Guns Kills Machines Create

So I spent a majority of the last week working on a tat for this guy starting an apprenticeship and he wanted a pistol with the barrel being a tattoo machine grip, with a snake as the handle, and a banner saying Guns Kill Machines Create, if you haven't heard old schoolers bitch at kids picking up the art form about their language they disdain the term "gun" it's not a tattoo gun, it's a machine.

My first thought was I need to draw for other people...and then I read his description and thought that sounds like 60 pounds of shit in a 5 pound box. The idea in and of itself wasn't bad, but I didn't understand the snake part and it just seemed daunting. I finished it and just looking at it I wasn't totally stoked, the banner seemed off, the snakes head was off but I showed him anyways and he loved it. So here it is:

So it is what it is, it has a pretty old school feel which is cool, and taking a second look at it now, it's pretty good, but I wouldn't want it tattooed on me, especially since I drew another version that is what I think the design should have looked like. The dude loves it, that's the end of the argument, but I still think to myself I would want to tattoo something on someone that I wouldn't be damn proud sporting myself.

Anyways getting on to my design, I'm in love with the zombie hands and I wanted the banner to be connected to the hand as if they were a tattered old bandage, I made a more tattoo machine/handgun hybrid because I think some of that idea got lost in the last design, and I like how the kill part of the banner is grungy, the create part is clean and nice, this is what this should look like and I think after I finish tattoo school, I want to get this done on my forearm because everything is a homage back to the guys who started this and I also would never want to be tattooed by someone who doesn't have their ink showing, check out my version:

If I wanted to be overly critical I would call myself a douchebag for making myself a tattoo that is great not my client, but the truth of the matter is I was so inspired by the idea I knew I could churn out something that made more aesthetic sense, more design sense, and was more cohesive, it's just not what the client wanted, and I think people who sort of design their own ink are much more attached it, and that's the way it should be.

Good night Forest Grove.