Looking for creative input

[MaBad]

 Hi all,

So I'm looking for getting my first one or two tattoos and I'm hoping to get some creative suggestions. I know that words that I want tattooed but I'm not sure about images or if I even WANT images. I'm hoping I can get some creative input to help me decide.

The first tattoo I want to is "Mundus vult decipi ergo decipiatur" which is Latin and translates to "The world wants to be deceived, therefore let it be deceived" For me, this is 'irony' and a reminder to always see the world as it is and myself as I am, not as I want these things to be. Too often I feel people either view the world/themselves in an ideal state or bury their heads in the sand from the truth. So it's more of a reminder to not fall into this trap. This the first tattoo I will get.

The second tattoo I want to get is a quote from the short film  World of Tomorrow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Tomorrow_(film). The quote is "Now is the envy of all the dead." To me, this is mostly about living for today and seizing opportunity. It's like a less cliche 'Carpe Diem' to me. 

So I'm wondering if anyone can think of any visuals to go along with these ideas. The thought of putting ink on my skin is an immensely personal experience and I wouldn't get these two phrases if they didn't mean something to me. Therefore, I won't get any thing else to accompany them unless they also speak to me but I'm very curious to see what kinds of suggestions I can get from this community.

Thank you in advance for reading this post and for your input.

Also, I should say, as this might matter, that I am thinking about getting these tattooed on my neck and forehead. I'm just kidding, I am thinking about my upper arms and either inner or outer arms. I work in a business casual environment and wear dress shirts with sleeves rolled up so I want to keep them outside exposed areas. 

Thank you!

[mtlsam]

Tell us what city you live in, then people will chime in with good shops or tattooers in your area.

Next step is to go to one of those good tattooers and ask them. They are the artists. We are just people who like to get good tattoos.

[SStu]

There are many threads that start with this sort of theme. Here is the most common boiled-down result.

Generally, word and especially sentence tattoos are pretty boring. Images are visually interesting. It doesn't matter what the image is as long as it reminds YOU ("immensely personal experience", right?) of the feeling/inspiration/event/person/etc/etc.

[mmmsarah]

I feel like you could get an awesome skull to go with "now is the envy of all the dead"

 

I know a lot of guys put longer quotes like your first one on their inner bicep, I think that looks better than on the outer arm. I guess it just depends if you like the aesthetic of having a chunk of text like that. 

[DJDeepFried]

Personally I like words in banners (as opposed to randomly floating) which goes well with traditional style images. But I agree the first step is to find the right artist. He/she might like the challenge and freedom of coming up with a design to fit those words.

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[MaBad]

Thanks for the initial input. I am in Atlanta, GA. 

[oboogie]

My artist was the first to tell me that putting a bunch of words is a waste of good real estate. If you feel like you have to have the words, I highly recommend you get an image to go with them and get some old school banners with the text. But as everyone says, go to an artist and tell them your ideas. Then let them run away with it.

Edited August 22, 2016 by oboogie

[SStu]

https://www.instagram.com/savannahcolleen/

This shop has a couple of great artists.