A Tattoo

I have to confess that tattoo's give me the willies especially the pictures that pop up when you look in google images.

The earliest evidence of tattoos has been found on Egyptian mummies dating back to 2000 BC. Modern tattoos are created by injecting indellible ink into the dermis layer of the skin but in the past they were created by rubbing material into open wounds or hand pricking the skin to introduce dyes. Modern tattoos trace their roots to Polynesia brought back by 18th century sailors. Tattooing has become increasingly popular in the latter part of the 20th century and early 21st century due to celebrities such as David Beckham and Janis Joplin.

Mum tattoos seem to feature hearts arrows and swirly writing (ok the image in the top right isn't a tattoo but I like it)

I did some sketchbook work using a drawing pen, dip pen and paintbrush to try and generate different ideas;

I would like to use more than just lettering but I think the design has to be simple and striking to work. If it was a real tattoo it could be on display for many years. I developed the hugging theme

I like the roughness of the image
above. For me tidying it up loses
something of the energy.
The letters work best coloured I think. Actual colour depends on
who it would be worn by.





However maybe a simpler design would be more effective. When I wrote Mum beneath the cats I did

and perhaps I like this one best of all!