M. J. Cyr

Hi! i was on your website and was impressed with your work. I'm looking to fill in a tattoo that i've already started... it's 3 inches in diameter, and in the shape of a 9-pointed star. I was looking into having the word "nobility" in mirror style filling in my tattoo as much as possible. I'm looking for somewhat intricate design (as opposed to too simple)....

What do you think? Can it be done? Do you need any more information?

If you are able to do this for me, would it be possible to see the rough sketches before you send me the final product? I just want to make sure i will want to put the piece on my leg permanently...

thanks! looking forward to your reply MJ

Rather than a mirror, I'd suggest a rosette with nine leaves. But I'm answering too soon. It looks like it can be done, but I really need to see a pic of that star.

With mirrors and rosettes, I always send several sketches before the final product, so you can choose, or suggest modifications... But I won't send sketches before you pay, sorry.

Hi Jordi.. here's a picture of my tattoo... i'm also sending you the outline i used..

So now it really all comes down to how much it's going to cost me. I was thinking of the Mirror style because it kinda fits into my budget (i'm looking also at how much the tattoo itself will cost also...)... altho the 9 leaf rosette seems to work better...

What's the price difference between the prices again?

Quick question. what's the difference between "an-nubl" and "an-nabaalah"? I'm just curious..

thanks for being so helpful.

As for the price, it has to do with the difficulty of the work. Think of these things as puzzles. For a mirror I have to twist the letters so they can cross their mirror images beautifully, but I still have a lot of freedom to choose the overall shape. Rosettes are more difficult than mirrors, that's why I charge more.

If you tell me "I want a mirror which fits inside this shape", it can be done, but the puzzle gets more difficult and takes more time to solve. Certainly more time than a normal rosette. So I'd ask for more money.

If you ask me to make a rosette which fits inside a difficult shape, such as a shamrock or a Coptic cross, that's more dificult than doing a normal rosette, so I'll charge extra. In your case, I have no need to do that, because the shape you want is very easy to twist the letters into.

The words "an-nubl" and "an-nabaalah" have exactly the same meaning, "nobleness", quite unlike the English words "nobleness" and "nobility", which aren't the same thing. So I'll first try with an-nubl, but if you tell me it doesn't look intrincate enough (which I doubt), then I can always use an-nabaalah.

I sent you the money..
my paypal email is xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx... fyi.. that's me...
looking forward to seeing the rough sketches!

I'm attaching the word in normal Arabic, just so you know which letter is which, and sketches #1 and #2.

#4 would need finer lines to work, but the sketch is enough to give a general idea of how will it look.

Hi! i really like this one. (the sketch #1) Let me know what you think: I'm looking for the design to come even closer to the border of the star. I want it to look like the star and the design are interconnected...

I'm getting really excited to see the finished product! it's going to be beautiful! thanks so much for your fast and efficient work!

I'm liking it! i just have to give it a couple of days, just let it
sink in and such.. make sure this is what i want... so you should be
expecting an email from me in a couple of days to either give you some
suggestions or to ask for the final draft!
thanks!

Hey! i'm still here!! sorry about the delay! i'm getting feedback from
my friends... and i'm also looking at giving you concrete suggestions
for the final product... just don't want you to have to redesign the
tattoo a million times... I'll email you soon!!

hi!
okay... this is what i'm thinking. Let me know if this is possible...
I'm thinking of thinning some lines and keeping other lines thicker...
I highlighted in red what i thought would look good as thicker lines.
the rest i would see thinner... does this make sense after looking at
the picture?

I like that! The problem with that design was that the blue lines look like a ring, when seen forma a distance, so I was planning to open them up a little. But using a thinner pen, as you suggest, is even better.

Another idea would be using a lighter ink to tattoo the "ring", so we have a depth effect.

M. J. Cyr

Arabic tattoos