Artemis and Actaeon

Greek mythology and endurance

Being an enthusiast of ancient mythology and the origins of deities, you can imagine my absolute delight on taking up this project. And what a project that was! The theme the client requested was the myth of Artemis and Actaeon.

As the story goes, Actaeon a legendary hero from Boeotia had gone hunting with his hounds. To his misfortune however he happened to witness the goddess Artemis bathing naked deep into the woods. Enraged, the maiden goddess of all wild things, transformed him into a stag. In his attempt to escape and cry for help to the gods and his people, he found his untimely demise in the jaws of his own hounds.

Its a violent story full of rage and despair, with characters and elements that embody this wild atmosphere perfectly. The woods and the water, the chaste goddess of hunting and wild animals, the hunter who becomes the pray to his once loyal companions.

It made sense to give each of the two main characters of this story their own territory on the canvas, so having Artemis on one arm and Actaeon on the other seemed like the best plan by both me and my client. She also had this wonderful idea of a dagger and crescent moon in the middle of her chest. A theme very much aligned with the goddess.

The main challenge for me as an artist was to manage to visually depict the rapid and violent movement of this story in one single scene.

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The design

To compose Artemis' panel i used the water in which she was bathing in to give the image a sense of direction.

The animals, since she is the goddess of wild beasts, are drawn to run with her in a state of frenzy following the same direction, as if in a chase.

The wrathful goddess, I chose to design in the state that best describes her character. Wielding her bow, and dressed in a short dress, appropriate for a hunter. Hardened, energetic, forceful and nimble. One of the running beasts herself.

On Actaeon's side, there needed to be a scene of absolute despair and ravaging. I wanted the hounds to look like they completely consume him, that's why there isn't much of the stag showing.

His desperate pleading eyes, with his head tilted upwards hoping for supernatural aid that won't come. Tragically unable to explain who he is.

The cloud or fog that surrounds both panels meets the dagger in the middle, setting both images on the same scene.

Artemis and some other ancient Greek goddesses like Hecate, Demeter and Persephone find their origins in older deities that were associated to the moon. The origins were lost but the symbol remained. Its a universal symbol of feminine divinity, worth using as decoration in this type of concept.

The tattoo

My client flew over to Toronto from Vancouver, so planning the sessions before hand was integral to be able to successfully finish such a project in a one sitting. In my experience as a tattoo artist so far, tattooing a client for several days in a row, is a fit that is not meant for everyone. I know for sure, I personally would not be able to sit the very next day for one more session due to low pain tolerance. But my client having experience with herself and the other tattoos she has had, was confident she would be able to sit for back to back sessions.

After discussing the potentially overwhelming stress with my client, we agreed on three back to back full day sessions. I always explain that no matter the plan, everyone is allowed to not be able to go through with it and if she ended up not being able to do more than two sessions she would have to return for the third on a later date. A tough clients pain tolerance can vary depending on several factors, let alone when it's a first time client you have never met and tattooed before.

1st session-5 hours

We started the first day by tattooing the chest area. Being the most sensitive area, it's more sensible to tattoo it when the client is still at their best condition. I applied all the stencils for the arms too, even though they weren't necessary, just to see if my design needed any tweaking. I could potentially fix later at night after the session, and before we start the next session. Luckily there wasn't much that needed to change and could adjust by freehanding some areas the following days. When we finished, I wrapped the tattoo with a little bit of vaseline and saran wrap.

2nd session-6 hours

The very next day I tattooed Acteaons side, which compared to the chest was a much easier area for my client. The parts where the arm meets the chest piece that was already tattooed, was a little more painful but my client was doing great. Finishing this side I covered with vaseline and saran wrap again.

3rd session-6 hours

Final day! The arm we did on day two, had bruised a little but other than that both arm and chest looked great. My client was a little tired but overall was still strong and looking forward to finish. I admire people who are able to do such a thing and I in return try to be as efficient as possible. Finally after 17 hours in the span of 3 days we finished a huge tattoo of a wonderful concept idea. Now that the entire tattoo was done I was able to wrap it with self adhesive bandage (second skin) that she would keep on for a few days.

Final thoughts

Travelling to get tattooed is an adventure, reserved only for the most committed. As an artist, my responsibility is to deliver my best self as I always ought to do, be efficient with the time we have and make sure I take care of the clients wellbeing. As a client you can only trust that you are potentially able to get tattooed for several days in a row, if you could easily tolerate the pain of your previous tattoos. When you get tattooed every day for three days, the pain doesn't reset each day. Each day is much more difficult than it would be if it was done with 2-3 weeks in between.

Taking care of yourself by sleeping as many hours as possible between sessions and eating high calorie and nutritious food is the key to preserving your strength. And then, after the last session you deserve a big drink!