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The Perfect Starbuck Tattoo

John put a lot of time and effort into making sure his Starbuck/Anders tattoo was perfect:

I put a lot of thought into how to get it done because I’d seen people get smaller versions, in different places and at different angles and it never looked right – so, other than the fact that I wanted it on the right arm and not the left (both personal preference and to match where Anders’ was), I wanted it as exactly like the version on the screen as possible. I had a tattoo artist and BSG fan on LiveJournal called “IrishCal” computer draw the stencil for it from HD broadcasts, then I had Pete (Living Canvas in Columbia, MO) blow it up and size it just right for my arm so that it would fit from elbow to shoulder tip as it does on Starbuck’s. I also printed off several HD screens of Starbuck’s and had Pete redraw the LiveJournal stencil half a dozen times to perfect all the cuts and the geometry as closely as possible. There are a few other kinds of BSG tattoos out there, like the BSG75 seal, but I don’t think you’ll find a better or more exact recreation of Starbuck’s than mine.

Posted in Tattoos, TV.

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9 Responses

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  1. Jack Dornan says

    That looks fantastic! I, too, have been dissatisfied with the tattoos others have shown, and wanted a more screen-accurate version. Do you still have the stencil? I would LOVE to lay hands on it.

    • John Orcutt says

      I don't have the stencil used for the final version, only the one made from LJ which was quite flawed, sorry : but if you want it you should call Living Canvas in Columbia, MO and ask for Pete, tell him the tat you're interested in and see if he still has the digital scan of the final stencil, he might be willing to part with a copy.

  2. Kimberly shea says

    Just a friendly update on the artist who did this. Pete Tieman is no longer working at living canvas, he now works at and owns Gaslight Gallery in Columbia MO.

    • John Orcutt says

      Hey thanks for the update, I don't frequent Living Canvas so I didn't know that….

  3. Alexandria says

    I absolutely love this! I am getting mine in January (:

  4. Anneli says

    This is a whole new level of awesomness! Great tattoo, it's really well-made and Starbuck is one of my favorite characters from the show. :)

  5. Jonathan Gibson says

    This is really nice. Did u strech the design a bit to fit the arm and make it a little thinner? It looks more aggressive than I remember(that’s a good thing. I’m very impressed. Got any more pics?

    • John Orcutt says

      Nobody had the original actual stencil from production, I think the one I started from was just free drawn by an artist on LJ (IrishCal). I had Pete Tiernan re-touch it for me 7 or 8 times from HD screen caps from the show. I was really just going for accuracy in terms of the internal dimensions, shape, etc. Certain edges and holes were too blocky on the stencil, I had him sharpen them up. I also guided him to align it to my arm to best match hers, mostly in terms of the feathering in the back. It’s possible some of our alterations caused it to look a little sleeker, a little sharper and more aggressive. From what I understand, they actually redrew it slightly differently in production from time to time, so some fine details vary.