The Thigh Piece Continues...

I'm so glad that I got the opportunity to get back into the shop an get some more work done on my thigh piece so quickly.  I have my grandfather to thank for sending me a very generous Christmas gift.  Because of that I was able to get 3 and a half more hours under the needle. 

December 21, 2013 - Authentic Ink Tattoo (Omaha, NE)

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* Location: Back/front of right thigh

* Tattoo: A continuation on the Dragon/Butterfly/Orchids/Phoenix Tattoo

 Here is a photo of the finished Phoenix.  This took up the bulk of the time.  He spent approximately 2 hours on finishing up this guy.  He first went through with a darker red, then with the yellow.  He looks fantastic - don't you think?!  I certainly do.  I'm very happy with how he turned out.  Next will be some clouds with purplish hues.  I have to say - this one was quite painful.  It's still causing me quite a bit of pain.  I foresee a long healing process on this one.  I'm sure it's due to the same area getting a twice over.

And here's a little collage of all the work that was done during this session.  I now notice that the filter I put on this one makes the Phoenix look darker than it really is (I guess that's Instagram for you - oh well).  It may not look like much was done on the front, but he started extending the orange and yellow rays over in the areas surrounding the dragon and the water in the area surrounding the orchids.  He also added some white in the black/grey orchids, which make them stand out quite well.  He also did a little touch-up on the butterflies, which had a few light spots on them.  He would have continued and kept moving out towards the butterflies, but I haven't quite figured out what I plan to do in the middle... So, he didn't want to blend over too far without knowing what we were going to do there.  

Here's to hoping I manage to have an epiphany on what to do with that open space!

Bring a Can of Food - Save $20!

Authentic Ink is running it's annual food drive deal.  If you bring in a non-parishable food item, you save $20 off of a tattoo.  The deal ends December 23rd, so get in there ASAP to save your $20.  I'm going to be heading in this Wednesday to schedule my next appointment for the Phoenix portion of my tattoo.

Who doesn't want to save $20 on their ink?!

And We're Back At It!

I have finally gotten back into my Dragon Tattoo.  As stated in my previous post, I hadn't been back since July.  That my friends had been due to driving back and forth between Oklahoma every month since the end of July up until October, but that's a whole other story that I won't bore you with right now, because after all, you're hear to read about my tattoos and not my love life, right?  Right.  Anyway, I knew I had to get on top of getting this tattoo going again since I'm leaving the country, again another story, so here we are.

We began this session by trying to figure out how to make the tattoo still appear done by the time I left, because we both knew that it wouldn't be "done" before I leave the country, but it's important for it to appear done to everyone else who sees it since it will be a good long while before I can return to actually finish it.  A part of the tattoo that he and I had discussed, but that I hadn't mentioned here, is the Phoenix.  We decided that it would really pull everything together if we did a Phoenix on the back side of my thigh (not to mention it would be really bad ass!!), so that's where we decided to start in this session.

November 20, 2013 - Authentic Ink Tattoo (Omaha, NE)

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* Location: Back side of right thigh

* Tattoo: A continuation on the Dragon/Butterfly Tattoo - Phoenix

* Story: I'm not going to go back into the story portion of this here too much since I covered that in my first post about this tattoo, but suffice to say that the Phoenix was not part of the original plan.  This may be the first tattoo (or part of a tattoo) that I didn't have some awesome story behind.  I've always found Phoenix's to be pretty damn awesome, and part of the point of this tattoo was mysticism and fantasy.  Neither dragons nor the phoenix are real creatures, but they appear throughout fantasy books, movies, and games, which I love.  When I think about the Phoenix, I think about Greek Mythology and Harry Potter.  Awesome, right?  Yeah, I thought so.

Here's a look at session one of the Phoenix.  It's certainly far from finished.  This was merely the first hour and a half (sorry the photo isn't the greatest - it's a little difficult to get a decent photo of the back of your own leg).

Stay Tuned!

Finally!!!

Wow, the last time I posted was all the way back in July and I had spoken about trying to get into the shop in a week or so.  Well, that clearly never happened.  I simply didn't have the time, nor the money, which was rather unfortunate.  But I am now faced with NEEDING to get back to it because I'm going to run out of time.  Ladies and Gentleman, I am leaving the country in a few months, so I've got to get going on this tattoo of mine!

I have no illusions that I'll be able to get this tattoo finished before I leave (there's still a good 10-14 hours left on this, if not more), but I'm going to make damn sure that I get as much done as feasibly possible before I leave.  I have no idea when I'll return to be able to finish it.  I found it humorous that when I went to make an appointment to resume inking my artist made sure to say, "Don't let some other limey bastard fix my shit!"  Haha, well hell no!  There's no way in the world any other artist will touch this tattoo.  Tattoos are art and you NEVER have another artist touch another artist's work. That is unless you made the mistake of letting some shitty artist ink your body and totally fuck shit up.  Then, by all means, find someone who is willing to fix it, but they probably won't be terribly happy about it.

So... this Wednesday I will be getting some more work done! Finally!!

Updates and photos to come soon!

Time and Cost

It seems like people like to ask how much money you’ve spent on your tattoos, and occasionally how many hours, but people generally like to quantify other’s tattoos on a dollar amount.  To be perfectly honest, I never really considered how much money I have spent on my tattoos, or how many hours I have been under the needle.  I just get them done and that’s that.  However, after being asked how much my tattoos have cost me, I decided to attempt to figure it out.  Since I’ve been being inked since I turned 18, I had to guess.  Like I said, I never really logged all of that information.  I did figure out that I have spent about $1850 on my ink thus far (this includes tattoos that have been covered up), but as I keep saying, all of it is part of your journey, so I’d of course have to include that amount in my total.  As for hours, I estimate around 21.5 hours have been spent on my tattoos to date.  It’s interesting when I start analyzing the hours portion of it, because people generally think that the more elaborate tattoos I have (Cherry Blossom Tree, Dragon, and Skeletons).  People are usually surprised by the amount of time that has gone into the tattoos I have; they’re always expecting them to be more.  I’m not really sure what to say about that; my tattoo artist doesn’t mess around and gets down to business?  To be fair, I have had 5 hours on just the dragon, which actually is quite a bit.  I’m actually estimating that this leg piece will be around 15 hours when it’s all said and done (I may have already mentioned that, but meh).  However, I do believe that the most detailed portion of the tattoo is finishing, which is the dragon.  

I’m getting rather anxious to continue with my dragon/orchid/butterfly tattoo.  I think I’m going to find a way to get going here in a week or so.  I’d like to see some more progress on it.  I’m really excited about what the back of the tattoo will have in store.

Until next time,

Prost! 

A Little Break

Alright, since we’re all caught up to where I’m at currently at within my tattooing journey, I figure I’ll start sharing some stories here and there, because it will be a month or so before I schedule another session for my thigh piece (this one is being done slowly so that I can afford it).

Speaking of being able to afford tattoos (I know I’m rambling a bit; you’ll have to forgive me, because I just have the tendency to do that), Spike and I have had quite a few conversations on how many people go about getting tattoos.  So many people will go in and say they want this awesome tattoo, but will only spend “x” amount of dollars on it.  Many times the amount of money they say they’re willing to spend won’t get them anywhere near what it is they’re wanting, but they go ahead get the subpar tattoo.  Not that the work isn’t good, but the tattoo ends up being half-assed because they won’t take it in sessions, or something.  I could never afford most of the tattoos I’ve gotten if I didn’t split them up into sessions.  This tattoo on my thigh has only been done in hour, or hour and a half, sessions because that’s what I can afford.  I think it’s important to think of a tattoo as an investment and not to put a dollar amount on something you’re wanting, especially if there’s going to be any kind of detail.  Chances are it’s going to cost more than you anticipate, and may take longer than you initially thought, but ask yourself this question - Do I want a good tattoo that has been done well, with detail and effort, or do I just want what $100 will get me? Asking yourself that question could save you the trouble of hating something down the road.

Anyway, I’m finished with my rant.

Back to “stories” - I think I’ll start with this last weekend at Crescent Moon’s 7th Annual Sunfest!!! First of all, craft beer - Can I get an amen? Aaaaaahhhhhhhh yes, I would like to start by saying that craft beer drinkers are generally the nicest and coolest people you can ever meet.  They’re so friendly and open; it’s great.  My friend Tyler and I went to Sunfest together and we got to meet some kick ass people, while sampling some kick ass beer created by some rather talented people.  He used to work for Thunderhead, so that was his conversation starter (wearing a Thunderhead shirt, just as he should have) and mine are my tattoos.  I had a few random strangers come up and ask to see my thigh and my back.  I love the great conversations that ensue over passions like tattoos and craft beer.  I’ve never been one to have conversations with strangers, and generally try to avoid such interactions, but ever since I have gotten these large and very noticeable tattoos, I’m a lot more open to random conversations.  I think it’s because starting off by discussing one another’s tattoo pieces, where you got them done, how much time went into them and whatnot, is very non-threatening and thoroughly enjoyable conversation starter!  Of course, there’s the other side of the coin where someone deliberately comes up to insult you because of your tattoos - fortunately, I have not had to encounter this.  I don’t know if it’s because people haven’t had the gumption to come up to me and say such things, or if it’s because I haven’t actually encountered anyone who has thought my tattoos were trashy, or horrible, or whatever people sometimes think.  It’s impossible to know what people are thinking when they don’t speak up; I did start to notice that ever since I have gotten the tattoos on my thigh, that whenever I’m wearing something that shows them off, I do get stared at quite a bit.  Maybe that’s just curiosity - or maybe that’s people judging me and not speaking up.  Honestly, I could care less.  I think there’s an e-card that says it perfectly, and it’s along the lines of - I don’t care what you think of my tattoos, your opinion never crossed my mind when I was getting them. 

Until next time,

Cheers

It Has Been a Long Time Coming, a Childhood Dream - Number 8

*Here we come to present day - and what is in progress*

It’s going to sound a little crazy, well maybe not, but I get a lot of somewhat strange looks whenever I tell people this, this tattoo is one that I’ve wanted since I was about 12.  Well, part of it I’ve wanted since I was 12, and the other part has been ever since I was 13 or 14.  I think this will be one of my more impressive, and extensive tattoos thus far.  I just finished session 4 with 6 hours, and we’re nowhere near done with this one.  You may be wondering why if I have wanted this tattoo since I was 12 that I didn’t get it as a first tattoo, and instead ended up with the awful one I did... Well, I knew way back then that this wouldn’t be a simple tattoo and I couldn’t actually envision it.  That’s something kind of important about me - If I can’t visualize it, I won’t do it.  That goes with anything.  It can be a good thing and a bad thing.  That type of thought process can, at times, stop me from doing really stupid things, but it can also keep me from amazing things.  Some of the best things in life are done on an impulsive whim.  Some things.

Anyway, I’m going to cut right to the chase because it’s near impossible to really talk about this tattoo without delving into the story.

Location: Remainder of upper thigh (all above the knee)

Tattoo: Dragon - Orchids - Butterflies

Story: I will start with the dragon (this is the part I’ve wanted since I was 12) - As a kid I would retreat into books and I always loved scifi, fantasy, horror, and mysteries the most.  I cannot tell you when my love affair with dragons began, but I feel as if I’ve always loved them.  I remember my 12th birthday party was a surprise.  I had a dragon cake and my mom had gotten me this dragon necklace with earrings that came in a little box, another dragon necklace that was a vile that had glitter in it (or pixie dust - it was more fun to think of it that way) and the most awesome dragon card that I had ever seen!  Anyway, enough reminiscing, that is the simple version of my love for dragons, and it hasn’t wavered.  As for the orchids and the butterflies - this comes from a song. “The Theft” by Atreyu “A thousand black flowers explode into butterflies.” I cannot explain to you why this touched me so much, nor why I felt so compelled to get it as a tattoo.  All I remember is the first time I ever heard this song when I was a freshman in high school (14 or 15), and those lyrics, I knew I had to get it as a tattoo.  

Now for the fun voila moment - As I had said, I hadn’t gotten this dragon tattoo, or the flowers/butterflies tattoo yet because I could not visualize it.  I had thought that I’d get the dragon huge down the side of my thigh the way my mom had her roses done, but I just wasn’t in love with the idea.  Well, my friend Kimber and I were, and still are, planning to get a sister/best friend Batman and Robin tattoo, so we went into the shop to get pricing on it.  While we were sitting there and contemplating our Batman and Robin tattoo, I suddenly knew exactly how and where I wanted these tattoos - I needed to combine them into one!  So, I made an appointment. 

I figure in this post, I will catch you up to the most recent session.  I could have broken each one down into its own post, but that seemed silly.

Session 1 - 

Here we just got the dragon started (sorry for the less than visible photo of the dragon, but I got a new phone and for whatever reason, the other photo didn't get transferred - see Instagram for more)

Session 2 - 

Now the dragon has started to take on some definition, starting to look pretty awesome

Session 3 - 

Now we’ve gotten to work on the flowers and butterflies, still a lot of work ahead

Middle of Session 4 - 

End of Session 4 - 

This is the dragon all finished 5 hours later! Spike said no one has ever let him spend 5 hours on a dragon before (or anything like that, I think), but I knew I wanted this dragon to have a lot of detail and really stand out.  The orchids and the butterflies are just the accent pieces.  We also discussed the full extent of where this tattoo is going.  It has actually taken on more than I had ever anticipated when I started this process. I think we’re looking at a good 10-12 hours before it’s all done.  Possibly more; it just depends on the detail put into the rest of it.

And just a little Collage of the process thus far :)