A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

Pew Pew Pew


Hey, that’s a pretty good self-portrait, HEHNGHH? Oh wait, never mind, Tomasz fills us in:

The Shrike is designed by Artur Szolc, on the basis of excerpts from the book Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons. It’s not based on any other drawings of the creature, and it’s supposed to be as accurate as possible. The head is only the first part of the tattoo. The upper body of the Shrike will cover my whole arm, and Shrike’s four arms will encircle my arm and go all the way up to the shoulder and down the elbow. Its blades shall seem to pierce the skin. Possibly, a thorn-tree background will be added as well to complete a half-sleeve.

Thanks, Tomasz! A closer shot of the tattoo, after the jump.

Comments

14 responses to “Pew Pew Pew”

  1. labelle Avatar

    that’s a pretty fantastic rendering.

  2. soeppel Avatar
    soeppel

    awesome glasses! 😀

  3. colvin Avatar
    colvin

    wow, thats a great tattoo. not personally hopw i would envisage the shrike but obviously thats a personal thing

  4. almaxaquotal Avatar
  5. nickles Avatar
    nickles

    i’m am also fond of the glasses 😀

  6. tonid Avatar
    tonid

    And all I wished for was to end up as a new sci-fi submission, I’m speechless. Thx for the article and for the compliments :>.

  7. praxis Avatar
    praxis

    I think the tattoo is quite well done so far, very skiny looking! And the idea of getting the shrike – awesome… i must say I never once contemplated though I read all the hyperion books a period of four days. Great books. I would envision the shrike being less rounded but it’s awesome!

  8. Dean Farrar Avatar

    u reckon he thinks them glasses are kool lol

    wut e ver happened 2 circle glasses

  9. Desiree Avatar

    Tattoo: awesome. Glasses: even more awesome. Wonder where he got the glasses or if they were custom made?

  10. tonid Avatar

    Desiree: I got the glasses about 10 years ago from a store which no longer exists. I can’t remember the name, though. The store specialized in non-typical glasses and had a lot of publicity on billboards all over the town. Guess that’s why it went bankrupt very fast, too much spent on marketing, too little interest hehe. The store was in my town of residence, i.e. Warsaw, Poland. PS. I paid only about a hundred bucks for them…

  11. bastian Avatar

    @tonid: I like it – and even more so after I`ve seen the story you submitted to BME about it!

  12. tonid Avatar

    @bastian: Thx! Now if only I could find where that story is hehe…

  13. Baracudaboy Avatar

    Awesome glasses.
    Awesome tattoo.
    Awesome you!

  14. Bill Avatar
    Bill

    Wowzer! I read the Hyperion books. They were pretty good, but not as good as the ‘golden agers’ like Arthur C. Clark. Simmons stuff was incredibly convoluted (sort of like T. Pynchon), but not that interesting. It’s because he’s not original. Simmons imitates tons of already existing sci-fi ideas, and he thinks that by putting them together into a patchwork quilt, that he is creating something new—but he is not. Simmons is a very, very skillful writer, but also derivative; showing that mere technical skill is not always enough. This is also Pynchon’s shortcoming.
    I guess what I’m trying to say is that, I can’t f**&g believe that someone would tattoo the shrike on their arm for the rest of their life. The book wasn’t even that good. lulz. Whatever.

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