Yes, It Hurts

So read the sign on a tattoo parlor Bill and I passed once. Zick art has appeared in many situations, from the expected to the strange. I've done art for books, magazines and posters; for feeder packaging, mailing labels, jackets, sweaters, tote bags. My drawings have shown up on dog collars and leashes. I have painted the head of a bass drum for a band, and done CD liner art. I have painted a Jersey cow on an old milk can. I have yet to do a toilet lid.
A couple of years ago I did a series of detailed drawings that were engraved on a green marble headstone. They were of the woman's cats, and they had to look EXACTLY like Tiggy and whatsername. Many adjustments later, the client was happy.
And now I have done a drawing for a tattoo.
Kestrels have always been special birds for me. Here's a youngun that was abducted from its family two summers ago. By now you'll recognize the setting--my drawing table, locus of all living things on Indigo Hill. They all end up here, getting their pictures made. It took about seven phone calls and a day and a half for me to track down exactly where he was picked up, but I did. I drove up the driveway of the place, and immediately saw an adult male kestrel feeding two babies exactly this one's age. I walked over to the tree where they were sitting, kissed the abductee on top of his dear little head, and put him on a low branch of the same tree. Dad gave a shrilling call of welcome; I got in the car and left, feeling very good indeed. Kestrels should be raised by kestrels.
Now, I watch a pair of kestrels at our Kroger parking lot. This is the female, a shot taken right after she mated. In afterglow, I guess. I don't know where they're nesting, but I saw two fresh fledglings in the same parking lot a couple of weeks ago. Yayy! May they dine on house sparrows and starlings, as well as mice, rats and voles.
So when I was asked by a friend who shall remain anonymous, in deference to the privacy of her spinal zone, to design a kestrel tattoo, I leapt at the chance. Here's the drawing.

I did a cleaner version of the drawing, as well as a colored one, to guide the tattoo artist. Who did a very nice job. Here's the final version. Dang, that's nice, and it's six inches across:She said it hurt like the dickens, but she's very stoked to have a kestrel hovering on her spine. Skin: my newest medium. I especially like alabaster skin.