deeperthanwar

For the last year or so, Beth and I have become more and more involved with the deaf community here in Toronto.  We both work with a boy who is profoundly deaf, and recently, Beth has started working with another boy with a severe hearing impairment.
Not to mention that for the last eight months or so, we have lived with our friend Sallyanne.  Sallyanne has a slight hearing impairment, but both of her parents are profoundly deaf, so her first language is, in fact, American Sign Language (ASL).

I learned a short while ago that names in ASL are usually assigned to a person by another signing person.  Often, the name assigned is the first letter of the person's first name.  This letter is then signed in a particular place, to distinguish that person from any other people with the same name.  When Beth and I learned this, we decided to ask Sallyanne's mom to give us sign names.
Having taken a few days to think about it, she got back to us.  She had decided that my name should be signed by tapping the letter M twice on the inside of my forearm, because I am a tattoo artist.  Beth and Addie have their initials signed in the same place, as that is standard practice for people of the same family.

I'd planned to blog about this a while ago, when we were given our names, but it works out well that I waited, because I had my first deaf client yesterday.  She brought two friends with her, who were also deaf. 
My knowledge of ASL is still very limited, so I wasn't able to communicate as effectively as I had wanted.  The experience has encouraged me to work harder at signing, as I think it will be an invaluable resource, particularly in my line of work.

On another related note, Beth and I have been thinking of getting sign tattoos.  We're not sure exactly what form they would take, but would almost certainly be a series of pictograms of signs, either spelling out a word, or using the signs for words that make up a phrase.  The jury is still out as to what they would say.  I'll post more on this when we have a better idea.

Do you know of any deaf people with tattoos?  Do you know anyone with an ASL tattoo?  Drop me a line and let me know!

Lettering is a HUGE part of tattooing; it always has been.  At least 50% of my clients want some lettering in their tattoos, and many choose to have lettering as the sole element in their design.

Recently, I've found that I'm wanting to move away from using computer based typefaces so much.  They're perfect for smaller pieces, where legibility is the key, but they can be a little limiting, and if you're not careful, you might choose a typeface that ends up as the next Comic Sans or (possibly worse) the next Papyrus.

BJ Betts is a legend in the industry.  Most custom artists will have one if not all of his Lettering Guides 1-3.  So when I was wanting to work on my custom lettering, I had no question as to where I would look.
Betts looks at the art of custom tattoo lettering in a whole new way.  Here's what he has to say on the matter in the introduction to his second Guide:

 “I think, looking at a name or a character that you'll be tattooing, you should approach it as an illustration, versus a typefont. “Draw” the name, instead of “writing” it, if that makes sense. Draw the lettering as if you're drawing a heart, panther, eagle, whatever.

People say their handwriting absolutely sucks. I say draw that name, don't write it if your writing sucks.”

It's a whole different approach, and it makes for great results.  I drew the piece above for a friend's scrapbook.  I feel much more confident now in my custom lettering, which is invaluable when you work in the way I do.

Do you have a piece that you want me to create with custom lettering?  Drop me a line!