My Tattoo

Originally the plan was for T-bonz and her brother SAW to get some tattoo work done - T-bonz wanted her tattoo modified and SAW wanted some additions to his. Then T-bonz' hip mom wanted one. Then I wanted one. You only live once, right? Day of, her mom backed out. T-bonz thought I would back out too, but I said "Bring it". And it was brought..

I didn't really have a specific idea of what I wanted. I thought maybe something around 1 square inch. Day of the Dead, or a food item, or DMB, or....? But Rick at Celebrity Tattoo came up with some killer artwork blending DOTD with eating. I think one day some DMB ink might find its way onto me but this finished product kicks ass. And it's really quite bad ass-y so stay out of my way byotch!

I went first. The artwork he came up with was based on a design that was on the wall in the studio. The original art had the dude holding six shooters, wearing a hat, and with some legs. Rick replaced the guns with a knife and fork, took off the hat, and deleted the part from the waist down.

The knife and fork idea is genius! T-bonz commented that without the hat the dude's head is bald. Well, duh, mine too so that is perfect! And the waist down part -- I wanted to keep the tat small so that's great!

Rick began by transferring a copy to my left calf:

The inking began. First he did the outline.

Then he filled in parts.


The whole thing took maybe 45 minutes or so. Not painful really. In fact, I was laying on a padded table and I almost dozed off at one point. Going in SAW had compared the process of getting a tattoo to a pin being pressed on your skin, not going in but the pressure was just before that, and then being raked on you over and over. It wasn't that bad. But the analogy is close.

When done he wrapped it in plastic wrap. Some blood ran and it was like being a piece of meat at a grocery store.

Since then, caring for it isn't so bad. Washings, cream, lotions. The area was tender for a few days. And hitting it on the seat of my chair at work a couple of days after I got it hurt like a mother fucker [a tip from me to you: don't do that]. It didn't scab. The skin is peeling a little. For a few days it was very itchy. It was quite 3D for a few days, and the skin under the utensils is still so. The purple coat could be touched up a bit.

I'm not crazy about the yellow head. On the original artwork on the wall, the yellow on the head faded out. But it's growing on me, and I can't do a whole lot about it now!

For a full gallery of photos - including T-bonz and SAW - click here.