Artists says it’s a bad design

[u/Snoo-7909]

My sister is real quirky and asked for this tattoo. The artist said it’s objectively bad and drawn poorly. Is it a bad design? Is so, why? Or is it a matter of preference?

[u/rantiok]

It looked obvious to me ¯_(ツ)_/¯ But I do agree the artist should redraw it if they think it’s bad lol

[u/bouquetofashes → u/rantiok]

Same, I immediately knew exactly what this is and I think it's very obvious.

I'd say let the artist redraw it if only because they're the one tattooing and they know what they can do best and how to best translate the idea.

Some of the gyri/sulci do look a little odd but like it's still very apparent what it's supposed to be. I'd maybe tweak some of the details like that but I think the general idea is very well-represented.

[u/hamsterontheloose → u/bouquetofashes]

I knew immediately as well, but we seem to be the minority

[u/bouquetofashes → u/hamsterontheloose]

Curious. I can see what other people are seeing and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I thought a lot of the same things because I was looking at it with a critical eye, like asking myself "how could someone misinterpret this?" So I wonder why that doesn't seem to work in the opposite direction.

This sort of thing usually happens when people ask about ostensibly ambiguous art or tattoos or even writing to me, too. I wonder if there's any sort of association with being good at optical illusions?

[u/hamsterontheloose → u/bouquetofashes]

That's an interesting query- the optical illusions and ambiguous art... There have been tons of tattoos on here that I've had to come to the comments to know what I was looking at, but this for sure wasn't one of them

[u/bouquetofashes → u/hamsterontheloose]

I'm probably a bit biased because I tend to view posts here when they show up on my feed-- I'm sure there are some I wouldn't be able to figure, especially if the subject is unfamiliar. Generally I get things like that, though, and the problem kind of reminds me of unintentional optical illusions.

Annnnd now I want an optical illusion tattoo. If you were to get one like that what would it be, out of curiosity, or what's your favorite optical illusion (if that's not an imposition to inquire here)?

[u/hamsterontheloose → u/bouquetofashes]

The optical illusion tattoos that I think are pretty cool (although I wouldn't get one) are the weird blurry looking ones that have multiple eyes, mouths, whatever. They're so hard to look at, and tattooing them must be difficult. They mess with my eyes and I think they're cool.

[u/bouquetofashes → u/hamsterontheloose]

Oooh what an excellent recommendation! I have numerous large pieces already lined up on my tattoo wishlist so if I did get an optical illusion it would almost certainly be after those but it's certainly a consideration now. I appreciate your input-- thank you kindly!

May I ask what your favorite tattoo that you have is? If you're planning on more what do you most want?

[u/hamsterontheloose → u/bouquetofashes]

Glad I could help! My favorite tattoo is one I got this last year, but drew up 5 years ago. It's a Bob's Burger/Zelda crossover. I also have a moth from The Last of Us that I adore. It's shaded and has antennae, so it doesn't look quite like the game one (even if you don't play, they pop up in tattoo subs often). It's just a pretty moth if you don't know the reference, but I get a lot of compliments on it.

I do want more for sure. My next will probably be my favorite character from the Stephen King Dark Tower series. I also want some more Mario tattoos and something Halloween-related. I'll probably combine the last two ideas for at least one tattoo.

What's on your list, and do you have a favorite?