TATTOO TALK THURSDAY: COIN OPERATED BOY

2013
I was looking to add to my leg sleeve on my left leg that I had started on back in 2013. I'd made some nice additions to it. I had my star, the hourglass & scythe and my House MD tattoo. I was playing with ideas for a while. I knew I wanted something big that would cap off the portion of my leg off nicely. Then I heard the song "Coin Operated Boy" by The Dresden Dolls. The song radiated through me. It spoke to me on so many different levels. It spoke to how I felt, being treated like I was a performing animal with coins being thrown at me. It spoke to the experiences I felt with Paula; how I was turned into a spectacle at her hands. Amanda sings of wanting a relationship of dedication, but without the risk of getting hurt. (I rather like the theories that the song is about a dildo or a vibrator.) You feel the loneliness and longing present in every syllable as a hypnotic melody of a toy piano blends into drumbeats. I felt like a dildo with her and afterwards. It also began to represent me desire to want sex or a physical connection without having to get close. I didn't want to have to go through what I did with her. And now, when I look back, I realise that I wasn't truly in love. I didn't know what it meant. It was a childish attraction that I now feel that I rushed into. At the time, it felt so right. She felt so right. I loved her personality more than her gender. I didn't even see it. I saw the attraction to her paleness, her gender-both physically and psychologically meant nothing to me. I just knew that I wanted to be with her. I wanted to remind myself of what was, what I needed to guard against and what I really wanted. It's actually taken me years to work out everything. Now I experience something that I never thought I would. I feel a deep and burning devotion, yet a methodical rage. Maybe this is what love really is. Who knows? 

The song and video expressed themes that I've always associated with mimes, the freakshow and carnivals, so I wanted to somehow incorporate that into the tattoo. I'd lived so long on the edges of everyone (I still do) but I enjoyed certain aspects of looking inside. I love the way the people move-the talents they have, the entire culture of the circus. It's amazing. You never know what to expect; the twists and turns of bodies and language, the colours, the costumes and the exotic animals. Part of me wishes I could work at a circus or a freak show. The only talent I have is knife swallowing. (Thank you no gag reflex!)  I didn't just want the words "coin operated boy" tattooed on me. I wanted it to be a statement about myself in more ways than one. I loved the Sailor Jerry type font because a carnival style font just wasn't working for me. I sketched up several drafts before settling on the clean, just playful font. I wasn't sure if a banner was the way to go or not. I sketched up more and more drafts and went I put the font and the banner together it just felt right. 

I was living in Germany at the time and I wanted to incorporate that into the tattoo, so I went with a 50 cent Euro coin. I didn't want just a handful of coins, it would look trashy and messy. I did a sketch with the banner over the coin big enough to fit my calf and cap off the leg piece over the Everybody Lies/House MD fan tattoo. It was perfect. It wrapped around just a little bit, but I didn't see that as much of a problem. I wanted to keep the black and grey theme that I'd been working on, so I decided to do this piece in black and grey as well. I didn't think trying to get the dirty gold colour of the coins would look good on the skin. 

I don't remember the shop where I got it done, but the tattoo took about 2.5-3 hours. I was so anxious to get it done. I don't remember ever being so antsy and excited. I watched the entire time as the needle carved through my skin, injecting ink. It was an easy spot to get tattooed and I sat up for the entire tattoo. I watched as he took a single needle and started adding in the fine details to the coin. That was my favourite part. Carefully and almost methodically, he inked Europe into my skin and the small stars of the coin. He added different degrees of shading that reflected the dirt and stains you find on most coins. He knew that I didn't want the coin to be shiny and new; I wanted it to really represent the real world. The dirty underbelly of everything, the way things are without polish and veneers.  I couldn't have loved it more when he wiped it down after adding the tiniest of white highlights. 

He was happy when I walked in with the design that worked and was sized to fit. All he had to do was make a stencil. Perfection. Some artists get pissed off when people come in with this, I can kinda see that, but I dunno. Someone comes in with something amazing, you still get to exercise your artistic flair and creativity when you're tattooing. Now I remember his name! He was called Justin! Yeah! He was a nice guy from what I can piece together. Oh, memory. 

Wow. I really haven't done a Tattoo Talk Thursday in quite some time. It's hard to do them sometimes. You don't know what people want, you don't want to be repetitive with your content. I don't know if I'll do another one for a while now, but I do like the series. Maybe I'll do one on the House MD fan piece or write about the different pieces that make up my chest.

Speaking of writing! My new book "Glassy Hysteria" drops the 11th of June! I'm so excited to put this one out here. It features some of the previews I've posted on here and tonnes of other content. I hope you guys will enjoy it! And whilst on the subject of new releases, I've completed the 2019 calendar that's going to tie into As You Were, a photo book that I'm planning on releasing later this year! You can get that via the links below if you're into it! 

LINKS:
Wall: https://www.zazzle.com/2019_danny_snaps_photo_calendar_calendar-158262623857156953
Desk: https://www.createphotocalendars.com/Store/As+You+Were+Calendar-1991539964?s=1097