conflict of symbols?

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aesthetect
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:44 pm

conflict of symbols?

Post by aesthetect »

hello all, i have spent a lot of time reading on easterm philosophy and have decided to get a tattoo to represent the ideals that i have gained from this so as to hope to maintain my purity and object of consciousness.. so to speak. ive been drawing it a million different ways for about 2-3 years and have finally come up with something that fits the idea just right, but i need some advice. here is the last sketch..

it wont let me post links so youll have to bear with me, type in the following and then dot jpg:

filebox.vt.edu/users/bgully/TAT2_sm

my main question is of conflict of symbols. the basic concept is this: i want it to represent and mark a remembrance of the passion and quest for truth and what is right, common to ones college and 20 whatever years so that it doesnt get lost as i get sucked into the soulless working world.

the following is a kind of explanation of the tattoo and the idea behind the interrelation between the symbols. it is a very simplified account of each of their meanings so please dont focus on technicalities unless you believe i am really wrong about my perception of any of the symbols - in which case, speak up and let me have it!

the koi represents me as i am a pisces and it is also representative of strength and determination in japanese culture. it is inside a yin-yang supposed to represent the constant internal struggle/balance (chinese origin). the water goes up and represents, loosely, the world, my environment. in it, if you tilt your head to the left, there is the aum symbol (im not too good at drawing the traditional japanese style water so hopefully when the artist gets their hands on it and redraws it would look better and be a little bit more clear, but still somewhat surreal) this has a ton of different meanings and is of hindi origin (ill talk a bit about it although i think we all have a fairly good idea as to what it means since it is so common in tattoo culture). the three gunas (sattva, rajas, tamas), the idea that everything is one/interrelated, the idea of ultimate truth, enlightenment, the notion of three things combining into one etc etc. therefore it perfectly represents what the ideal or goal of the tattoo is (and i am a big fan of eastern philosophy as you can see)

but do the origins of these three symbols create a conflict of meanings? im mostly talking about the yin-yang vs the aum symbol. the yin-yang fairly directly tries to state that there is a balance in this world between two powers, and the aum says there are three (loooooosely) and is mostly talking about consciousness while both state that everything is part of the same.
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abbey
Posts: 15069
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 1:00 pm

conflict of symbols?

Post by abbey »

Looks like a fish farting fire, but then i dont have imagination! :o

Welcome to FG. :-6
watermark
Posts: 680
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 10:02 pm

conflict of symbols?

Post by watermark »

Are you completely sure you want to get a tatoo??? I think what you say is fine, I like the idea of three forces or drives, rather than just a yin/yang. Btw I didn't type all that in to see the jpeg. If you are deciding whether the symbols are in conflict with each other, what say just paint this or represent it another way instead of a tatoo? You said something about 'ideal or goal of tatoo'. Not sure what this means. What do you mean by that?

Good luck

Erin
aesthetect
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:44 pm

conflict of symbols?

Post by aesthetect »

^ ehhh... "purpose" of the tattoo, maybe? and oh come now, all you gotta do is copy, paste, then type .jpg! haha but no, it is certainly not necessary in any sort of way. but i'm a fan of good art, tattoo art, and would like the remembrance as well as the decoration on my body. ill take forever in deciding whether or not to do it because i wont do it until i am 100% sure. its already been about 3 years of toying with the design :wah:
watermark
Posts: 680
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 10:02 pm

conflict of symbols?

Post by watermark »

aesthetect;698024 wrote: ^ ehhh... "purpose" of the tattoo, maybe? and oh come now, all you gotta do is copy, paste, then type .jpg! haha but no, it is certainly not necessary in any sort of way. but i'm a fan of good art, tattoo art, and would like the remembrance as well as the decoration on my body. ill take forever in deciding whether or not to do it because i wont do it until i am 100% sure. its already been about 3 years of toying with the design :wah:


I did copy and paste and saw your design. I like the looks of the flame or wave or what is it you call that? I think the fish could use some work in the way of proportion. It seems to need to fit into the other part of your design, too much negative space between the fish and the wave and the fish could be larger than the wave. IN MY OPINION. Also have you tried playing with colors yet? I was expecting to see your design in color. If you can try to play with different colors and make sure the colors you decide on are those a tatoo artist knows how to create :). One last thing what size of tatoo are you thinking?

Other than that I haven't a clue about the symbols. Could be that's what you are considering the most?? Uh yeah, I forgot, that's what you asked about to begin with :-5

Have fun doing this!

Erin
RedGlitter
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Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2005 3:51 am

conflict of symbols?

Post by RedGlitter »

the three gunas (sattva, rajas, tamas), the idea that everything is one/interrelated


If everything is one then it shouldn't really matter if these symbols conflict or not. After all, they're all from different faiths so why should they all agree? I was not able to get the link to work when I pasted in so I don't know how it looks but I would tell you to get what you want as it means to you, rather than worrying about how it may look or read to others or about it being "right." You know what it all means and that's really the only thing that matters.
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Nomad
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Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:36 am

conflict of symbols?

Post by Nomad »

The only conflict I have is that I love a good corn dog but hot dogs repulse me.
I AM AWESOME MAN
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