A humble request... (not strictly wow-related)

[Kirjava]

Afternoon fellow pet-fans,

As the title sujests, I have a request for all you wonderful fan-art folks:
I've been looking to get a tatoo for a while now, of a phoenix, but have been unable to find one I really like, and having seen some of the awesome skills you folks have I was wondering if anyone would be able to draw me one, I would do this myself but sadly I have the artistic talent of a dying slug. I'm looking for something of an "in-flight" pose, with wings and tail extended. If no-one's able to then I understand totally, but I figured here would be a good place to ask
many many thanks in advance if anyone is able/willing to come up with something, and either way, good luck to all

'Java.

[Bulletdance]

My professional (and I use that term very very loosely lol) advice is that ink and color are going to act differently on skin than on paper or screen. The image will change as you move, gain or lose muscle, age, and the color will also fade over time. This is something I would highly recommend commissioning a tattoo artist to do. They would be more qualified to handle those complexities. If you bring in something someone you don't even know made you and in the end your not happy with it or a few years down the line that tattoo artist is under no contractual obligation to make you happy. This is a job an artist would take very seriously it's going to be with you forever and would require a great deal of back and forth communication between you and the artist. It would probably be best for you to find a tattoo artist whose work you like and then go to them and ask if they'd be willing to make a few sketches for you because you like their style, but just not what they have available in the book at the front desk.

In terms of deciding what you want tho the only advice I could give is to look to history. The Chinense and Japanese have done amazing things with the phoenix image. Native American art has some really fine eagle work that could be tweaked to fit your needs, some Mayan imagery has phoenix-like figures in it. If you like anime that would be a a cool place to look. If you find like a heavy metal band that has cd covers of imagery you like. Google a bit and get an idea of the style you want so whomever you do find to do something for you will have a higher likelihood of making something you like.

[Azzrazzah]

Any tattoo artist worth his/her salt; will be able to come up with a design you like... If your paying for a Tatt, remember it's there forever!! If you don't like the artists first draft have him/her change it to your liking... If there are design parts (arm possition,wing possition, shading, head tilt, whatever) you like out of diff pics, bring those together in a whole.. Be sure to give your Tatt artist, your opinions on what you'd like to see in his/her art for you.. Your paying him/her to make you happy.. Like what Bulletdance says above, translation from paper to skin changes things, your now working on a flexable surface/pallet. I have a number of Tatts, only a few are from books.. Most are from either my head or the Tatt artist imagination... And I'm happy with the ones not from the books.. But the best designs are from your imagination, bring those in with you when you first chat with the artist.. It'll give him a starting place to work from.. Even if it's just a stick figure.. And last but not least... They Hurt to all holy hell!!.. Anyone says they don't; they are lying...

[Rarako]

I'll see if I can get a conceptual sketch down some time this week if you like, but knowing what style, body positioning, coloration, placement on your body, size, etc is very important. I know how pricey it can be to get a tattoo artist to work on something original for you (in the nicer shops it's almost always done but in some of the less high end parlors it can be near impossible), but generally if you bring in a sketch or base piece to work with they are normally more than happy to let you know what will and will not work as far as translating it to skin. Most sketches will need to be altered at least slightly so that they can translate properly, but it's a lot better to end up with something that you want to ware for the rest of your life than just settling for something because you don't have much of an alternative. Did one for a friend of mine a few years ago because no one at the parlor she worked at could do original designs to save their lives, but man could they copy a concept sketch...

[Rethei]

Any tattoo artist worth his/her salt; will be able to come up with a design you like... If your paying for a Tatt, remember it's there forever!! If you don't like the artists first draft have him/her change it to your liking... If there are design parts (arm possition,wing possition, shading, head tilt, whatever) you like out of diff pics, bring those together in a whole.. Be sure to give your Tatt artist, your opinions on what you'd like to see in his/her art for you.. Your paying him/her to make you happy.. Like what Bulletdance says above, translation from paper to skin changes things, your now working on a flexable surface/pallet. I have a number of Tatts, only a few are from books.. Most are from either my head or the Tatt artist imagination... And I'm happy with the ones not from the books.. But the best designs are from your imagination, bring those in with you when you first chat with the artist.. It'll give him a starting place to work from.. Even if it's just a stick figure.. And last but not least... They Hurt to all holy hell!!.. Anyone says they don't; they are lying...

I agree with Azzra! An Artist should be able to come up with something for you, even rough copies/sketches to help give em an idea! I had an artist help design my tattoo ripping out of my skin effect and gave him a few descriptions...within an hour he had is all done and it was amazing.

You just need to find the right guy/gal and the right shop. So don't be afraid to hop from store to store!

Best of luck!

[Kirjava]

Upon reading through the advice listed here, I've gotta say everything you've all said has made perfect sense, I suppose I wasnt really very sure of exactly what the artists are and arent willing to do, so I think I shall take a couple of recommendations from friends and go and look in a couple of specific places locally to me. It's definately something I've been taking seriously for all the reasons you lovely folks have listed, and again I think that's partly why I've taken so long on it, because I really dont want to just go in and pick something in under a minute with a little britain "want that one" attitude :p Thanks very much for your suggestions, I shall do some further investigationz! I will also of course let you know as and when I manage to get it done with pics if I can

Ty again

'Java