Scratching The Surface

Arik is an old friend from highschool. We moved to NYC at the same time when we were 18, but he has lived there ever since, and I haven’t. One of my favorite ways of describing Arik is that he is one of those people who always knew what he wanted …and just did it. Arik and I hung out for a bit when he was in town a few weeks ago.

“The one on my left shoulder (on the back) was done in Austin, TX in 1995. I was 21, I designed it. I arbitrarily found a tattoo place…figured Austin was a reliable place to get one. I didn’t know anyone at the shop…it’s ok, it’s pretty blurry at this point.

I just wanted a tattoo. I like dragons, and I liked this image enough to get it. I don’t think much about it, since I don’t see it. Most people don’t see it.

My other tattoo doesn’t show very much either. (It’s a dragonfly). I was visiting an old friend in MA, he was a tattoo artist, and I wanted him to give me a tattoo. I drew it up pretty quickly, I played it pretty safe since I knew I hadn’t been considering it for a while. He tattooed me in his house, and did a great job. I don’t think much about that one either.

I can’t say that they affect my life very much. Like most tattoos, you think about it more before you get it, than afterwards…because afterwards you’ve already made the decision, and that’s the hard part.

It isn’t something I took lightly even though it sounds like it. My dad is a fan of tattoos, and he always told me to get something I would really like. He thinks that tattooing has become pretty frivolous, and I agree. There’s a lot of bad tattoos out there. I actually wanted to do tattoos for awhile, but I ended up getting really turned off by the culture. I’m very particular about what I like. My tattoos are simple enough that they don’t look over done and don’t try to be more than what they are.

Kiv

It’s fun when a kid likes a dragon, and I can show them the one on my shoulder, and Kiv likes dragonflies, so it was fun to show him my dragonfly.