Moon tattoos

[MikeWheeler]

I did this Firefly Tattoo, and it has a moon in it. Figured it was relevant

[MikeWheeler]

I did this firefly tattoo, Its got a moon in it. So i hope its relevant.

[ShawnPorter]

There's a long story about the 'why' of us getting that particular design...

To condense it- when we started dating a mutual friend told us that our being happy was 'just the honeymoon phase. don't worry, it will pass' and we were blown away by how snarky and shitty a comment it was. So we started joking about getting a tattoo that was ambiguously a nod to Honey Moon Phase as a bigolfuckyou joke.

I've never gotten a tattoo with a partner before and when we were discussing it we decided not to add initials or date or anything to 'play it safe' but ultimately it was a really great experience.

[cookietruck]

I've never gotten a tattoo with a partner before and when we were discussing it we decided not to add initials or date or anything to 'play it safe' but ultimately it was a really great experience.

is there a thread for significant other tattoos?

[ShawnPorter]

is there a thread for significant other tattoos?

I'm not sure.

[TrixieFaux]

When you started this thread @Delicious, I didn't think I had a moon, then I remembered I did have the faint outline of a crescent moon shaped jewel. Today Kim shaded it in along with some other stuff, this is a pic taken from the table:

(better pic now on Latest Lowdown)

[Dumpleton]

Obviously not a tattoo as yet, How good is this going to be when done

Artist is Matthew Houston recently posted on instagram.

[heathenist]

Doesn't Dietzel have an old flash with the lady head in the curve of a crescent moon?

[Stewart Robson]

Sorry to be off topic with the way this thread turned out but regardless of any "witchy witchy" (whatever that means) or other current tattoo trends. Sometimes we gotta take it back and look at why?...

Not just why you got a particular tattoo but why certain symbols are grouped together in the first place.

Female figures and the moon make more sense than most associated designs. - As a side note, Diana worship became very popular in Europe in the early 19th century as part of the revival of earlier religious ideas by the middle classes (who had more time on their hands, probably because of the Industrial Revolution) which led to more works of art, visual, written and performed that included these ideas and symbols. These are often the very works that modern tattooers appropriate.

Remember that some tattooer, somewhere knew this when they included a moon in a design of a lady head. (or they took it from an illustration by someone who knew.) Then it was imitated because it looked cool or resonated in some way.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I strongly believe it's a tattooers job to understand the mechanism of symbols and apply them to create relationships that have a deeper value than just looking cool. There's nothing wrong with looking cool and often I don't bore my clients with a lecture about the historical connections with the symbols I include. I just try to make their tattoo look cool. Hopefully one day they will discover the meanings and connections behind the symbols and realise it makes the design slightly richer.

Sorry to derail yet another thread with a boring self-righteous rant...

[ShawnPorter]

Sorry to derail yet another thread with a boring self-righteous rant...

Where would we be without your self righteous rants, Stewart? I for one (usually) enjoy them.

I interviewed David Bruehl back in 2008, and he had some similar thoughts on the more abstract concept you're talking about:

"I take on the role of the educator. We live in an entire world of symbology, and I think everyone who chooses a tattoo does so because it resonates with them, albeit sometimes on a very subconscious level, so I don’t judge. They likely may not know the specific significance, but a part of them speaks the language." - Bruehl

"On the same subject, but an even more light-hearted note: Every time a person has ever come in wanting to get a yin yang tattoo, I’ve joked with them that I won’t do it unless they tell me what religion/philosophy it’s associated with. In my seven years of tattooing, I’ve never had someone correctly answer “Taoism” or even “Chinese” philosophy. So they may be ignorant of the origins surrounding the symbol, but they do correctly seek to realize the balance that it represents." -ibid

[SStu]

and often I don't bore my clients with a lecture about the historical connections with the symbols I include.

I, for one, would relish being better educated on symbolism that might add to or detract from the overall project.

[heathenist]

Sorry to be off topic with the way this thread turned out but regardless of any "witchy witchy" (whatever that means) or other current tattoo trends. Sometimes we gotta take it back and look at why?...

Not just why you got a particular tattoo but why certain symbols are grouped together in the first place.

Female figures and the moon make more sense than most associated designs. - As a side note, Diana worship became very popular in Europe in the early 19th century as part of the revival of earlier religious ideas by the middle classes (who had more time on their hands, probably because of the Industrial Revolution) which led to more works of art, visual, written and performed that included these ideas and symbols. These are often the very works that modern tattooers appropriate.

Remember that some tattooer, somewhere knew this when they included a moon in a design of a lady head. (or they took it from an illustration by someone who knew.) Then it was imitated because it looked cool or resonated in some way.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I strongly believe it's a tattooers job to understand the mechanism of symbols and apply them to create relationships that have a deeper value than just looking cool. There's nothing wrong with looking cool and often I don't bore my clients with a lecture about the historical connections with the symbols I include. I just try to make their tattoo look cool. Hopefully one day they will discover the meanings and connections behind the symbols and realise it makes the design slightly richer.

Sorry to derail yet another thread with a boring self-righteous rant...

This is great, no need to apologize for the history lesson, I love this kind of stuff. And yeah, it is cool how much tattoo imagery comes from Victorian artwork. Mario Desa clued me in on this one of the times I got tattooed by him, sure enough when I did a google search for Victorian art woman moon, got a bunch of hits.

[purple123]

I have a cat on a moon

[shootermcgavin125]

I have seen the popularity of moon tats grow a lot. Whats the story behind the bleeding moon??

[Delicious]

Small arm filler I got a month or so ago from Jeremy Swed at Inksmith & Rogers...based off a Zeis flash piece.

Stole this to bump the thread. Great tattoo by the way @velvetlover36

[kimkong]

i have a small one from tim pausinger on my arm. the picture is really small too :)

[velvetlover36]

Thanks.

- - - Updated - - -

Stole this to bump the thread. Great tattoo by the way @velvetlover36

Thanks.

[PickingUpDust]

I've posted this one on the site elsewhere but here's my lady moon from @Valerie Vargas.