My 'Questioning Phoenix' tattoo

Roy's finished 'Questioning Phoenix' tattoo, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Here's the answer...

Nope. This didn't hurt much at all.

It was more of a sort of vibrating vague sting, that numbed out after about ten mintes.

The tatt is Marcus van der Tuin's interpretation of my interpretation of an illustration I saw on one of Roger von Oech's Creative Whack Pack.

To anyone who hasn't noticed the subtlety, the positive space (the red and black) forms a schematic phoenix looking to the left, with wings raised. The negative space forms a strong question mark.

When the colours settle, this will be a very painterly piece of skin. It's not discernible now, but everything is blended and shaded and graded. I'll post a pic in a week or so, when it's looking more like it ought to.

In the meantime, if you're in Cape Town (cos that's where Marcus is based -- he was in Joburg as a guest of Missing Link for two weeks, doing tattoos for their friends, staff, and clients), book yourself a session or two with Marcus.

He really knows what he's doing, and comes from the advertising and design worlds. He really knows his aesthetics, and he's absolutely awesome at shading. I'm going to ask D'ave at Missing Link to zap me a pic of his tatt, done by Marcus. It WILL blow your mind. It's astonishingly good!

Contact Marcus at his studio. He's at METAL MACHINE, 49 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town, South Africa.

Phone +27 21 423 0688.

Thanks to Missing Link for my new tatt. You guys cook! And thanks to Marcus for the beautiful interpretation.

If you're interested in seeing the series of videos I streamed live to the internet from my Nokia N91, here they are...

Questioning Phoenix
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9

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