Found it!

A little while back I wrote about what my next tattoo would be and I believe I have now come to a decision.  I want a galaxy and whirlpool combined.  Most of my tattoo ideas have been of combining two things that are important to me or that really interest me.  And well I was on the track of science a few weeks ago and this fits the bill.  My fascination with the ocean and space.

As I was searching for some images to use as reference I knew I was looking for a spiral galaxy of some sort.  In order to incorporate the whirlpool it would only make sense.  So I'm looking through the Hubble site for inspiration and I stumble across a galaxy known as M51 or the "Whirpool" galaxy.  I just about stopped dead in my tracks.  Here I am looking for something to mix with a whirlpool and the galaxy that catches my eye goes by the same name!  It was definitely one of those "fate" moments.  Or whatever you want to call it.  These things came together in a way that just made sense.

So I guess I should share what I've found:

There are other images of the Whirlpool Galaxy but the colours in this particular one really appeal to me.  Once I decided on combining the two elements I knew I wanted to have reds and/or blues in the galaxy.  After all, it is a bit hard to represent star light in a tattoo so the surrounding colours need to be bright, yet galaxy like.  The whirlpool is the easy part and I'm sure if I put some effort into it I could draw one myself.  I do like the colours in the picture I found and I'm inclined to see what Japanese style with the water might look like.

Needless to say I'm incredibly excited that I figured this out as it puts to rest something that I have been thinking about... a lot.  Now I just have to sort out how big it needs to be so I know where it can go.

To tattoo or to tattoo

There were many warnings that as soon as I had my first tattoo I would always want more.  And hells yeah they were right.  It is a bit worrisome though as I really don't want to be covered in them, but I can't stop thinking about "the next one".

Recent ideas have gone from a fire(sun) and water to a Latin quote.  The quote is - meum cerebrum nocet - my brain hurts.  I really like it and when you look at in a script form there's a really nice flow to it.  I did have someone tell me that it was a bad idea as I would have to explain to people what it meant...

Well that's just what happens when you have tattoos, or at least it should in my opinion.  Tattoos should represent something and regardless of the meaning, it should mean something.  I don't care if it's a pretty flower as a tramp stamp or some misspelled Chinese characters it should hold some sort of importance to the person.  My tattoos are OK to look at on their own not much interpretation needed.  But I do have to explain the one on my wrist (Aries & Pisces signs combined, though I accidentally placed it upside down to show others) quite often which is fine I don't mind explaining, it means a lot to me.  (see where I went there).  If you choose to have a tattoo in a visible place you should be expect questions and inquiries about it.  If that concerns you, you shouldn't have it.  End of story.

So on to my third whoops fourth... uh oh... um ok.  So on to my fourth one.  I still really like the Latin quote but I was also on the Science Tattoo Emporium site and started thinking of doing something different.  Something that speaks about the nerd in me.  It really has been there for a long time.  You could technically say that my first and second tattoos had a science spin to them.  Crescent moon (with a daisy chain) and a star, respectively.  I need to do some more thinking and looking into what is possible with ink in skin.  I would hate to come up with a great idea that only looks good on paper.

Well I think it's back to the drawing board with the fourth one.  I really do like the science idea I just need to come up with one that works.