Sleeve Step 1

Yesterday I moseyed over to Ink & Dagger and decided to go ahead and start my sleeve. I knew I wanted the Misty Benson print, so I pulled it up to show Kurt. He liked the idea and took me around 6pm. We got about 2ish hours fo work done on her and all the really sucky stuff like shading.

The pictures aren't great, but that's what happens when you take a picture of your own arm. Also, the autofocus on my camera goes off when you turn the flash off, so that's why the first one is blurry. It gives a pretty good idea of placement and how the arm is going to look. She's gonna be reds and blacks with purple highlights. The kitty is pretty much done, though I dunno if he's totally finished or not. We should finish her up in about 3 weeks. I'm sure I'll be healed before then, but I want to make sure everything I want done can be done.

Kurt had a similar idea to mine as to filler and tying the whole thing together to make it look like a sleeve. He suggested some kind of vine work or filigree and I wanted iron work inspired filigree with roses or rosebuds interspersed. I'm also toying with the idea of having something not so nice spelled out in there, but we'll see. It depends on how ballsy I'm feeling, but part of me thinks it would be hilarious to have "bite me" or "fuck off" worked in somewhere so that you have to look really close to see it, otherwise it just looks pretty. Another part of me thinks it might be pushing the envelope too much.

I'm also wearing one of the Man Day shirts, if you can tell. I didn't get one on Man Day probably because I was working (and loving it like the goof I am). It certainly makes me feel manly, like I needed any help!

And So It Is

So yesterday was the day. I got there 15 minutes late and Mark wasn't there yet (big shocker). It gave me time to eat since I hadn't eaten anything yet. I had several fonts picked out and I decided on the one that was still pretty, but would be legible for the future.

We got the placement on the first try and it doesn't look stupid when I have my arms down by my sides. It really wasn't that painful, but at this point, it takes a good bit to get my attention. Plus, we were done in all of about 35 minutes. Yet another reason to feel the love for text tattoos. I was wrapped up and out of the chair less than an hour after I got there. It was good to see Mark again. I forget how much I miss the cranky bugger's commentary. Hilarious.

I don't feel too bad about breaking my "promise". Most people haven't even noticed them yet. The ones who've asked are the ones who knew I was getting them in the first place. I feel like it was the right time to do it. I'm happy with them and they mean a lot to me and will very likely take on a deeper meaning in the next few months. If I'm gonna eventually have a full sleeve, everyone's going to have to get used to it.

Highlights From Man Day

More Pictures

Goinked from Meg aka my personal photographer. Thanks, love!

I'm in pain and having trouble walking, but in love. He's absolutely amazing and there's no two ways about it. I'm ridiculously happy with the results, even if I am starting to develop the nasty scaly scabbing. I figured I wasn't going to dodge that bullet. That would've been too easy. I had to promise everyone that the office that I'd print out the picture so they could see it since I can't exactly go lifting up my skirt or dropping trou at work.

Apparently my spell checker doesn't like the work "goinked". Its loss.

New Plans, Yet Again

So time for a totally new plan on the tattoo front. I discovered yesterday that my tax refund won't be here until much later. So the new plan is to cancel my appointment with Phil so I can still afford to go to Roanoke. I also want to go ahead and get my foot cover up started. Since Mark doesn't charge nearly as much as Russ or Phil, I can afford to get that moving at least. I also have to get Kurt to finish Lucius. I'll know more about that tomorrow. I don't think there's really that much work left, which is fortunate.

Ideally, I'll get Lucius finished in the next few weeks, then start on my foot cover up, then get tattooed at the convention in Roanoke. Then I'll see if I have the money to pay Phil to work on Alice. I definitely don't want to miss out on my trip to Roanoke, not just because of the convention, but because I haven't seen my BFF since last June.

Lucy is peeling like crazy. She looks pretty gross. I hope she'll look better tomorrow when I go to show her off to everyone.



Yay pictures!!

Danse Macabre

Okay, the first version of this post was totally cracked out. Not good. Let's try this again, shall we?

I was browsing tattoo portfolios at work today because I was bored (in between getting yelled at for shit that isn't my fault) and it got me thinking about my back. My original thought was angel wings going the length of my back. However, upon closer examination, Mae is placed such that getting the left wing to look right would be very difficult. Like, it would have be super skinny before I wanted them to be super skinny. If that makes any sense. I'm not sure it does, but whatever.

Russ suggested previously I get something to do with dancing on my back since I already have the quote on my back about dance. I started with the concept of angels since I started with the angel wings. I bounced around the internet and then decided to go for more of a dance theme. For some reason, the concept of a danse macabre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_macabre) popped into my head. Lucy is somewhat dance macabre-ish, so it would work well to move from my arm to my back. As I did more research, I decided I really liked the concept of having a ballroom scene on my back with 5 dancing couples. I think some of the couples might have one partner as a skeleton and one partner as human in various ballroom poses. I also want "danse macabre" in the tramp stamp area. In a very pretty font of course.

I thought it also might be cool to have different artists work on different couples. I could have everyone's style but still make it look like a complete piece. I'd also want some kind of background to make it look like a ballroom. I'll probably discuss it with Russ and Mark on Tuesday and see what they think. They're my top two choices to work on a couple, then I'm batting around ideas for the other three. That's, of course, if I even end up getting 5 different artists to work on me. The level of skill is roughly the same and I may give some artists who aren't quite as good at skulls or skeletons a different pose or couple to work on. Ideally, I'd have two couples dancing near my shoulders, one in the center of my back over my current back piece, and two on my lower back, then "danse macabre" at the base.

I was trying to put pictures up, but the stupid thing won't work. *sigh* Maybe later. In the mean time Google "gothic puppet" or "Van Helsing" to get an idea of what I'm going for.

Peacock Experience

Five. Hour. Sitting. Hear me roar!

So after some cold feet, I almost canceled my peacock appointment. Then I split the difference and decided to move it to my thigh. When I got there and saw the sketch, I knew he was meant for my arm. We tried both places and really, it just looked better on my arm. So Kurt went back to get everything ready. We didn't get started until almost 1 even though my appointment was for noon.

I got to meet Russ' younger son. He definitely takes after his daddy. He was fascinated by Kurt tattooing me. I'm not normally one who enjoys kids, but Cody was pretty cute. He was a happy baby. He said he's looking forward to tattooing me especially after seeing how well I sat.

Kurt has his girlfriend with him, so we talked some. Kurt wasn't much of a talker, but apparently he concentrates very deeply. I gave them some advice about places to eat and things to do in town since they're moving down here. Laura (the girlfriend) was looking through listings of rentals and I'd chime in with my opinion. They're looking to live somewhere close to the shop. I'm jealous. I miss living in Decatur.

We didn't finish all of him, but we got the bulk done. Kurt had someone coming in at 4, who he had to bump to 6, and obviously had to take him. He's got to finish filling in part of the tail feathers and wants to do more detail in the tail in general. He can also touch up anything that doesn't heal properly. Whenever they move down here is around the time we'll finish it. It's going to be at least a month though. I'm not too worried, he looks pretty good as he is now.

I'm really glad I went through with it. I'm incredibly happy with the result. He looks amazing. Now he just needs a name. Without further ado...pictures! Click on them to see the full view if they don't look right.

Lola Part 2

Picture posted with all the usual disclaimers. She's fresh, bloody, and no comments about my poodge. Anyway...on to the experience.

This was a tough sitting. It may actually have been my toughest sitting to date. I had a tension headache going in and I made the mistake of not doing anything to remedy it prior to getting inked. I figured I didn't want to make myself bleed more, so I'd just tough it out. Worst idea ever, kids. If you're already in pain prior to the tattooing process, do something about it. It will just make the whole process 3 times worse. The pain was easily at an 8-9 for the first hour. Then I gave up and took some Advil. Just knowing I'd taken it automatically dropped it to a 6-7. Then the actual effects kicked in and I could handle the rest of it. The end is always the worst part because my skin gets super sensitive. I was jumping even when he would just touch me to wipe me off or something. The last 10 minutes was rough. I think there was more he wanted to do, but he knew I couldn't take it. I'm a great sitter but I have my limits.

I confessed to him about going to Dustin. He was very supportive and complimentary of the work. I told him about Kurt, Russ, and Phil. He said he worked with Phil years ago and got into their fair share of trouble. He also knew of Kurt. Depending on when I get Russ to actually tattoo me, Mark might tag along. Apparently he lives very close to there and his days off are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I think that would be pretty cool, so I may try to schedule it that way and warn him about a week in advance.

As for the job situation, he has to "get rid" of his current girl first. Allegedly, she's moving soon and this is just a temp thing. I mean, he hasn't had one for months, so it stands to reason she won't be around long. He asked if it was something I really wanted to do and I said "Let me put it to you this way. It's like my dad telling me he's going to buy me the pony I always wanted". So I think that got the point across in an amusing and not too "OMG hire me now!" sort of way. He wants me back in in 2 weeks to check on her, so maybe I'll ask when Carly will be leaving then. I also haven't heard from Shane if he wants any help when Mark isn't there, so who knows? I figure he'll get around to it when he gets around to it. Mark also confirmed payment is in the form of the "family discount" on any work you get done and volunteers is about the only way you get anyone to work the counter. I told him that was totally fine with me and any excuse to hang around and call it a job was enough of one for me. So it wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no. At least the possibility is still out there and something to keep me going over the next few weeks.