2017? Part two - realistic three dog tattoo

    I now had ink on my skin, something important to me, and something that would be meaningful as long as I live, or can remember my past.

    They sometimes say that tattoo's are addictive. I'm the latest junkie. Soon after getting Sydney on my skin, I said "self, now what about Murphy, Lucy and Oakley?" "You know that you have to get them on your skin also." "Do you get small tattoos on your legs? "Maybe try to turn that arm into a dog sleeve?" So, the mind goes back to work. First, decide, do you want three more dog photos? Looking at more Google images, there are a couple of tattoos with multiple dogs, grouped together, and I decide that this is the route that I'd like to follow. And of course, I'd like to do it at the end of the year, while I'm planning to use some of my vacation time anyway. Today, was the last day of that period, by the way, our holiday from work for New Years.

    Next step; I go through, literally, thousands of photos of these three, looking for photos of each that I like best. I narrow the list and come up with three photos that I like, that I feel represent each dogs personality in some way, and hopefully, three that will work together.

    Off again, to search for an artist. Obviously, I email the artist who did Sydney, but also check with some of the others before, all of whom were highly recommended. I also check with a few artists who I did not talk to before. I suspect this is all an exercise in futility, as there is only around a month, maybe a little less, to get an appointment with someone, and I expect most, if not all, to be booked beyond that time. Maybe another cancellation? After about a week, I still haven't heard from the guy who did my first ink, so I go meet with one of the new people on my list. The shop had been recommended by someone, but not the specific artist, an older gentleman, who has been tattoing for over twenty years. He has a free day when I'd like to do this too. He said that he could do what I wanted, liked the photos that I brought in, and offered to work on the art without a deposit (something that is usually required.) I say, I can't completely commit, but will let him know. The next day, I call and tell him to go ahead with the artwork, and we schedule a consultation/fitting for the following week. On the way home, second thoughts hit, and I call back, asking how soon he would need to start on the artwork. He tells me "the end of the week", so I tell him to wait until then before investing any time. By the end of the week, I call back and tell him to proceed, but still have this hesitation about proceeding. Why? First, he had a portfolio, good art in fact, but it was old. He told me at one point that he doesn't take photos of his work anymore and hasn't in years. Now this can simply mean that he doesn't need to "sell" his work anymore and gets all he wants from repeat business, referrals and reputation. It could also mean something bad, but I won't even go there, assuming the first to be the case here. Also, in the portfolio he does have, none of it is realistic portrait work. That is a little more concerning. He claimed to be very good at animal portrait work, and he critiqued (which I didn't mind) my earlier tattoo, bringing up the fact that he would have used shading to do the tattoo, rather than so much linework. Also, I wondered why he had open time, when these other artists were booked weeks past this. Bottom line, I wasn't confident, and realized that I was trying to get the tattoo done at a certain time rather than get the best tattoo. I agonized over this during the weekend, and by late Saturday had decided that I would call the guy I had scheduled with on Monday and tell him to stop.

    Having made this decision, I was relieved, but at the same time, knew this was an ideal time to get a tattoo this large, being able to be off work for 11 days, almost the entire initial healing period. I decided to Google search again. Google has turned out to be my tattoo friend. I search, "best portrait tattoo, Raleigh" thinking that Raleigh artists will probably be of a higher quality. Number three on the list is Inkslingers in Cary. I looked online, and without going into a full explanation, the name had been changed to Red Leaf Tattoo. The have an Instagram account, with many photos, and the work I see there, is as good as any I have seen in NC, and best of all, both artists have excellent portrait work of Wolves, which are close enough to dogs for me, as well as a fabulous tiger by one of them. So, thinking it won't be possible to get an appointment in 2016, I message them on Facebook, with the photos I hoped to use, asking about the possibility of doing something. A short time later I get a message to call the shop. I call, and actually say during the conversation, "I'm sure you don't have any openings left this year", and he said "when are you thinking about doing this." I tell him the perfect day, and he comes back saying that the preceding day is open. Not that there is free time, the DAY is open, so this could be done in one sitting, maybe eight hours. We schedule a consultation for early the next week, Wednesday, I believe, and of course it has to be at 8:30, so I have to come all the way home from Durham and then drive all the way back to Cary, not to mention get up at 5 the next morning. I am a creature of habit and dread messing with my sleep routine!

    Second thoughts creep in again. Why is there open time, just a few weeks away, for a shop with the portfolio this place has? Still haven't figured that out. I cancel with the first guy ( he didn't actually work the day I called, so I left a message, though he did call later, and I did lie, saying that it was actually a money issue at the current time.) Off I go to the consultation, early, as I have a tendency to do, and especially after the first fiasco with the Durham Freeway a virtual parking lot. Of course, there is no traffic problems and I'm about thirty minutes early and prepared to sit and wait. However, soon after I arrive, Lee, the artist and shop owner, pops out from the back and is actually holding preliminary artwork. In all honesty, this helped sell me. He seemed anxious to do this ink. The size was actually good for my arm, and the layout was pleasing.

He briefly describes his ideas for execution, and I ask if he feels confident he can pull off the realism of my first tattoo. He said something to the effect of "I can't guarantee" (he is Chinese, with good English skills, but not always able to communicate fully) and I say "Hmmm, you're supposed to make me feel confident, not worried." I can't remember the whole conversation that followed, but he did make me feel more confident, and he did have that awesome portfolio. So the time came, if I wanted the appointment, it was time to leave a deposit. I decided to trust my instincts and go forward, so I left him with (unrefundable) money, and he pulled out the appointment book. He asked when and I reminded him of our prior conversation and the appointment for Dec. 21. He looked and said he already had someone scheduled (made the appointment earlier that day) at 5:30 on that day. The next available was later in my vacation, which would limit healing time, so I said, we would just have to look at doing it later the next year. He countered, by offering to open on the 20th (they are closed on Tuesdays) and do it on the day they are closed, if he couldn't get the other appointment changed to a different day. I agreed, after repeatedly asking for sure that he was really OK with doing that, so we set the appointment for tentatively on the 20th possibly moving to the 21st. Luckily, he was able to get the other appointment moved and I got the 21st.

    I was again, slightly hesitant, and was slightly bothered that Oakley's paw was missing from the artwork, the stick just seemingly floating there. I even tried to get him to change that part, but he said it would disrupt the flow, so I eventually decided to let him be the artist, and not get on his bad side, and just let the matter lie. Other than that though, I was actually fairly comfortable and confident in the anticipated outcome.

Finally, the day arrived. I left work at 12 and off to Cary I went. It was actually a horrible day. My supervisor scheduled me to replace a yard hydrant, we opened the old one to see if the water was off, it was still on and the old hydrant would not shut back off. None of the valves prior to the hydrant shut off completely either, so hours went by, and I got pretty anxious. Eventually, the water to the entire plant was shut off, and we cut the pipe, but it was still draining down an hour later, with only a hour left until 12. We finally came up with a way to glue the pipe with the water still running, and were able to get a new valve in and the water back on with 30 minutes to spare. Too close for comfort and way too stressful.

I arrived at the tattoo shop, quite a nice place, by the way, and Lee was still setting up. After about 20 minutes he called me back and we began. He took a short break every hour or so, so again, I never had to ask. The upper, outer arm, is supposedly much less sensitive than the inner forearm, and for the most part there was less discomfort, but there were still plenty of mildly painful moments, especially when he went over areas already inked to darken them. All in all though, six and a half hours were very manageable, and I could have gone longer. He started on Oakley, and during the first break he left the room, and I got up, went to the mirror with the iPad and took a photo which I posted on FaceBook. Anggie commented "I already love it." and from that point, not necessarily her comment, but what I saw, I was very relaxed and confident in the final result to come. Every break, I was more and more pleased, but at the end, when he did his final touching up and highlighting, this tattoo literally transformed into a work of art. I am beyond pleased, and am already asking him if he will be willing to improve Sydney, as well as considering the future ink that is to come. I'm fully addicted now.

 Partially healed above

Fresh tattoo, just completed

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOTKrvJhoII/?taken-by=redleaftattoostudio

2017?

    2017 has arrived, and the later part of 2016 involved some changes in my life, particularly my body. In November, my wife surprised me by saying "I'm getting a tattoo." O.K., this was a shock on many levels. Not that I'm not happy that she got one, just that she even considered getting one, let alone did so. Sometime around mid November, she had a tattoo artist come to our home, and she had a tattoo inked on her arm; not somewhere hidden, but right on the inner forearm, in clear view. Even more shocking.

    So, this prompted me to move forward to get some ink on my own body, something that I have wanted to do for a long time, much too long to even estimate. So, why had I never gotten any tattoo's before? I have long wanted something on my body somewhere, and could have started with small, insignificant art, somewhere inconspicuous on my body, but that type of random body art has never had any real appeal to me. I have always loved big pieces and full sleeves, but the hodgepodge of random symbols holds no attraction for me. So, I suppose in my conscious mind, I was looking for something that was so important to me, I would want it on my body forever, and would cherish it as long as I lived. Nothing ever clicked though, and that is bizarre in hindsight. Maybe, the subconscious mind wasn't as confident about getting a tattoo as the subconscious. And also the factor of social stigma, I'm sure played a role. I have worked in the construction industry most of my life, so ink is not unfamiliar in this career, but in the last several years I had moved into more of a management role, and it could have been perfectly acceptable, but then again, maybe not. I never really consciously thought about it.

    Back to my bizarre hindsight. After my wife got a tattoo, I knew I just had to get something. Again, this is something I have long desired, and she gets one first. Google images to the rescue. Still thinking, "this has to have real meaning for me, always", I search Google images. Not sure what the search term was, as I tried many, but in one search, a very realistic portrait of a dog appears, and the lightbulb is energized. DOGS! Wow, now that's something meaningful to me, and something that always will, until the day I die, or dementia steals my memory, which is a story for another day. Maybe, if that happens, I'll still enjoy looking at the dogs on my arm, even if I have no idea who they were. Dogs? Yes, I did say dogs, plural. It didn't begin that way, but remember, we are only talking November and there was a whole month left over in 2016.

    Now that I had the idea in my head, I plowed ahead like a bull in a china shop. Sydney! Now that is one meaningful thing in my life, though she has been gone for many years now. Of course, I found a great tattoo idea, and talked to several tattoo artists (in a matter of a few days, bull in a china shop style), but was told repeatedly that they could not make the design that I had in mind work, with the photos that I had. Sadly, I realized that Sydney was with me while I was still using film cameras, and I did not take the multitude of photos that exist of the three current dogs, so there was a very limited choice of photos to use for a portrait. Maybe if I'd been more patient, I may have found a true artist who would have actually drawn fresh artwork and made the original idea work, but at the time, I wanted to get the ink on me. The decision was pushed partially because of timing. All of the artists that I had met with were booked a month or more in advance, but one of them, in fact, I believe the first that I met with, at a shop close to where I work, called and told me he had a cancellation later in the week, and the appointment was mine if I wanted it. I accepted and he worked up the art, from what he considered the best photo that I had. I never actually saw the artwork until I arrived for my appointment, which I was even late for, as the Durham Freeway was a parking lot and It took nearly twenty minutes to get to the next exit, and then I had to drive through town, along with all of the other traffic which also got off of the freeway.

    The artwork was basically the photo I had provided, which he used to make a template to put the outline and highlight areas on my skin. Now if anyone says tattoos do not "hurt" I suppose one could agree, as pain is subjective. There is quite a bit of discomfort and irritation, and some parts do hurt, but it's a manageable pain, meaning the pain level is fairly low, much like a severe abrasion at times and a slight laceration at other times, but the majority of the time, it's just discomfort. Reading, after the fact, the inner forearm is one of the more sensitive ares, so I feel that I handled the discomfort well, never asking for any breaks. Of course, the artist had a couple of smoke breaks and once for a brief consultation, and without them, maybe I would have asked for a short break. Around three hours later, my Sydney tattoo was complete.

    I had been watching most of the tattoo application, as it was happening, and was very impressed by the fact that it really looked like Sydney. Having all of that brindle coloring actually made it easier to make get realism in her portrait. On another level, it was probably more difficult, as it involved a lot of fine line work, rather than shading, and those single needles hurt substantially more, I now know. After he finished, I got my first complete frontal look in the mirror, which is s completely different perspective than looking upside down at my arm from an angle, and I was thrilled at how good it looked. I was wrapped with plastic wrap, sent home and given aftercare instructions. I drove home and my wife was thrilled with the tattoo also. Being me, of course I had to post a photo to Facebook, and others commented on how good it looked, but later, the same people commented that the photos did not do the actual ink justice, and people at work also commented on how good it looked.

The saga will continue in part two to follow.