Oh geez, is this a good place to ask this? Didn't seem worthy of it's own thread.
I'm looking at getting my first tattoo within the next month or so. Looking to get half a sleeve of what is essentially a piece of Stanley Donwood's 20ft long
London Views. You might know this better as the album art for Thom Yorke's
The Eraser.
The full span of London Views.
Here's a section from another of his works, Lost Angeles
Now I have seen photos of someone with a very similar tattoo to what I am looking to get. Almost identical.
The difference, though, is that while their tattoo shares the waves and clouds of the artwork, the buildings and people caught in the flood seem to be original work, I'm guessing by the tattoo artist. I can't find them anywhere in London Views or Lost Angeles.
I'm still looking for the artist who I'll contact about the tattoo, but when I do, I'm not sure how to approach it. This is my first tattoo, and I'm not sure about how artists feel about replicating work. I imagine it would be rude to simply ask him to copy the tattoo I linked to, so I don't plan on that.
But what should I tell him/her? That I'd like to keep the waves and clouds how they are (though modifying them to fit around my arm will probably be necessary), but that they are welcome to create their own buildings / structures / people in boats? OR is even asking them to replicate the clouds and waves of the original artwork too much? I'm just worried about coming off as rude or inconsiderate. I'm sure most artists don't get into the profession to copy other people's work, and would rather create their own. But I'm also worried about asking them to create their own buildings for the work if they can't replicate the style well enough.
