My Color Music

So … M.C. Escher is—in my opinion—the greatest artist ever. He created some amazing works of art. And every single one of them totally blows my mind. He always made his stuff look so easy. Like it was nothing at all to draw a self-portrait like this:

Obviously, the guy was talented. I mean, who wouldn’t mind stepping inside his brain for a minute or three? The man was far out, so it probably would be like landing on a different planet. Seriously … seeing the world through Escher’s eyes might look a little like this picture (which is one of my favorites of his):

Anyway, I’m not the only fan of M.C. There are a lot of people out there who love him. After all, he was a genius. What can I say? In fact, some people like his art so much that they’ve even turned it into tattoos. Like this guy:

Personally, tattoos aren’t my style. (Not that I’d admit anyway….) But this one is pretty impressive. The idea of drawing this portrait on paper is hard enough. But creating a tattoo of it on someone’s round head? Now that takes skill. Whoa.

(M.C. Escher’s work is a copyright of Cordon Art, Netherlands.)

(Well, I’m assuming that’s a guy.)

And this lady went for that “totally musical” look on her wrists. Do you think she knows these signs are really just Gothic letters “F” and “G”?

I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t commit to this kind of tattoo. But, hey … everyone has their own style. Including this guy:

Okay, so he opted for a simple t-shirt design. But it’s a cool heart shape made out of clefs. (How’s that for turning symbols into symbols?) Does anyone have a tattoo with this design? It looks familiar. And what about other tattoo ideas? There must be some pretty cool styles out there. What’s your style? Seriously … let me know.

In the last 10 years, tattoos have become really popular. I mean, it’s crazy. According to U.S. News & World Report, there are over 20,000 tattoo parlors in the United States with about one new studio opening every day. Polls show that around 16% of all adults have at least one tattoo. (And, no, I am not included in that number.)

What’s amazing is that in 1936, only 6% of the population had ink. Make no mistake about it, the tattoo industry is growing fast. And, of course, some of the people getting tattoos are music nerds. Like this guy:

Personally, I would never get a tattoo … it’s just not my style. But if I did, this one would be pretty sweet. I especially like that he included the song’s   I—II7sus—V7 chord progression right on his arm. Talk about liking a song. (And talk about keeping a tidy kitchen ….)

But I must admit I like that song, too. So, it makes me wonder—what kind of tattoo would you choose? And which lyrics would you want to permanently etch into your skin? Seriously … let me know.