Hey guys.
So, I’m having a problem with my next tattoo. I found a picture of a griffin that I really like, (supposedly) done by a local artist and I’m thinking about getting her to turn it into ink. I want to put it on my upper arm, but the problem is that there’s something bothering me about it. I can’t really put a finger on WHAT is bothering me though.
The attached picture shows a very rough PhotoShop job, since I just too her pic and manually brushed out the watermarks and thrust it in there. The wings will of course bend around my shoulder and slightly onto my back, and maybe a tad onto my collarbone respectively, and there will of course be heaps of shading and maybe some mild colors. I haven’t really thought much about doing much of an environment around it at this time, since I plan to turn the whole thing into a sleeve anyway and imagine I’ll just do the filler last anyway.
What I need from you is some opinions.. what’s wrong? Is there something wrong? Is the design simply not good for the arm? Maybe one of you guys can actually tell me what’s bothering me about it :p
hi, could do with seeing the original picture
from what i can see the head is not brilliant , looks a bit small to me .
really you just want to use the image as an idea and let your artist draw up griffin tattoo for you !
it will fit you better then and flow with your body . I personally feel that if you get that done it will just look
i like the pose of the griffin but it wants to be bigger i think , higher up and let its wings go out onto your front and back like you say and a more detailed larger head ..
As previously stated; can you please post a picture of the origional?
I’d say a few things wrong with it would be;
-It doe look a little small, but I also don’t like how the wings will run onto the back&chest.
-It would just look like a big sticker if placed flat on your arm like that; so I’d make sure there was a background or something in place…it would help later turn it into a sleeve.
The head is way out of proportion with the rest of the body. The entire head is engulfed in the back claws, when in reality it should be abouot twice as large. The artist has one wing (The Right) turned to the side when it should be turned the other direction. As a bird flaps its wings they flow upward and curve down to catch air. This one is twisted and off.
Technically speaking a bird’s wings should have a wingspan of twice its body length. Birds have hollow bones, a griffin? I know its a Mythological creature, but I would think it wasn’t hollow, which would mean the wings should be about twice the size?, or at least larger and more massive instead of these dainty thin, narrow wings.
Go with a solid, bold background like a rocky ledge and a clear blue sky with maybe a silouette of a dragon or something in the sky. Bring the rocky ledge down into the rest of your sleeve.
Hi
As already mentioned the proportions are way off and I am sure that you can find much better examples of Griffin art.
I had a lurk across the net and deviant art, and here are a few which might inspire.
http://www.thedragonchild.com/griffin.jpg
http://relotixke.deviantart.com/art/Lunar-Griffins-55779707
http://aridima.deviantart.com/art/God-of-the-griffins-25698881 (Not a Griffin as such but would make a damn fine tattoo template)
http://vantid.deviantart.com/art/Free-Flight-42242540
http://raven8dragon.deviantart.com/art/Great-Plains-Griffon-38403550 (Some myths have them with a serpent tail others with that of a lion)
http://silvermoonnw.deviantart.com/art/Ayden-Silvertalon-35417987
And so on – my advice is have a good hunt round before you commit to your next tattoo.
Take Care
Matthew
Thanks Matthew and rest. Like I already said, I like THIS style Griffin. I specifically want it to be cartoon-like. None of the ones you pointed at interest me in the least, although some are awesome in their own style.
As for the other points, they are very valid indeed. The wings are off, the head is too small… after seeing it through your eyes I can find the flaws in it more easily. I still can’t place what was bothering me about it, but now there are a whole bunch of new things that are bothering me.. and I’m not entirely sure she (the artist) could fix it to my liking because I ‘suspect’ it’s not exactly her design. Ive always felt I’ve seen it somewhere (most likely in a cartooon) before.
Thanks all for their replies and new ones are always welcome… I’m still not seeing what I’m seeing wrong 🙂
I just thought I’d give you an update, because I recently discovered what it was that was bothering me about this tattoo…
The thing is that, I really really love photo-realistic tattoo’s and I love spectacular details, portrait-style and such.; specifically Science Fiction and Fantasy related.
My idea to create another theme that celebrates one of my other great interest (Cartoons) just clashes too much with my idea of having photo-realistic tattoos. So basically, even though I love the “cartoonishness” of the Griffin and want to celebrate it, that very same aspect makes me not want to put it on me.
So, what did I hate about the drawing I loved? It’s entire existence 😀
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