything less would come off as stiff and awkward.

And yeah of course these are all just opinions are far as masculine/feminine tattoos and what people perceive m/f to be. I'm sure there's a thread on it somewhere that I don't care to search for ha.

[MrToby]

I have a bunch of Haeckel tattooed on me. Art Forms in Nature is an amazing book.

Absolutely agreed. Haeckel's Art Forms in Nature is just brilliant. I've regularly considered getting something tattooed from it. Being a geologist I am constantly interested in some of the fossils he's got in there but can never decide either what to get or where. Maybe it will happen one day. Who knows maybe even a jellyfish...

[scubaron]

I think Jellyfish tattoos a pretty cool. A lot of them that I see though remind me of Ernst Haeckel's paintings. For those who don't know who on earth he was, he was a biologist/artist and whole load of other things around the end of the 19th start of the 20th century. Anyway I've put some of his paintings below so that you can see what I mean about the similarity in between his work and jellyfish tattoos. It might just be me seeing similarities that aren't really there but especially the picture with the coloured jellyfish on it I feel has been referenced a lot. Which is great because it's awesome.

Wow. Thanks for the reference. I just bought this book after seeing you post and doing a quick search on the internet.

Great book and illustrations. All kinds of ideas in my head now. Any other books or references like this ?

[MrToby]

@scubaron I have to confess I am not aware of any in the same style as what Haeckel did. The only things that might be similar would be biological text books and identification guides. If anyone else has other suggestions then throw them up because I would love to see them as well. Anything as good as Haeckel would be great to see.

[Graeme]

Haeckel has another book called Art Forms from the Ocean (or something similar to that, anyway). I don't own it, but I have taken it out from the library, and it's certainly worth looking at. From what I remember, it deals mostly with pretty biologically simple life, and isn't in my opinion as interesting visually as Art Forms in Nature.

If you look around though there are loads of books with some pretty spectacular scientific drawings. One that I find really impressive is Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities. There's so much cool stuff in it. Haeckel is kind of on his own though in the way that his drawings and paintings segue with geometric forms. It's kind of sacred geometry for atheists.

[taaarro]

I found a web page that had the Haeckel source for this Guy le Tatooer piece but I can't find it now...

always thought it was a cool tattoo, read this thread, found the source, then lost it.

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[taaarro]

This one by Eddy Deutsche rules too

[temporarytattoo]

Your choice of jellyfish is really an very good idea it almost shapes like octopus only.

[Cork]

Saw this one from Dana Helmuth. What can I say, I'm a fan of his work.

[Victor]

This one by Eddy Deutsche rules too[ATTACH]10080[/ATTACH]

That is awesome, very original, clean, simple, elegant and feminine.

I hope they are not filling in the background, because that design is wonderful as a stand alone, on her wonderfully white skin.

I saw this Zombie Jelly fish design and thought it was also an original take on the theme.

[SeeSea]

True and funny you mention snakes and eels. I am an avid scuba diver. I feel no connection to snakes, but eels are one my favorite animals to see on a dive. I can definitely see an eel tattoo in my future.

I'm a diver too, and I'm getting a scene of my underwater pictures on my back. My artist just did the first pass on an eel near the bottom of my back - spotted morays are my favorite, but he said that the spot pattern is a little small and won't age as well as a larger pattern like a Leopard moray, so we're doing the Leopard. I'm with you on the eels!

[scubaron]

I'm a diver too, and I'm getting a scene of my underwater pictures on my back. My artist just did the first pass on an eel near the bottom of my back - spotted morays are my favorite, but he said that the spot pattern is a little small and won't age as well as a larger pattern like a Leopard moray, so we're doing the Leopard. I'm with you on the eels!

Cool. Would be cool to see when it is finished it you don't mind showing. I have a tribal manta ray on my calf and just finished the 1st session for a whale shark on my shoulder. Both black and grey since my skin is tan. Scheduled with Yoni Zilber for an octopus on my other shoulder in April.

[SeeSea]

Cool. Would be cool to see when it is finished it you don't mind showing. I have a tribal manta ray on my calf and just finished the 1st session for a whale shark on my shoulder. Both black and grey since my skin is tan. Scheduled with Yoni Zilber for an octopus on my other shoulder in April.

Sure, I want to show - just wish it was further along. I said elsewhere it doesn't have a stencil, so it's pretty free-form and you won't see what's planned - just a couple blobs of initial shading. A clownfish area with anemone and the eel area with a couple cool tube sponges. Maybe after my session in 2 weeks there will be enough to show to at least get an idea.

Whaleshark - cool! They are amazing - so gentle but run you over like a bus. The spots will look amazing! Have you been diving in Galapagos? Amazing critters - the top of my back will be shadows of schooling hammerheads from a pic I took there. I was thinking of tribal eagle ray but decided on the realistic instead, so will have some eagle rays in the distance. i didn't have a great octopus pictures so no octo in my piece. :-(

Do you have pics up?

[scubaron]

Whale shark is in progress. 2nd session in 2 weeks. Artist is using dot shading. It's creating a nice depth and shade transition.

Yeah Galapagos was incredible. I was face to face inches away. The experience is why I chose a whale shark.

Which artist is doing your work ?

[SeeSea]

Whale shark is in progress. 2nd session in 2 weeks. Artist is using dot shading. It's creating a nice depth and shade transition.

Yeah Galapagos was incredible. I was face to face inches away. The experience is why I chose a whale shark.

Which artist is doing your work ?

Nice start - I like the position. I'm interested in seeing the depth/shade up close as it goes along. Yeah, the experience drives great art - I know what you mean - that will live with you forever. Very cool - everything going on my back has a personal story like that. My artist is Sean Zee from NJ. How about you?

[scubaron]

Nice start - I like the position. I'm interested in seeing the depth/shade up close as it goes along. Yeah, the experience drives great art - I know what you mean - that will live with you forever. Very cool - everything going on my back has a personal story like that. My artist is Sean Zee from NJ. How about you?

Saw a pic online of a underwater theme sleeve by Sean with humpback whales and seals. Looks awesome. Does he have a website or instagram page ? I'd like to see more of his work.

Yoni Zilber at NY Adorned is doing my octopus in April. My whale shark is being done by Cheo Park at East Side Ink. Yoni is more known but I like both of their portfolios and style. Looked like they fit what I am looking for, were easy to get in touch with and wait time was not too long.

[SeeSea]

Saw a pic online of a underwater theme sleeve by Sean with humpback whales and seals. Looks awesome. Does he have a website or instagram page ? I'd like to see more of his work.

Yup - that was the picture that got me hooked. I met him at a tattoo convention in Baltimore when I was looking for someone doing realistic sea life scenes. The easiest way to see some of his stuff I think is to just plug his name into Google Images. He's opening a shop and has taken a lot off line, i guess in planning. I wish he had more of his stuff up.

Yoni Zilber at NY Adorned is doing my octopus in April. My whale shark is being done by Cheo Park at East Side Ink. Yoni is more known but I like both of their portfolios and style. Looked like they fit what I am looking for, were easy to get in touch with and wait time was not too long.

Yoni's grey and white looks really cool - I'd love a design like that. Both of those guys look great. I think finding someone who fits what you are looking for makes a lot of sense, and that's how I ended up with Sean Zee.

[sophistre]

This thread makes me so happy. I'm also a diver (recently landlocked, though; life has been busy), and I'm also getting an octopus tattooed on myself in April, in NY. It's going to be pretty abstract, though. I've thought about where I might put more sea life on myself. I hope you guys update with pictures; I'd love to see what you get!

[Graeme]

Yoni Zilber at NY Adorned is doing my octopus in April. My whale shark is being done by Cheo Park at East Side Ink. Yoni is more known but I like both of their portfolios and style. Looked like they fit what I am looking for, were easy to get in touch with and wait time was not too long.

Have you seen pictures of the skull octopus Yoni Zilber did on the author China Mieville? There are plenty of pictures of it around on the internet and it's rad. You're going to get a great tattoo.

[scubaron]

This thread makes me so happy. I'm also a diver (recently landlocked, though; life has been busy), and I'm also getting an octopus tattooed on myself in April, in NY. It's going to be pretty abstract, though. I've thought about where I might put more sea life on myself. I hope you guys update with pictures; I'd love to see what you get!

You're getting an octopus in April in NY too ? Funny, small world. Who is your artist ?

I've seen 4 different octopus tattoos by Yoni. Not sure which one was on China Mieville. But they all looked great.

[sophistre]

@scubaron: Peter Walrus Madsen, a Danish fellow who apparently does resident guest stuff with Sacred Tattoo. The subject matter isn't his usual fare, but the style works really well with what I've got in my head.

And the world gets smaller, because China Mieville is my author mega-crush, for reasons professional and otherwise. :( I actually went to see him read from Embassytown when I was living in Cambridge (MA). (Kraken was better. :) Predictably, The Scar is probably my other favorite...if I had to choose.)

[scubaron]

@scubaron: Peter Walrus Madsen, a Danish fellow who apparently does resident guest stuff with Sacred Tattoo. The subject matter isn't his usual fare, but the style works really well with what I've got in my head.

And the world gets smaller, because China Mieville is my author mega-crush, for reasons professional and otherwise. :( I actually went to see him read from Embassytown when I was living in Cambridge (MA). (Kraken was better. :) Predictably, The Scar is probably my other favorite...if I had to choose.)

I checked some of Peter Walrus Madsen's work online. Nice stuff. Totally off my radar because he's listed as a guest artist at Sacred. Didn't realize he is a regular at Sacred and takes on new clients.

Curious, how did you choose him ? You live in pacific north west ?

[sophistre]

I do, yep! As of the end of 2012, anyway. I was on the east coast before that.

Honestly, I had a rough idea of my concept and it involved a whole lot of fiddly details (geometric, Mendhi, patterns; cramming that stuff into an abstract octopus shape) that kind of narrowed down the likely field of interested artists. Artist availability kinda narrowed it down even more.

I'm still a newbie when it comes to tattoo stuff -- I know just enough to realize how much I don't know. I spent a lot of time plugging relevant keywords into google image, scouring images and related images, and bookmarking possibles. I'm glad I discovered LST, because that'll make researching future tattoos much easier. :cool: