Dragon
By Nick Seeley
March 8, 2004

After weeks of sketching, I finally had a drawing ready, and I wanted to get it inked.

I don't recall what got me started on dragons, exactly. Walter Benjamin writes about seeing them in his dreams, so maybe they mean something. Everyone says Benjamin is a smart guy.

I don't worry too much about the significance of my tattoos anymore, anyway. When I got the first ones, (this will be my fourth) I spent six months dwelling over the meaning of symbols, and assigning semi-mystical importance to every line. But when it comes down to it, no one notices the gnostic overtones of the skull on your arm, they just say "hey, that's neat."

People ain't got no culture.

Tamika Hawkins

Miles starts work on my new dragon. You can see the band he did for me around my left arm.

Now, I just worry about making the art look pretty, and figure the symbolism will take care of itself.

The other major hurdle is out of the way, since I know who I want to do the work. Miles Maniaci, at the Chicago Tattooing Company, did a piece for me about a year ago, and it came out really well, so I bring my dragon drawings straight to him.

Getting a tattoo isn't quite the big event that was when I got the first one. But it's always something to look forward to.

It's absolutely true that they're addictive. Once you have one you like, it's hard not to think about what you want to do next.

Tamika Hawkins

But the inking is sort of uneventful - at least, when you're working with a good artist. Miles traces out my drawing in about 20 minutes, and gets the transfer lined up on my arm on the first try. The tattooing only takes about two hours... during which Tamika and I grill Miles about what his job is like.

I guess we were hoping he would say something that could help us explain to people who don't have tattoos why the people who do, get them. But of course, he didn't really. Every single person has a different reason. Probably even for every tattoo.

When I got the first, it was like a statement of purpose: I made up a symbol that represented to me what I thought life was about - at least at that point. When I got the second, it was an image of something I wanted to remember, a memento mori. The third was a talisman, something that protects me. The fourth is a dream, or a vision.

Tamika Hawkins

All done...

In literature, the dragon often symbolizes the sun. It is potent, but also distant - the source of power, rather than the actor. On the other side, it is the creature of the abyss. Biting its own tail, it mediates the beginning and the end of things.

Plus, it's kinda cool lookin', I figure.