“His Dark Materials” pieces for Daniel
Just before Christmas (and the subsequent Lockdown) I had the absolute pleasure of making these pieces for Daniel, based on the “His Dark Materials” series of books by Philip Pullman - which I’ve adored since I first read them as a kid! I jump at any opportunity to combine tattooing with other things I love, so this felt like such a gift for me.
Considering these were Daniel’s first tattoos, he sat for very long sessions for both of them - with no complaint! Design-wise, he didn’t ask for anything specific beyond having the Alethiometer to represent Lyra and the Subtle Knife for Will - so I was able to indulge both my addiction to ridiculous amounts of detail, and tendency to overthink every single element of a design…
(We have English Ivy in Lyra’s design for her home in Oxford, coupled with arctic flowers - purple saxifrage - for her travels to the north. Will’s design has red fruits, as a little nod to Lyra pushing one into his mouth during their picnic, and forget-me-not’s for their parting at the end. This all obviously means nothing to anyone not familiar with the books - but adding little bits of symbolism and layers of meaning into designs like this is so satisfying to me!)
All in all , I couldn’t have asked for a better project to end the year with - thanks again Daniel, very happy to get to do these!
Not gonna lie though, my brain was a little bit mushed after lining each of the thirty-six individual alethiometer symbols…