Getting inked

After years of hesitation and cowardice I’ve finally done it, I’ve got inked! My first tattoo! :rock:

Imaginary Karin - smaug tattoo

Imaginary Karin - smaug tattoo

The motif is of course Tolkien related. ;)
I’ve had several debates with myself whether I wanted his name rune, the White Tree of Gondor, a horse symbol for Rohan or something else… But I went with this little illustration of Smaug, which was actually my first choice. The first time I saw it I thought “that would be a nice tattoo” and while going over all the other choices I kept coming back to it. This one spoke to me, and you should always listen to your guts and your heart, right?

The dragon is actually an illustration by Tolkien himself. Some people don’t know this, but Tolkien created quite a lot of art, illustrations and sketches for his stories. He had a pretty unique style too. What could be better to put on my body than something like that?

Imaginary Karin - smaug tattoo

I’ve wanted a tattoo since forever but for many different reasons it just never happened – until a few weeks ago when I suddenly sent an email to a local tattoo parlour and booked an appointment. Which was yesterday.

(This is typical Karin behaviour. I can talk about something for years and years and never actually do it until one day, completely out of the blue, I will just get up and be like “sod it, it’s happening, and it’s happening today!“. Like that time I took the night train to the other end of the country by myself, or when I cut my long hair into a mohawk, or when I proposed to Markus.)

Getting tattooed actually wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be, and that’s coming from someone who absolutely hate needles. I mean, it wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t like WAAAHH OMG I’M DYING either. :P The tattoo is still only a day old, so the skin is a little red around it and it’s a little bit sore. But I’m so happy I did it! I can’t stop looking at it! :D At last!

TL;DR From now on you may refer to me as the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. *puts on sunglasses* 8)

Comments

  1. 13 September 2013

    Sweet! I’m thinking of getting my second one (I’ve been drawing it for the last few weeks) but just don’t know a good spot for it so I’m hesitating.

    Hah, the girl with the dragon tattoo. Nice :) I have Stieg Larsson’s book beside my bed, after watching the movies I really wanted to read the books. Too bad he died just too young :( But congrats on the ink!

  2. 13 September 2013

    Karin it’s perfect!!! I love that it’s LOTR related, I love that it was drawn by Tolkien, that it’s black and white, the placement, I love it all!

    • 26 September 2013

      :heart:

  3. 14 September 2013

    That is one really cool tattoo, honestly. I had no idea that Tolkien actually did some illustrations for the stories himself. The fact that it’s not just “any” illustration, but HIS work makes it even neater! The positioning is very nice too, congratulations on your ink! ^_^

    I got my first tattoo a couple months ago (a white ink finger tattoo of the Jera rune) on a bit of a whim as well after having been thinking about it for years, so I can totally relate to the way you went about things with yours, haha.

    • 26 September 2013

      Oh, that sounds like a pretty tattoo :) I’ve seen photos of white ink tattoos and they all look really beautiful!

  4. 14 September 2013

    That’s awesome! I love the Tolkien illustration you chose, and it looks great on that spot on your arm :)

    That’s good that it wasn’t as painful as you thought it’d be. I’ve been considering a tattoo for a long time. At first I wanted something video game related (like the Triforce or N7), but now I’m thinking about getting my Chinese name. I can’t decide!

    • 26 September 2013

      That’s when you get both – a Triforce AND your Chinese name! :D

  5. 14 September 2013

    Looks good! That’s totally how I went about my tattoo too. I knew what I wanted for a long time, then one night I was bored and I was just like “ok, doing it.” And I went off and did it. And I was so in love with it for so long. Now I sometimes forget that I have it, haha.

  6. 14 September 2013

    Hi Girl With the Dragon Tattoo! I’ve seen a lot of dragon tattoos, and this might be my favourite! ;)

  7. 14 September 2013

    That’s so cool. And part of me wants to copy you. :P

    I have been planning to get a tattoo too myself for years now, but we’ll see. I have couple ideas I’ve developing. :)

    • 14 September 2013

      *…I’ve been…

  8. 15 September 2013

    What a fantastic tattoo! I have been trying to convince myself for years to get one, but I’m to much of a wuss Im afraid. Maybe one day :P

  9. 16 September 2013

    That tattoo is so very sweet. It looks great! Congrats on your first ink. :)

    Seeing it makes me crave a little more to add another round of ink to my body.

  10. 17 September 2013

    Haha the moment I saw your new tattoo, I thought of LOTR. So cool!! I love it. It’s so petite and beautiful. Now you are totally the GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO!!!! Should we start calling you Lisbeth? Anyway, congrats on your tattoo, but be careful, they are addicting. It’s hard to only get one. :D

    • 26 September 2013

      Hehe, the tattoo artist warned me too. “This is how it starts”, he said. “You do one small thing and before you know it you sit there with a whole sleeve” :P Think you’re right because I’m already thinking of what else I could tattoo…

      /Lisbeth ;)

  11. 18 September 2013

    It looks so awesome, I love it. I think it is wonderful that you got something you really wanted to and that means a lot to you and also having the sudden courage to get it. :D

  12. 19 September 2013

    Awesome tattoo! I love dragons they’e so cool! I didn’t know Tolkien did his own illustrations. Learn something new everyday! :)

  13. 23 September 2013

    This tattoo is excellent! I absolutely love the fantasy theme tattoos from movies, books, and games! The lines are very clean too, even for a simple tattoo like this. I also love how you put thought into your ink, a lot of people forget to do things like THINK (haha) :yay:

  14. 23 September 2013

    Väldigt fin tatuering! Den är verkligen häftig! Och jag gillar när tatueringar har en betydelse för någon. Som Tolkien-fan skulle jag lätt kunna tänka mig att tatuera något Sagan om ringen-relaterat själv.

    Sv: Ja det är verkligen en riktig lyx att kunna åka till Stockholm när som helst! Jag är ju uppvuxen i en by i Norrbotten så jag uppskattar närheten till Stockholm och att överhuvudtaget bo i en stad otroligt mycket. Folk här i söder tenderar att ta sådant för givet.

    Hotellet vi bodde på heter Scandic Malmen och ligger vid medborgarplatsen.

  15. Ann-Kristin
    26 September 2013

    Grattis Karin att det äntligen blev av. Jag gillar din tatuering. Kul att du valde Smaug som Tolkien själv ritat. Fantasy, helt i linje med vad jag själv gillar. Enkel men väldigt fin tycker jag. Den passar bra där på din arm. :)

    • 27 September 2013

      Tack! Det kanske inte är någon speciellt vacker design, men jag älskar stilen. Som något ur en gammal sagobok! Jag är jättenöjd med den. :)

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