More Ideas

So the idea that I had when my brain was scrambled still makes sense. It also makes sense to other people. I was thinking that the roses may have to be extended further down my arm to look right. Since the puppet (currently Em Jr as both of my inspiration pieces happened to be named Emily) is going to take up more space than I originally anticipated, I think it makes sense to extend the roses in both directions. I feel like it wouldn't look right if the roses only extended up my arm and left the bottom part blank. It's definitely something that needs to be discussed in our group pow wow, whenever that happens. Probably shortly before we get started on Em Jr.

My other idea was for a convention piece. As I've mentioned, I love the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. I though that maybe Russ (or someone else) could do that for me during the convention. I could also place it such that it leaves room to eventually add to it. Alice in Wonderland tattoos are fairly common, but I didn't really see many that focused on the Cheshire Cat. Most of them were larger scenes. Again, something to discuss with Russ (or someone). It'd be cool if Mark and Shane went but I don't think they're going to. I know Shane helped organize it a few years ago, so who knows? I'm just going to keep my eyes peeled.

And that's all for now as I'm falling asleep sitting up and it's back to the grindstone tomorrow. *sigh*

Tattoo Survival Guide

I often get asked about how to "survive" a tattooing session. I've been tattooed upwards of 20 times with 13 tattoos to actually show for it. There's the obvious that you find on the internet. Make sure you're well fed and hydrated. Make sure you're well rested. But do those basics prepare you for anything beyond simply not passing out? Methinks not.

I've created my own little ritual that I stick to pretty much every time I get inked. You're of course free to alter to it to suit your needs, but this is what I've found works for me.

1. Wear comfortable clothes
I'm usually sitting or laying for several hours and I don't want to be constantly fidgiting because my clothes are bothering me. I wear pretty much the same thing every time I go for a session, sweatpants and a tee. If I'm getting work done on my shoulder or back, then it's a tank top. If you find jeans comfortable to sit in, that's fine. Wear something you know won't start to bother you during the course of the tattoo.

2. Bring something to boost your blood sugar after the tattoo
Sure, they told you to eat a full meal and be well hydrated BEFORE, but what about after? If you're a first timer, even a small tattoo can take a lot out of you. If you're more experienced, but sitting for a long time, you'll still need a boost when you're done. I like to bring Cherry Coke Zero. Again, it's whatever suits your taste be it a vitamin water, plain water, soda, or juice. Anything that will give your blood sugar a little punch is fine.

3. Bring something non-human to squeeze
I've heard many stories from human "stable ponies" about holding their friends' hands during a tattoo. It most often ends with the stable pony have to nurse a sore hand. That doesn't seem too fair to them. As such, I bring a stuffed animal (my trusty basset hound Woof). It cracks up the guys in the shop, but it's something that infinitely helps me. If you're too shy to bring a stuffed animal into a tattoo shop, bring something comforting. Heck, even a stress ball would do the trick for some.

4. For any work that requires laying down, bring your own pillow
I take this one step further and also bring my own sheet. You don't have to go that extreme, but having your own pillow really turns into a life saver. Most tattoo shops have pillows, but because of sanitation, have to cover them with something akin to sandpaper. After one session of having to rest my head on something like that for 3 hours, I always brought my own pillow. It's also nice to have something that's yours, which goes a long way to relaxing and making the process easier on everyone.

5. Bring a camera
This one should be pretty obvious. Right after it's done is often the best time to get a picture because someone else is around and can actually take it for you. Or maybe that's just an issue I have. :P

6. Breathe!
The temptation may be there to hold your breath. Don't do it. Keep your breathing even and normal as possible. In the case of side pieces, take advantage of wiping or refilling the needle to take deeper breaths.

7. Speak up!
This is definitely the most important thing. If you need a break, speak up. Don't try to be tough. It doesn't matter if you feel like you're going to pass out or you just need to stretch your legs. Tattooists aren't psychic and even if they know you really well (ie Mark and myself), they can't know if you need a break.

8. If you're already in pain, fix that first
My hardest tattoo session was easily Lola's second session. I walked in with a headache, but refused to do anything about it because I didn't want to bleed more. That was the worst thing I could've done. It made the pain of tattooing about 5 times worse than what it had to be. I finally broke down and took some Advil, but it didn't really take the edge off until we were almost done. Now I know to take care of any other pain I may be experiencing before I get tattooed.

What will help you the most is being comfortable and as relaxed as possible. Whether you're a tattoo virgin or you've got your fair share of ink, it'll help. The more you tense up and stress, the more likely you are to feel dizzy, nauseous, or every tattooist's dread, pass out. Yes, you will be in pain, but if you stay relaxed and calm, it'll go by much faster.

These aren't hard and fast rules, just a few tips and tricks to help you have a successful and low stress tattoo experience.

Dustin, Me, and Russ Makes Three

I emailed Dustin last night letting him know that I was interested in having more work done by him. I explained my idea a bit and told him that I wanted it to be cohesive with the puppet. My vision is still a bit fuzzy and unrefined (probably thanks in no small part to the fact I've taken two pretty strong knocks to the head in as many days), but the general idea is more roses up the back and side of my arm that will frame the top of the puppet. He was definitely up for doing more work on me and he wanted to make sure that Russ was okay with a "semi-collaboration". I told him I'd explained the basic idea to Russ and he was receptive. I'll probably go into more detail once he starts the puppet. Dustin will be back in town in late February or early March, so I guess we'd work on the roses sometime after at least some of the puppet is done. I'll probably end up alternating who I work with just to give the various steps time to heal. The puppet (she really needs a name) is probably easily 6-7 hours of work and the roses, and anything else I decide to add in there, are probably 4-6. At least Dustin is a little cheaper than Russ. ;)

A true collaboration piece requires both artists to work on the same piece. These are two different pieces done by two different artists, but the end result will be something that looks like one piece, thus making this a "semi-collaboration". Collaborations can be tricky because it requires getting two artists who are willing to work together, have a similar style, and both personalities the client can get along with. Russ and Dustin have distinctive styles, but there's a lot of technical similarity. Russ has a lot more experience than Dustin, but what Dustin may lack in years, he makes up for with enthusiasm and commitment to the client's happiness. From a philosophical standpoint, I think they're a perfect pair to work on me. When my left arm is done, it's gonna be epic.

More thoughts bubbling to the surface, but I want to give them more time before I post them. So much for not getting sleeved out. :P Plus, I want to give my head time to unscramble, just in case.

Edit: I gave Russ a quick call and ran the idea by him. He's totally cool with a collaboration and when Dustin gets in town, we'll try to schedule something. He sounded busy and rushed, so I tried to not ramble. Things will be more clear once Dustin's in town and knows what his schedule is. Russ said "Let's consider it a rough plan". So...yeah...we have a rough plan.

Overall Visions

I've been mentally chewing on a lot the last few days. Russ definitely gave me plenty of food for thought in our consultation. What is my ultimate vision for my body art? Will I end up totally covered and like one of "those people"? Honestly, I don't know. I do think it's something I need to sit down and think about. I know how I want my left arm to look when all is said and done. For the time being, I think I may leave my back alone. I learned with my left wrist that getting a tattoo for the sake of filling the space is just dumb. It's not that I don't love rose, but I think I may have been better off if I'd never had to have it covered up in the first place. So for now the back is going to stay empty, much to the relief of the anti-ink members of my family (ie all of them).

I'd like to come up with a convention piece, but at the same time, I don't want to force something. Maybe that's something I can talk to Russ about while he's working on my puppet. He said the ideal convention piece is something that can be done in a few hours and doesn't leave you sitting overly exposed for said period of time. So that leaves out thighs and back. Feet, calves, and arms are ideal places because you can stay fully clothed. Since the convention is in June, I'd be wearing shorts and flats or flip flops anyway. I have a few months to think about it. I'll see if Russ wants to set something up for either that Friday or Sunday as I'm going to a wedding that Saturday.

In other news, I got around to emailing Kurt pictures of my arm so he could start sketching. He said I have "perfect skin" and there isn't much to work around. I thanked him for the compliment. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who are more mole-y than I am, but it's better safe than sorry. If I'm not sure, I assume it's a mole.

Now...back to work. *sigh*

Let's Try This Again...

Okay, let's try a slightly more coherent entry, shall we?

Between my POS laptop freezing every few minutes and the fact I was watching TV while trying to blog last night, I feel like I made about as much sense as a hummingbird on cocaine. So let's rewind and try the whole thing again. *hits rewind button*

I had my consult with Russ last night, which turned into a totally different experience than I'd anticipated. As expected, he's a super nice guy. He was talking to someone when I arrived, but he didn't make me wait long. I began to explain my idea and he didn't seem that into it. He explained that if I ever decide to get my whole back tattooed, it might be better if it was something more cohesive as opposed to a mish mash of images. He showed me a picture in Prick (our local tattoo and piercing "lifestyle" rag) of a girl's back. Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was looking at. It was way too busy and just didn't make any sense. He said if I really wanted it, he could do it, but it was his professional opinion that I should either leave my back alone or save it for something much bigger and epic. So that led me to talk about my other ideas and through my babbling, I came to the puppet idea. I told him I'd contacted Malia about it, but hadn't heard back. He asked why I hadn't asked him. I told him if he thought he could get into it, as the idea of the Mucha was pretty much trashed, I was open to it as well. At that point, he told me to grab my stuff and "come on back".

I explained my vision as best I could and he helped me refine it a bit. First of all, he suggested she be larger than my original vision and take advantage of the natural articulation of my elbow. I could actually make her move when I moved my arm. I was intrigued and he began to sketch on my arm in Sharpie. It took a few rounds, but he finally found a basic outline that he was happy with. He also had me pose in a very awkward 4th position to see how it looked in 3D. He said he'd never done a puppet tattoo and that overall, they're pretty uncommon. I've been trying to search for puppet tattoos and haven't really found much. So apparently I've finally come up with an original tattoo idea. Go me!

From there, he transferred the sketch off my arm using his super secret technique, and made a few notes on it. We set up time for March 13 (a Friday...spooky) and I put down my deposit. I am concerned about his hourly rate, as I mentioned. I probably looked like a deer in headlights when he told me how much he charges. It's totally reasonable for the work you're getting and talent like his doesn't just grow on trees. However, I may have to call him closer to time and say "look, I can only pay you for about 2-2.5 hours". I don't think that's being rude or disrespectful of his pricing. If anything, I think it's being mature and up front with him. I really want to do this, but I don't want to be like "Oh by the way, I can't pay you for a 4 hour sitting". As I also mentioned previously, he said he only charges for actual tattooing time. If he's just sketching or we're taking a break or doing dance of the 7 veils or something that doesn't involve a needle in my skin, he doesn't charge. He also said he works pretty fast. So we could probably get a good bit done in 2-2.5 hours. Also, he wouldn't schedule any further sessions until a month or so later. By then, I'll probably have my tax return check in, so that will finance the rest of it with minimal stress on me. He actually wanted to start earlier, but I told him I wanted to get my peacock healed before I started another epic piece. Unfortunately Mark won't get to watch this session because it's on a Friday, but Russ said I should swing by and show him when we finish whatever we finish. Though after a quick number crunch, I think I might be able to afford 3 hours if I stick to my budget (which I haven't been doing, though some of it was beyond my control).

A few funny moments...
He called me "Em" at some point and he was like "I'm sorry, I'm nicknaming you and we just met half an hour ago". I told him it was fine and that people rarely call me by my given name and I've trained myself to respond to any variant of my full name. I think only Mark, Shane, and people at work call me Emily on a regular basis. Heck, even my manager calls me Em or M&M half the time.

He also couldn't get the Sharpie off my arm. He used a flesh color and brown and the brown absolutely refused to come off, even when he poured alcohol the paper towel and scrubbed my arm. He apologized profusely and it told him it was no big deal. When I got home I took some oil based make up remover to it and that got the worst of it off. Of course, my arm was sore from all the contorting it took to get it all off. I find myself regularly manhandled by tattooists. :)

So I think that made more sense and I hope gave a better overview of my latest adventure to becoming a true "collector". My parents are going to flip their shit, but at this point, there isn't much I can do about that.

Edit: I just checked Russ' site and he said he's willing to work with "limited budgets", just let him know in advance. So I guess I'll call a few days before and let him know the exact amount of time I can afford. That's certainly a relief. :)

To Do List

On today's agenda:

1. Call Memorial and reschedule my time with Phil. I also need to let him (or someone) know I'm downgrading to just one Mucha. Ideally, I'll keep my April 19 appointment and add May 16(ish). Six hours should be more than enough time for one of those.

2. Still no word from Malia. I may also bring this up in the phone call to Memorial. Not sure though.

3. Prepare for my consulation with Russ. I need to print out my source material and come armed with a calendar. I really need a hard copy day planner. My Blackberry isn't cutting it for things this far in advance. A week or so, sure. Not a month or so.

Lola is doing okay. She's still super tender. I woke up this morning and she was stuck to my shirt. I think I may have taken off some of her hair when I came across a stubborn spot. Lame. She's going to need a touch up anyway, so I'm not super concerned. That will most likely be dealt with when I go for my check up around Valentine's Day. I need to see if their open on President's Day. That would be an ideal time for me to get checked up on and schedule any necessary touch ups.

Now off to make phone calls while it's still fresh in my mind.

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.