Finding the Perfect Tattoo
I have been fascinated by tattoos since I was a kid, and part of me always wanted to get tattooed. Of course, the other part of me, the one that kept nagging me over what family and friends would say, would always prevail.
As time went on, the desire to be tattooed simply would not go away; and as I got older, every time I'd see somebody with tattoos (especially somebody younger than me), I'd chide myself for being such a sissy!
The last straw came during the autumn of 1998 when one of by best friends pulled up his left sleeve and showed me the "broken heart with bleeding dagger" tattoo on his upper left arm and shoulder, which he told me was a birthday present from a tenant of his. This was at a stop for dinner during a round-trip drive from Connecticut to Pennsylvania and back to take his daughter home (his ex-wife has sole custody). He slept most of the way back (he had already worked a full shift before we left, and fortunately for me it was my day off), and when, after we pulled into his driveway, he said he didn't know how to thank me, I told him maybe he could get me a tattoo for my birthday. He didn't think I was the type, and said as much.
For the next year or so I searched through books, magazines and the Internet, looking for that perfect first tattoo. They say that if you are indeed worthy of being tattooed, then the tattoo gods will guide you to it. I must have been worthy, for finally, in a picture of a shop window in a Chris Wroblewski book, my eye was struck by an eagle on a flash board. This was it!
My approach was to proceed from the assumption that this would be my one and only tattoo (even though in the back of my mind I hoped that it wouldn't!), and considered all the things I would want in a tattoo if this indeed were to be the only one. I knew for certain that I wanted it to be "traditional" in concept, with the thick black outline, and as colorful as possible. What I ended up with was what I called an eagle with tropical plumage (although the artist considered it "tie-dyed", something which this child of the '60s didn't mind at all!).
Finally, on Friday, January 14, 2000, at 7pm, my lifelong dream of being tattooed finally came true. My friend came along with me (as he had done the previous Tuesday night to show the artist what I had in mind and make the appointment). I did not hold him to making it a (much belated) birthday present (he is paying child support, after all!); however, for Christmas, my father had given me two $50 bills in a card. I derived much satisfaction from the fact that those two $50 bills were among the other bills I handed over to the artist before we got started (this shop works solely on a "full amount in cash only" basis; and after seeing that recent Visa Debit Card commercial, it's easy to understand why!).
It seems that for many people who are considering getting tattooed, the one thing that holds them back is fear of how much it will hurt. Now, I am in no ways impervious to pain; but, believe it or not, the biggest surprise I got out of the whole tattoo experience was the realization of how much it DIDN'T hurt. Granted, I got the tattoo on my upper left arm and shoulder (which, as the artist told me, is probably the least painful area of the body for getting tattooed); but I simply did not find it to be painful at all. The artist had told me that I would feel the outlining more than the color-shading, but I found that the opposite was the case (maybe I'm just weird?). And even at its "worst", I simply could not characterize the sensation as being in any way "painful" (indeed, I found it to be stimulating in a most pleasant way!).
Will this be my one-and-only tattoo? Definitely not! Thinking in terms of a sun design for the other arm to complement the eagle, I again began a search, this time for that perfect second tattoo. This time it was on the Internet that the tattoo gods led me to two designs which I have put together as a sort of hybrid: a multi-colored "traditional" sun being eclipsed by a smaller Celtic-style sun (but this one replacing the green-gray and white inks with blank skin background to blue-gray and yellow inks with red background). When will I get it inked? Well, I'm now waiting on my friend. He too wants a second tattoo (a traditional "sword with snake"), and he wants us to get tattooed together; the problem is, he hasn't as yet scraped together the necessary funds (oh, those child support payments!); but as soon as he does....
After that, I'm considering a dolphin armband below the sun (inspired by a coffee mug my friend has!), and then....
My advice to anyone who has ever wanted to get a tattoo (especially anyone who is seriously considering getting a tattoo): DO IT! Of course, before you do, be absolutely certain about the design and where you want it, and that you choose your artist wisely and well. My one and only regret about the whole experience is that I didn't do it years ago. When I see my tattoo now (and look at the design of that still-to-be-inked "hybrid sun" and contemplate how that dolphin armband would look below it), I think of the joy it brings me now, tinged with the thoughts of how much more joy it would have brought me had I not waited so long.
May the tattoo gods be with you!
-Ron
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From Neil: "I'm a tattooist originally from N.Y.C., currently working in Cincinnati, Oh. I apprenticed back in 1977 from a fine tattooist by the name of J.C. Fly on Long Island. I worked for many years in Minneapolis, as well as N.J. I tattoo these days by appointment only, and work in my very professional, private, and very sterile home studio. I find it to be alot less hectic than working in a street shop, which I did for many years. I find the tattooing process to be alot more personal in this enviorment, with less distractions from the outside world. Hope you enjoy what you see. Keep the world colorful, get a tattoo." - Tattoo Neil, At The Wheel, Turning Visions Into Real
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