Le Tattooiste

I recently saw a friend's gorgeously designed Art Nouveau-styled tattoo, on the theme "Death and the Maiden". What I love about her design is the way the tattooist started with images from prints and reworked them into something covering a three dimensional surface.

This brought me back to a tattoo idea I've been kicking around for a while, based on Art Deco illustrations. I recently discovered George Barbier and Georges Lepape, and am entranced. I love the way the figures work against the background patterns, and how stylized and menacing they appear.

You just know all these party guests have concealed stiletto knives and cocktail rings filled with poison.

As of now I have no idea how to work this into a concrete design, but I'd like some figures on the back of my left shoulder, framed with an abstract design that comes across the top and down my arm a bit. 

Samples below, I'm thinking of something like the theme "Murder in the Cabaret":

Travel to the Booktryst blog, for "A Decadent Night in Paris with George Barbier".