Number Crunching

After spending 40 minutes crunching numbers at work instead of doing what I'm supposed to be doing, I think I've figured out how to pay Phil. Essentially, I have to spend nothing except what it costs to pay my bills. I probably should've been doing something along those lines anyway, so it might be good practice. I didn't take into account any other "extra" income like helping out at Palate on Valentine's day, any tax refund I may get, and my birthday money from my grandparents that's already almost a month late.I can get an idea of my tax refund once I get my W-2's, but that won't be until next week or so. I tried to just guess and that didn't work at all. I ended up owing the state $300, but getting $1200 back from the Feds. So...yeah...I don't think that's correct.

I've also firmed up a few ideas for my left arm. I think I want to extend the roses up the back (avoiding moles, of course) and have them loosely frame the puppet. There are a few snags in this plan. One, Dustin did the original work. Now, if he happens to come back to Atlanta, it's no problem. However, if he doesn't, then I'm going to have to get his permission to let someone else work on it. It's a huge faux pas to have another artist work on something without the original's permission. This is an extenuating circumstance, but it's still polite to ask. For the moment, we'll assume he's not coming back into town. Then I still have to find someone to do the puppet. I'm debating on when to contact Malia for a consult. I don't want to get things going too soon because I wouldn't want this done until early-mid May (while I know I still have a job). At the same time, I know I'm going to be super picky about how it looks. Plus, she's going to have to come up with the design from scratch. I'm going to try to be as detailed as possible, but I can only communicate so much verbally. I may just send her a quick email explaining my situation up front and seeing what she wants to do about it.

I also need to call Mark and confirm my cost for Sunday. Compared to what he charged me for Mae and the fact that Lola's a good 30% smaller, I think it's fair. Of course, it's not like he'll refuse to do it. :P

EDIT:
This is what I sent to Malia.

I'd like to preface this by saying I'm getting in touch with you way in advance of when I want to actually get tattooed. The reason being I'm booked in with Phil for 3 sessions starting in March and April and I want to get those healed up before I attempt something else. I'm also working within a (somewhat) limited budget. Now that I've gotten that out of the way...

My idea is to get a gothic style female puppet on the inside of my left upper arm. I'd like her to be something of a hybrid of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and Emily the Strange:
http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2005_Corpse_Bride/2005_corpse_bride_062.jpg

http://www.emilystrange.com/beware/about/emily.cfm

I'm not crazy about the Corpse Bride's face, but I like the style of her body and I think it suits a puppet really well. I like the color scheme of Emily and the more "pop art" feel to her design. As for the puppet's face, I want it to be pretty, but in a more dark way. Overall, I'd want the tattoo to have a gothic and slightly dark feel without being overly creepy or not aesthetically pleasing.

I hope some of that made sense outside my head. If this doesn't sound like something you'd want to take on, I totally understand. I really loved your portfolio, especially your color work. If I haven't made your head spin, I'd love to meet in person some point for a consult and any necessary clarification of my idea.

Thanks in advance!