Derek Shares a Tattoo, Inspired by Snake Eyes

I met <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/oz2/good4u/">Derek Ostrander</a> earlier this week outside of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macy%27s">Macy*s</a> flagship store on 34th Street.<br /><br />Derek is an illustrator who also works on visual installations for the department store.<br /><br />It was this tattoo that prompted me stop and ask what it was about:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPIO701Mnej2Y2Iwm9ZkwaZhXmcm-3Lu7g_aPvY_Fcuqq-TPypAnpiw94Rh2RGu0g3lDV8iWzeGDu6W3MR9s0xs8lTDePtS8_DnpmPjGQOHf8fEvH0qHRbkvLFOmN66JV-8D0AUi8x/s1600-h/Ninja+gi+joe.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403540791794354034" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPIO701Mnej2Y2Iwm9ZkwaZhXmcm-3Lu7g_aPvY_Fcuqq-TPypAnpiw94Rh2RGu0g3lDV8iWzeGDu6W3MR9s0xs8lTDePtS8_DnpmPjGQOHf8fEvH0qHRbkvLFOmN66JV-8D0AUi8x/s400/Ninja+gi+joe.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" /></a><br /><br />Derek explained that he was 19 or 20 when his friend Jay Ferrara, who is also an illustrator, inked this on a kitchen table.<br /><br />The tattoo in question is based primarily on those that are sported by the <a href="http://gijoe.wikia.com/wiki/Arashikage_Clan">Arashikage clan</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja">ninjas</a> and, more famously, a character named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_Eyes_%28G.I._Joe%29">Snake Eyes, from G.I. Joe</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjm1wvOJqYUEL8eIw4ARdYMR7e66Ywi36EeH48z98u3n_CvpcdfYA4U14Bk1N_doxVTKAhbmojvAg3ktXq0T1bWcyAmSSJbCdefnaeqdYmhR8tDZixXzQ6xPYnc33nnpy3XYXACZ34/s1600-h/SnakeEyesTattoo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403542800170686562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjm1wvOJqYUEL8eIw4ARdYMR7e66Ywi36EeH48z98u3n_CvpcdfYA4U14Bk1N_doxVTKAhbmojvAg3ktXq0T1bWcyAmSSJbCdefnaeqdYmhR8tDZixXzQ6xPYnc33nnpy3XYXACZ34/s400/SnakeEyesTattoo.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 158px; height: 240px;" /></a><br />At the age that he got this, he thought it was particularly cool.<br /><br />On a deeper level, the symbols represent hexagram #64 in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Ching"><span style="font-style: italic;">I Ching</span></a>. A simple meaning is translated as thus:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms, tahoma, arial, gil sans;font-size:-1;">Fire over water:<br /> The image of the condition before transition.<br /> Thus the superior man is careful<br /> In the differentiation of things,<br /> So that each finds its place.</span></blockquote>A fuller explanation, from which this was excerpted, is <a href="http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/html/wiltrans/wilhelm_translation.html#64">here</a>. Earlier this year I posted another <span style="font-style: italic;">I Ching</span> tattoo <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2009/07/fate-leads-me-to-abundance.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Derek for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Derek Shares a Tattoo, Inspired by Snake Eyes

I met Derek Ostrander earlier this week outside of Macy*s flagship store on 34th Street. Derek is an illustrator who also works on visual ...

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Fate Leads Me to Abundance

Sometimes Fate sends me to interesting tattoos.<br /><br />My commute home generally starts at the 34th Street subway station, on a Brooklyn-bound N Train.<br /><br />Sometimes, if the train is in the station when I come down the stairs, it is not clear if it's an N train or a Q train. Generally, if it doesn't matter completely, I hop on and sort it out later. Hesitation can cause me to miss the right train.<br /><br />So I jumped on the train before the doors closed and then realized I was on a Q. No biggie, it's still headed in the right direction, but I decided to disembark at the next stop and walk toward the back of the 14th Street platform and wait for an N.<br /><br />Halfway down the platform, as luck would have it, I ran into Sean and I had to stop and ask him<br />about this unusual tattoo on his inner left forearm:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNzrDffe9MAftP3C1Llw4KZTY2un-yP3Aa3T_n-mcHWb3eIqMm2lY03xtP9Qo7wOSZbJgm5-69q-FVWoV_aJSPbK4BRQ6iz5nMOdHGtQfhyphenhyphenwTau4NEdBWNqCeg9OthW0F-JzkoQ3Kl9Y/s1600-h/Hexagram.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356026978634630498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNzrDffe9MAftP3C1Llw4KZTY2un-yP3Aa3T_n-mcHWb3eIqMm2lY03xtP9Qo7wOSZbJgm5-69q-FVWoV_aJSPbK4BRQ6iz5nMOdHGtQfhyphenhyphenwTau4NEdBWNqCeg9OthW0F-JzkoQ3Kl9Y/s400/Hexagram.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 273px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />This, it turns out, is from the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Ching"> <span style="font-style: italic;">I Ching</span></a>, a classic Chinese text which includes sixty-four hexagrams, each representing a description of a state, or process. The hexagram inked here is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Ching_hexagram_42#Hexagram_42">number 42</a>, which, as he understands it, represents Abundance and Unlimited Potential. It's literal translation is "Augmenting". There's another interpretation similar to Sean's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Ching_hexagram_42#Hexagram_42">here</a>.<br /><br />In another sense, the bars represent, in a pictographic sense, land, two mountains, and thunder and rain, which combine to mean fertility of the earth.<br /><br />Sean is very much into Asian tattoos and has a piece in progress on his right shoulder. He thought about this particular hexagram for about a year and a half before heading down to <a href="http://www.daredeviltattoo.com/">Dare Devil Tattoo</a> to get it done. The artist, Chuck Donoghue, has since relocated to Atlanta, but often returns to Dare Devil.<br /><br />Work from Dare Devil has appeared previously on Tattoosday <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/search/label/Dare%20Devil%20Tattoo">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Sean for sharing his <span style="font-style: italic;">I Ching</span> hexagram tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Fate Leads Me to Abundance

Sometimes Fate sends me to interesting tattoos. My commute home generally starts at the 34th Street subway station, on a Brooklyn-bound N Tr...

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Two of Tawni's Tattoos

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxma-hN5bg9Kz44VwGjn0t6z_uxPHHOou6iKOgQqMCZfkqWQNo-JCtKBZwSsV-QGlGuQraHku1zaSPf9tbnEW0vSOHg7BGeXjfQ3kck6pQJ-Zw9xCAFcYXHYB1prEXWYFa9LNzGMXtA_mo/s1600-h/PICT0387.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5231429533195466066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxma-hN5bg9Kz44VwGjn0t6z_uxPHHOou6iKOgQqMCZfkqWQNo-JCtKBZwSsV-QGlGuQraHku1zaSPf9tbnEW0vSOHg7BGeXjfQ3kck6pQJ-Zw9xCAFcYXHYB1prEXWYFa9LNzGMXtA_mo/s400/PICT0387.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />It seemed appropriate to take pictures of two of Tawni's tattoos on Two-for-Tattoosday, and she was accommodating.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzcGtTI1mhVGfH9_RgpeBq925FWQXIIYQmR4IEj8s4xhXYohPF7IxlIy3uhDXc-Ost6EbpfjbUbeZ2BIXULmZ321BwL2-GcsgeyRb5p851AAHiKweBacQ4Jpp1KnpuuUHfMwWfqKrY3UF/s1600-h/Leo.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232915205324823410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzcGtTI1mhVGfH9_RgpeBq925FWQXIIYQmR4IEj8s4xhXYohPF7IxlIy3uhDXc-Ost6EbpfjbUbeZ2BIXULmZ321BwL2-GcsgeyRb5p851AAHiKweBacQ4Jpp1KnpuuUHfMwWfqKrY3UF/s200/Leo.gif" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />The first piece was the one that caught my eye initially, a snake on her left bicep that actually represents an "astrology marriage," in her words between Eastern and Western astrology.<br /><br />The tattoo represents that she was born in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_of_the_snake">Year of the Snake</a> and, it is positioned to mimic the sign for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_%28astrology%29">Leo</a> (July 23 - August 22). It was inked at a shop called Camden Chameleon in Bellingham, Washington. The shop is now known as <a href="http://www.myspace.com/chameleon_ink">Chameleon Ink & Body Piercing</a>.<br /><br />Her other piece that I liked was on her inner right forearm:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_6JpxJP8H4IDOUDe7jvI7NhOtyjvoeGNYYLgY3Eieq0KxkmqKxoWQmmJ4O1UtaDnJ7oVUOiBjd__3mzfB_HSweh_nFTBv74tfQx87P9p2oiPEdPX3ZWmUsH5pDNOQpnexsLHPRJEizEyM/s1600-h/PICT0388.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5231429735625630994" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_6JpxJP8H4IDOUDe7jvI7NhOtyjvoeGNYYLgY3Eieq0KxkmqKxoWQmmJ4O1UtaDnJ7oVUOiBjd__3mzfB_HSweh_nFTBv74tfQx87P9p2oiPEdPX3ZWmUsH5pDNOQpnexsLHPRJEizEyM/s400/PICT0388.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />The phrase ("Be the wind, not the cloud") is her own interpretation of a passage in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Ching">I Ching</a>, or book of changes. Tawni used to do castings and this phrase resonates with her so she carries it with her on her skin. This was inked by <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=374420208">Andre Ortego</a> at the <a href="http://houseoftattootacoma.com/">House of Tattoo</a> in Tacoma, Washington.<br /><br />Thanks to Tawni for sharing her interesting work with us here on Tattoosday!

Two of Tawni's Tattoos

It seemed appropriate to take pictures of two of Tawni's tattoos on Two-for-Tattoosday, and she was accommodating. The first piece was t...

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