LIFE: Tattoos

I've noticed I've written a bit in the past upon this old blog of mine about tattoos and mentioned in passing like yesterday my love for them or just looking at them, yet I've never blogged about my own and what they "mean" to me. In a way this is one of the most personal blog's i've done to date because my ink is a massive part of me and who I am. It's been a way of expressing myself and they often enough because they are on my back don't often come on show. Sooo here goes!

Apart from always wanting tattoo's I sumcormed to the urge when I was 19 and got the first part of the design which has since grown into the large celtic-stonework design - call it what you will upon the top of my back.

The first design [the bit that looks like a love heart at the bottom] was I admit a flash design - one you pick off the endless boards that tattooist have in their studios that probably countless numbers of other people might have too. At the time I just wanted a tattoo and wasn't too bothered what I went to the place with no real idea and just picked that one. But I guess I grew up loving Celtic designs I use to draw them like crazy when I was younger so in a way it does reflect my interests growing up. But once you get the tattoo bug it only grows and grows and I wanted to make the first design bigger - it seems to be lacking in size, so I got the top design added with a few adjustments to like it together to the first. You can't really tell they were separate designs carried out by different tattooist about two hundred miles and a year apart. 

I say its my favourite because it's the first design that I worked on myself [with a few artistic changes from the tattooist] which I got when I was 23. In native American culture dragonflies as one of the totem symbols represent good luck, and upon my left shoulder that is what he is - he's my good luck symbol and keeps me pointing in the right direction.  The picture doesn't show him off too well but he is a gorgeous creature made up of five colours, every-time I see him it always makes me smile.

It would be misjudged to say they never hurt, well hurts probably too harsh a word. Its more of a tingling experience of just a needle being dragged around, wriggled in a bit too sharp at times, but its more then bearable when you see the final creation, then whatever the level of pain or it's duration it's more then worth it. 

The tips I guess I've come across is to properly think about what you want and the colours and places where you might want one. Talk, talk and talk to your tattooist about your design - they are there to help and will develop and work on your design till it's top notch. A tattooist studio MUST be clean - the way I've always worked this out if it smells like a dentist then your in the right place. Additionally they should always wear gloves and change needles between colours. And if it seems too cheap - then it probably will be. For an hours works with a few colours in it, you'll be looking around the £100 mark if its a known, decent tattooist. But its always worth paying a little more for experience.

A lot of tattooists or websites claim Vaseline as the product to use to help your tattoo heal, I argue against this and would recommend something like Bepanthen [nappy rash cream] as a product which lets your skin heal AND most importantly breathe, I always found that Vaseline dries your skin out too much. 

So that is where my current adventures finish but it's far from the end, the next two designs I'm working on are a love bird holding roses and laurel flowers in his mouth to go on my right shoulder and a pretty ribbon bow for the back of my neck - both have very special reasons why.