Since I’m in the mood to give away more bookmarks and tattoos, I thought I’d show you the evolution of the tattoo design. In Intangible, three characters are marked with a fleur-de-lis. It’s a Mark of belonging and protection. I chose this symbol because there was a time when the seventh son of a seventh son was branded (yowch!) with a fleur-de-lis. (I am not making that up.)
So I searched for fleur-de-lis tattoo designs online, found several designs I really liked (there was a Celtic one that was beautiful!), settled on one that seemed the best fit for my story and started drawing. I wanted to come up with a design that was my own and was infused with elements from the story.
This was not an easy task. I am not a designer. Some of the rejects were just too girly—you know, I needed it to be a design a guy would wear, too. Here are a few of my favorites.
I loved the vines wrapping around. I thought it looked so cool.
This incorporated both the spiral and the eye symbols that Sera and Luke wear, but it felt a little too girly. Plus, I am not capable of drawing a mirror image on the other side, so I would have had to try to copy the side flourishes, flip them over, and attach them to the other side on the computer. I’m not sure my photo editing skills were up to the task . . . since I really don’t have any photo editing skills to speak of. It’s all trail and error for me . . . with a lot of error.
See how much I liked those twisting vines? I tried *really* hard to get them on the tattoo. But alas, it was not to be. In the end—with design suggestions from Steve, as well as some pats on the back as I tearfully told him I couldn’t do it, I was not a designer, I could not come up with a tattoo design, I sucked at it, and all my book plans were completely foiled—this is what we came up with. The spiral and the eye, funky nicked blades, and even the yin-yang symbol worked in. I *love* it.
The original pencil drawing and the digital, photo-edited version.
(Though I do miss those twisty vines . . . )
But, seriously, how cool is this?
Would you like one? And a bookmark too? If you have purchased Intangible or do so this week, then I’ll send them to you! You can pick up an ecopy at Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or a paperback here at Amazon.
If you’ve already bought it, you’re all set. If you haven’t yet, you have until the end of the day on Friday March 16, 2012, to buy it and let me know. Send me an email that contains:
Your name
Mailing address
Order # and where you bought it
(If you’d like the bookmark signed, please let me know. Otherwise I’ll send it unsigned.)
Email me at j (at) jmeyersbooks (dot) com.
Have a great day, everyone!