Real-Life Math
A client walks into your studio. After spending close to two hours
going through your book of designs, he chooses the tattoo he wants. It is
a design of a dragon, which is quite large. It was originally designed for
a previous client's back.
The original dragon design was 8" x 10" with
lots of detail. This particular client wants the same design with the same
details, but to be tattooed on his shin.
You believed that as a tattoo
artist you would never need any real math skills. Tattooist Pat
Sinatra agrees up to a point. "I don't really think math comes into it, unless
you're trying to do a design that requires geometry... like creating a star,"
she says. However, Sinatra says that if you end up running your own studio,
"You have to have a good idea of accounting and finances."
Since you
are still new at the tattoo business, you want to make sure you are giving
your client the right size. You want to double-check the dimensions before
relying completely on your eye.
You explain to your client that if
you were to do this same size design on their shin, it would take up the entire
space. If you were to reduce the size, the image of the dragon would be easier
to see since it would only be on the front of the shin. You draw up the design
at a smaller scale to show the design by reducing it to 1/3 of the original
size.
Your client agrees. Now you have to calculate the size.