I am getting a couple of new tattoos this month. I am working them out right now. One Phrase. One Image. The image is going on my left bicep, but I am not sure where the phrase is going, other than that it must be on the left side of my body.

I almost got a variation of this tattoo last year, but it looked a little too hammer-and-sickle-y. I have redrawn it and abstracted it from the original drawn/built versions. It’s Corbusier’s Open Hand monument from several essays/sketches and a built monument in Chandigarh.

The phrase is “If You’re Feeling Sinister”. The etymology of the word sinister is interesting and comes from Latin where it meant (loosely) “on the left”. In all of the old Last Judgement paintings (most famously, Michelangelo’s) the sinners would be cast into hell which was always on the left of god. But it has come to mean something a little “cuter” over time, more of a naughty tone, not so much eternal damnation. And of course there is the reference to the band that I really like.

Here are some sketches of the Open Hand that I am trying to work out.

Comments? Suggestions? Advice? Holler at your boy.