Vitruvian variety

Andail · Sat 13/05/2006 14:22:10

Just sketched this up as a concept for a tattoo for a friend of mine.
It is based on the Vitruvian Man by DaVinci, only in top-down perspective and a bit more sketchy.

Any c&c? If it gets to be a tattoo, I'll clean it up a bit, thicken the outlines etc.

Chicky · Sat 13/05/2006 15:16:16

Reminds me of christ, hope that's intentional?

MashPotato · Sat 13/05/2006 16:31:50

I think it's looking very good ^_^. There a few things to mention, but let me preface this by saying that I am no master of anatomy, so these are uninformed opinions!

-he appears to be bent slightly rather than going straight down; more specifically, his head and torso are at a definite downward angle, but his legs, while still downward, seem a little more straight-on to me. I think this is due to the length of his thighs and calves being roughly the same when his calves should be shorter.
-his head seems to be sitting a bit strangely--as it is, his neck seems as though it would be quite skinny. Maybe thicken his muscles toward the back, or move his head forward? (I'm not sure)
-his top arms seem a bit more upward facing than forward facing, particularly in the hand on our top right

Don't get me wrong though, I think it looks really good so far ^_^

Krysis · Sat 13/05/2006 16:35:32

The art looks really good.
But why would anyone want a tatoo of a creepy naked guy that seems to want a hug?

Kweepa · Sat 13/05/2006 18:40:27

Chicky, it's a da Vinci drawing.

Andail, some comments:
You've deviated from the original in some ways - shorter, straighter hair, the legs are straight on (rather than turned to the right), he's lost some muscle tone (the most obvious place to me is above the hips).
The top pair of arms seems more stretched back than lifted up. I think that adds to the Christ-like look, if you take the top arms, the closed legs, and the slumped head.
I think the tattoo might work better with the square and circle, perhaps with some depth.

Interesting tattoo...

Postmodern_Boy · Sat 13/05/2006 22:05:38

it would be really cool looking if you put the square and circle from the original into the new perspective that you used for the figure. It would help stop people from thinking that its just a creepy nude guy that wants a hug.

Scummbuddy · Mon 15/05/2006 06:24:00

I agree that it would need the circle and other sketchy parts from the original to move away from the allusion to Christ. It does look like we're looking down on Christ on the cross, at least to me.

Also, I see that you have the hands in certain positions. You may want to be careful as to not make any American (or other language) Sign Language hand symbols/gestures as to not give any hidden meaning. I suppose you should just worry about whatever country the tattoo-ee will be sporting this tattoo in.

big brother · Mon 15/05/2006 06:39:39

It takes a confident person to get a penis inked on them.

Your friend might want to stick with some harmless kanji lettering, or perhaps one of those contemporary tribal designs that all the frat children are sporting these days.

Chicky · Mon 15/05/2006 10:23:14

Quote from: SteveMcCrea on Sat 13/05/2006 18:40:27
Chicky, it's a da Vinci drawing.

I know Steve... But in comparison to the proper Vitruvian it looks a lot more like he is hanging from something rather than standing.

I duno, it was just my first impression.

Andail · Mon 15/05/2006 14:56:48

Yeah, the point is to make a Christian symbol out of the DaVinci drawing, to add religious meaning to something scientific. The idea is to make it impossible to surely tell whether it's a crucified man or the Vitruvian man, which is why I had to change plenty of features from the original DaVinci model.

The picture was described very thoroughly by the friend of mine, so I guess he's not homophobic enough to be bothered by male genetalia.

Kweepa · Mon 15/05/2006 15:03:23

Why, I oughtta...
Using us as guinea pigs, eh?
I hope you're happy!

big brother · Mon 15/05/2006 16:06:36

Bear in mind that the proportions of a tattoo only stay as constant as the skin under them. The ink will look better on taut skin/firmer surface (which will usually be more painful). Due to skin's elasticity, the way people age, and weight gain/loss, tattoos tend to drift and contort. A subject which is a study of ideal proportions hardly lends itself to this medium.

I'd think that other people's homophobia would bother him more. A lot of people have juvenile senses of humor, and any girlfriend/boyfriend/wife is going to play with the tattoo (you know, pulling or pushing the skin to change the size of figure's genitals). For him to not eventually see it as a curse, he's going to need a long fuse and a good sense of humor. From the grandiose description of its intended meaning, I'm under the impression he's thinking of this from a serious standpoint.

Considering design, a tattoo looks best if it matches the shape of the body part under it. This one should probably be put along the center line of the back because of its symmetry (as an added bonus, upper back will show less drift, but sun damage can be a factor).

I would suggest that you start this design as a traditional sketch (on white paper, this digital background texture you have detracts from the purpose). Once he's happy with the design there, you can draw it in pen. At that point, you can have a tattoo artist scale it and turn it into a transfer, so you friend can "test-drive" it for a few days. If he still likes it after that original excitement wears off, he can go ahead and set a date for the pain. In the meantime, get to know your artist and his work. Make sure the studio has an autoclave. If he charges more than 200 an hour, he's either a rip-off or an underground celebrity. And always, ALWAYS leave a 15% tip.

I'm sure he doesn't want to end up with something from here: http://www.badtattoos.com/

They will give him some guidelines on healing and ointments (no Petroleum jelly, etc. Although antibacterial soap like Dial works just as well as Bacitracin or any specific tattoo goo). The tattoo will leak, especially if the design required a lot of ink, so he should be prepared for a few shirts or sheets to be ruined.

Helm · Tue 16/05/2006 08:05:38

if this is to have religious significance, please very intentfully work on the fingers so they're not sketchy but precise. This is christianity, and it's all in the hands portraying the alphabet and everything.

Strongly second big brother on drawing this on white paper because unless the tatto is made with a darkened skin color (not on a darkened skin color, with a darkened skin color) and highights are applied above, all you can use are darker registers.