So this week has been a very productive for me. I don't work on Mondays, so Tuesday when I went in to work I had a lettering tattoo that I had to draw for my appointment on Wednesday. She wanted "Just Breathe" right under her left breast. She had a deal worked out with her mother that if she chose a tattoo design and location and stuck with it for 6 months, her mom would pay for the tattoo. Her mom came in with her and was quite surly but wasn't so bad that I couldn't stand it. I was asking Pat about the stencil stuff we use, mostly because I always have difficulty with it and her mom was like "is this the first tattoo you've done?" My response was of course "no". The tattoo went well for the most part, she was a mover though. It didn't help that it was on her ribs and she wouldn't stop talking, so it was like tattooing a moving target. My client and her mom and friend were all talking about this girl who went to school nearby who had killed herself due to bullying. I can't even imagine what the family is going through.
A few days later I got a Facebook message from a friend I hadn't talked to in a couple months. She had said she wanted to get a tattoo and she had text me and I never responded. I wrote her back and apologized and informed her that I had changed my phone number and gave it to her. She wants a purple awareness ribbon with lettering that says "Sixty Five Roses". I drew something up for her and from what I understand she likes it but wants to make a few tweaks to the design. I believe it's for her long time running boyfriend who has Cystic Fibrosis. I think she wants the lettering straight instead of having the bend in it and for the word "Roses" to be below the ribbon. I love the font that I chose, so I hope she sticks with that.
Then I got to see my friend Rob almost everyday this week. He stopped in Wed, Thurs, and then I tattooed him on Friday. I had started the "Dead Men Tell no Tales" tattoo on his inner bicep and I was going to color it in for him. I had been thinking about the tattoo all week and trying to figure out what I was going to do in order to get a nice beige for the banners and thinking about washed out colors to get a nice effect going. I've never really had a tattoo that had too much wash in it so this was definitely a learning tattoo. But Rob is great and he knows that if I don't do something right I will fix it sooner than later. Pat is always reassuring to that nothing will ever look bad coming out of the shop.
Every time I look at the picture I smile. I'm very proud of myself with this one. I know there are areas that I'm going to have to go back and touch up or "fix" if you will. But I think the fact that it's my design from when I was looking for an apprenticeship and it's on someone's skin. That's a pretty cool feeling.
Cat had stopped in to say "Hi" and snapped this photo of me actually working! There are never very many photos of tattoo artists actually tattooing, so I thought this was kinda cool and I'd share it with ya!
