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