Quick Research

After deciding my theme of my Personal Investigation of tattoos, I quickly done a brain storm of ideas to do with the theme; different artists/designers I could use as inspiration, different techniques, different styles and medias etc. I therefore developed this mind map of my brainstorm of ideas in my sketchbook as shown here. The purpose of doing a mind map is to help give a more clear view and

idea of what I'm doing/going to do throughout this investigation in the next following pages.

On my mind map I show different ideas of research for example the simple question 'Why?', this simple question gives the idea of wonder and curiosity as to why people get tattoos, what are there purposes? And this I believe could help me with my quick research into the history of tattoos. Tattoos have been around for many centuries and therefore have contributed to many cultures and society acts

for example; Egyptians had the earliest tattoos ever recorded. The tattoos were worn as a cultic symbol dedicating one to a certain god, as a brand symbolizing servitude, as a mark of a certain type of profession (such as prostitution) or to encourage fertility or afford protection. However, in Egyptian times mainly women wore these tattoos for similar reasons. This quick research developed from my mind map already gave me the inspiration of my next page, I decided to do quick research into the cultures of tattoos which was already an idea on my mind map under 'Traditions', so I further developed this onto a page as I was highly interested into the symbolism and meaning of tattoos.

This leads me onto my next page of  'Quick Research'. This quick research was a development and thorough look into the cultures/traditions that tattoos have created. Therefore, I decided to look into the details within 'Tribal' tattoos and 'Henna' tattoos, I did these specific cultures due to the drastic difference between the two, this difference would give me a wider knowledge into the corners of the tattoo industry.

Following on, I began with the quick research on tribal tattoos. I basically explained the reasons as to why these 'prints' when marked on certain members of a tribe. It states how tribal tattoos is were the origin of the word tattoo came from (tatau), which means 'to mark something'. It was fascinating to learn and understand the symbolism of the tattoos and also the fact that tribal tattoos remain among the most popular tattoo to people nowadays. These unique designs included characteristics like

repetitive design (pattern) elements, bold lines with a strong black ink usage, with a mythical or spiritual symbolism. Looking through research images of these designs, I decided that I wasn't fond of the style or design of the tattoos, I believed they were too simplistic and not really creative in my eyes, as they all tend to have the same pattern and they didn't give me an inspiration to create my own designs in this style. However, I was further inspired to create tattoo designs that would represent something really significant and symbolize something deep and meaningful.

This then leads onto the next quick research of henna tattoos. This style I was particularly most looking forward to research on, because I've personally always been fascinated by the style of henna and the culture of India. On my page I researched the basics of how its made/prepared and applied etc. I discovered that henna tattooing was a cultural practice that dated back over 5,000 years, whereas henna today is used as a popular form of expression for luck and happiness, which can obviously be found in many ceremonial practices for example marriages. I again found this idea of symbolism very fascinating and further inspiring for my own work. The deepness and meanings that can be created through specific markings are truly spectacular. I really enjoy the detail and intricacy of the design s, particulary the floral designs.

Overall, this mixture of brainstorms and quick research has widened my ideas further on tattoos. They have also supplied me with knowledge and ideas on specific designs that I may want to create and develop myself. On my next following pages I will be going into deeper research specifically on different tattoos artists that have inspired me.