It's official! Kurt emailed me back last night and confirmed my appointment. I'll be going at noon on Feb. 21. He said to expect to sit for anywhere from 4-6 hours. Oh my! The longest I've ever sat is 3.5 and that was on my ribs. I think I can handle it, though. Biceps are some of the least painful places to ink and I sit like a champ. I might ought to bring something to snack on or drink because I know after a few hours, I'm gonna have a blood sugar drop. I've now been told that by 2 tattooists and random guy at I&D. Mark made some comment about how another girl sat really well for a rib piece and I was like "Are you saying I'm not a good sitter?" and he was like "Please, you're one of my best". I feel so smug. I don't get to feel smug about much.
I keep forgetting to mention that I saw the cutest tattoo when I was at I&D. This girl came in with her boyfriend and they were talking to Dustin. She mentioned something about how her stomach was rough to tattoo. Naturally, I asked what she'd had done there. She pulled up her shirt and she had butterflies flying diagonally up her stomach. She said "Yeah, I always have butterflies in my stomach!". I thought that was so freaking cute. Of course, if I ever did something like that, it would be after I have kids. I don't really much care if the shamrock gets distorted, but I'd definitely care if something that pretty got screwed up becaue of babies.
For those who are interested in Kurt's work, he has his own website. www.kurtfagerland.com and it has all his best work up. I particularly like the Wolverine/Sabertooth side piece. Made me a bit nostaligic for college.
I'm so excited right now I can barely sit still. I started shopping around for artists to do my peacock faux half sleeve. I really fell in love with another guest artist at Ink & Dagger. His work is really realistic and just flat out beautiful. He also has a really great range. I went out on a limb and emailed him. I explained my idea and then said up front I had a very limited budget. I knew it was a gamble and I was fully prepared for him to say no. He emailed me back in less than half an hour with this:
Hey Emily,
A large Peacock tattoo sounds awesome. Absolutely something I would enjoy working on...[the price I named] is a pretty tight budget for a large tattoo especially if you are looking to get a detailed piece more on the "realistic" side. I would say depending on size you could be looking at 4- 6 hrs worth of work. But seeing that you've got such a cool idea.. I know I would have fun doing it. I'll find a way to work with that budget. I am tattooing in norway right now.. I can make an apointment for you in february though. I'll be at ink and dagger by the 15th. What days are good for you?
~Kurt
I emailed him back immediately with the date I wanted. Of course, seeing as he's in Norway, I probably won't hear back until sometime tomorrow. If everything falls into place, I'll have a fabulous peacock by the end of February. *squee!* It just goes to show that having the guts to ask can actually get you somewhere.
Now I'm browsing the portfolios of other artists to see what's out there. I emailed Russ back thanking him and telling him that I was happy to wait until he was free. He also thanked me for giving them a positive review on Yelp. So yay. There's another artist who I really like. I just have to decide what I want him to do for me and where! I'm running out of space! Apparently this particular artist is booked 2-3 weeks out so I have time.
In two days Lola will finally be a reality. I'm so excited. I've wanted her for at least a year. I'm practically giddy, I'm so excited. I can't wait to get there and get started. I figure it'll be another 3-3.5 hour sitting. I'd like to get her done in 2 sessions, but if necessary, we'll do a third. I don't anticipate needing to change my appointment times, so that should help. When I opted to change my second session of Mae, that's what threw a wrench into the works. He had to squeeze me in and that's not an ideal situation for a piece that needs as much attention to detail as a pin up girl.
Hopefully I can get a decent picture of Mae as well. I took down the one I had up because it wasn't as good as it could be. I'm sure between the two of us, Mark and I will figure out exactly what position is the ideal picture. I know I have a habit of leaning when I try to take pictures of myself and that distorts her quite a bit. I'd like to have a good picture of her to post and I'm sure he would, too. She was a lot of work and she deserves to be seen. I was afraid her face was going to be too dark, but it lightened up nicely after it finished peeling. Further proof that I should just have faith.
So apparently the crowd at Sacred Heart is responsible for organizing the tattoo convention here every year. I actually found an article from '06 quoting Shane about the event. When I'm there next weekend, I'll ask if they're planning on doing another one this year. I would assume so as last year was the 12th annual or so the flyer said. I was considering going to Miami that weekend, but I may put it off to convention it up. So much excitement in the next 6 months tattoo-wise. Allegedly Ink & Dagger is doing their $50-$100 tattoos every Sunday in March (as yet unconfirmed), then the convention in June, and I&D's 4th of July "tribute to tradition". That's in addition to whatever hot messes I decide to get myself into outside of that.
I'm waffling about several other things. I may or may not get a chest dermal. I may or may not get my nose repierced. I may or may not do both. I may place Lola somewhere else. I may not. I may pay Mark up front for part of Lola in case I get downsized/laid off/insert corporate jargon for "no longer employed" here. I hate to ask him about pricing because I feel it's rude, but I'm going to need a hard and fast number. Alternately, I could pick something smaller and more affordable and save up for Lola the old fashioned way. She's going to be at least as expensive as Mae. I figure I'll be honest about the situation. I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't want to be running around with a half finished tattoo because I couldn't afford to pay for the second half (or third as the case may be).
Overall I really dislike discussing price because half the time I think he just pulls it out of his ass. I underestimated Britney & Christina by $70, but I overestimated Butch by $40. It's all fine and dandy when I overestimate, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass when I fall short. I like to plan for all contingencies, so best case I don't get laid off and I can pay for everything no problem. Worst case, I'm laid off and only managed to pay for half or 2/3 of it. The reality usually lies somewhere in the middle. What will probably happen is I'll get laid off, get the check I'm owed, and that would allow me to finish paying her off. Meh. I should stop thinking about this. It's stressing me out.
