I got my first tattoo when I was twenty-one. I’m now fifty-one years old and most of my body is absolutely covered. I have various styles of tattoos from geometrical, to traditional, to black and white, to neo-traditional. The one kind of tattoo I vowed to never get was a portrait tattoo. I feel this is the riskiest tattoo as it’s very easy to get it wrong. If the artist slightly gets one feature of the portrait wrong then the whole thing can look like a different person. All it takes is for a nose to be too small, the eyes to be too close together or the lips to be too thin and then suddenly a well-intended portrait turns out looking nothing like the person you wanted to be tattooed on you. The other day I found a really good tattoo shop. Brisbane has a few tattoo aficionados and this one, in particular, is amazing when it comes to portraits. I decided to go into his shop and have a chat about portraiture. I showed him a picture of my three kids and he told me that it would be an easy job to do and he would be honoured if I’d let him do it. My kids are all in their twenties now but I still picture them as little five-year-olds. There is one photo of them that was taken at my mum’s house that I find absolutely adorable and I would love to have this tattooed on me.
This guy is the most recommended realism tattoo artist in all of Australia and he has featured in many global expos for his portrait work. I’m actually looking forward to seeing how these portraits turn out. I haven’t told my wife or my kids what I’m doing just yet, as I thought I’d surprise them. I’m regularly ducking in and out to get tattoos anyway, so it will be nothing out of the ordinary to them when they hear that I’m getting yet another tattoo. I think they will be more surprised about what I am getting done.