You read correctly, I said whale style. If you're familiar with American Renaissance, or even if you're not but you're good at guessing, you may have guessed that this post is about none other than Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick; or, The Whale.
You may be thinking, "why?" (invoking your inner Socrates is always good, by the way). But, to answer the question, in all honesty, I don't know. Maybe the fact that it's Earth Day (hey, Happy Earth Day!) made me subconsciously think of saving the earth and with it, whales. I doubt it, but maybe. Perhaps it has more to do with the fact that when I searched a few of my ideas, I couldn't find any tattoos. (C'mon people, get more Piers Anthony tattoos!).
Anyway, I ended up with Herman Melville because I wanted to keep my subjects varied. I realize I've already technically covered the American Renaissance period (1850-1855) with Walt Whitman, but that's only one side of the picture. Whitman is famous for his poetry, while Melville is famous for his iconic novel. If the tattoos were more popular, I would include some women writers, like Elizabeth Stoddard and Margaret Fuller, but alas, this is not the case. (Although, I did find a lovely Fuller tattoo here, if you're interested).
So, as I was trying to say earlier, I've chosen this subject because Moby-Dick is a famous novel and after reading the novel for a class, I knew the tattoo were going to be interesting. And, I must say, the ones I'm going to include here are extremely interesting and extremely awesome. Prepare yourself.
You may be thinking, "why?" (invoking your inner Socrates is always good, by the way). But, to answer the question, in all honesty, I don't know. Maybe the fact that it's Earth Day (hey, Happy Earth Day!) made me subconsciously think of saving the earth and with it, whales. I doubt it, but maybe. Perhaps it has more to do with the fact that when I searched a few of my ideas, I couldn't find any tattoos. (C'mon people, get more Piers Anthony tattoos!).
Anyway, I ended up with Herman Melville because I wanted to keep my subjects varied. I realize I've already technically covered the American Renaissance period (1850-1855) with Walt Whitman, but that's only one side of the picture. Whitman is famous for his poetry, while Melville is famous for his iconic novel. If the tattoos were more popular, I would include some women writers, like Elizabeth Stoddard and Margaret Fuller, but alas, this is not the case. (Although, I did find a lovely Fuller tattoo here, if you're interested).
So, as I was trying to say earlier, I've chosen this subject because Moby-Dick is a famous novel and after reading the novel for a class, I knew the tattoo were going to be interesting. And, I must say, the ones I'm going to include here are extremely interesting and extremely awesome. Prepare yourself.
Isn't it beautifully confusing and wonderful? Personally, I love this illustration from Moby-Dick, the tattoo of which can be found here. Unfortunately, my copy of Moby-Dick doesn't have illustrations (curse you, Penguin Classics!) so, I was unable to find/scan the illustration. But, back to the tattoo itself. I love how it changes from greens/oranges to grays. Also, the mechanical look of it is intriguing. The whale almost looks like a mosaic piece, which, if you've read the book, you can understand as the whale doesn't seem to be one thing, it's a culmination and representation of many different things. Perhaps the meaning of this tattoo is something similar - the whale, and therefore the tattoo, represent the chase of the unknown. Just a thought.
Next up is this awesome portrait of the author himself and the infamous white whale. (Also, it can be found here). Personally, I l o v e the style of this tattoo. The portrait is simple yet bold, and somehow it still looks realistic without heavy shading. It isn't photorealism, yet the image is clear. I also like how the whale is atop Melville's shoulder, like a little angel (or demon?).
This tattoo is...wow. Having taken a course in American Renaissance literature, I can say that The Scarlet Letter and Moby-Dick are probably my two favorite novels from that era. So, you can only imagine my excitement when I stumbled across this beautiful tattoo. (Are you imagining it?). The red of the [scarlet] letter (can you guess which novel its from?) is so vibrant and I just love how the harpoon was worked into the design so smoothly to represent the other novel. I would assume the tattoo is meant to represent its owners love for these novels and their meanings, so I won't dive too deep into that, seeing as that would take a looooong time. I mean, I wrote an entire research paper on one chapter, and I've read a dissertation on a single line from The Scarlet Letter, so, I'll save that for your own research. I will say, however, that each novel is easily relateable, whether it's the strength of Hester Prynne or the confusion and observation of Ishmael.
What about you; what do you think about these tattoos? (Besides the fact that they're fantastic).
Like always, if you have any questions, please visit the contact link at the top of the page and send me an email or leave a comment. I like emails and comments.
And, remember - ink tells stories on skin as much as it does in books!
Kayla
What about you; what do you think about these tattoos? (Besides the fact that they're fantastic).
Like always, if you have any questions, please visit the contact link at the top of the page and send me an email or leave a comment. I like emails and comments.
And, remember - ink tells stories on skin as much as it does in books!
Kayla