Augusta Tattoo Expo

A huge shout out to Russ and the Ink & Dagger crew, Beth (Russ' wife), Melissa (one of Russ' clients and helper for the day), and Muriel (the adopted I&D artist). They were all amazing and not just because I was stuck with them for 10 hours yesterday. The arena was FREEZING and Beth went out and got me a heating pad and Melissa let me borrow her sweater. The heating pad was really the lifesaver. I was to the point where I was shivering so badly it was affecting the tattoo process. Not good.

Instead of both working on me at the same time, Russ and Muriel switched off for the first 5 hours. So it wasn't any quicker than if I were just being tattooed by one of them. They would pow wow when they switched, so it was interesting insight into how a tattooist's mind works. As Russ said, this is normally stuff inside their heads but they have to communicate it to each other. The toughest part was in hour 6 when they both started working on me. That was definitely a sensory overload experience. For the first time ever, I cried while being tattooed. We took a break around 6.5 hours so I could get it together, eat something, and just power through the end.

They were actually holding the tattoo of the day competition until we were done. I jokingly said it when they pushed it back by an hour the first time, but then the organizer came over and asked when we'd be done so we could enter. I thought that was pretty nice. Of course, from what I heard, there wasn't really much other competition and everyone had taken an interest in the piece. So it would've been silly to hold a tattoo of the day competition without the Russ Abbott and Muriel Zao collaborative piece entered.

As for the convention itself, it wasn't much to write home about. We had a little time to kill before I got tattooed, so we walked around, but there wasn't much of interest. The sound system also wasn't that good, so it was hard to tell what they were saying sometimes. I think at one point they were having $25 piercings and $40 something involving acetate, or at least, that's what we thought we heard. They had food, but it was pretty bad. The pretzels that were supposed to be soft were ridiculously salty and on the hard side. There's a distinct possibility they were left over from the last event.

Overall it took 8.5 hours of tattooing time, we won tattoo of the day, and I will have no problems taking a break after this. It was definitely one of the toughest things I've gone through. It was worth it, as the piece is amazing, and the crown jewel of my collection. Muriel suggested doing a full "sleeve" on my thigh that has a macabre circus theme. Hmmm.

Pictures will appear in Skin & Ink magazine, or so I heard. I'll have to confirm with Sylvia. She got a couple pictures of all of us and then one for winning tattoo of the day. After a good night's sleep and some real food, I'm really glad I did it. The experience was tough, that's for sure, but I made it. I think when I get back into it, short tattoos are in my future. ;)

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

Oh My God, I am getting the coolest tattoo ever.

They didn't have anything on paper yet, which was fine. I instead got the verbal tour of their idea. For those who have seen The Prestige, I'll be getting a magician very much like Hugh Jackman's character. For those who haven't, he's going to be a Victorian era magician with the tux and mustache. Muriel assured me that he would be "sexy". Rock on. Instead of a rabbit coming out of the hat, it's going to be this tentacle type thing that Muriel is apparently known for. The feel is going to be gothic and creepy, which is pretty much perfect.

Russ is starting to creep me out with how well he picked it. I was obsessed with magic when I was younger. Rannie and I even did a "messed up" magic show for the talent show in 4th grade. It's always been something that fascinates me, so it's pretty damn perfect that I'll have a magician of my very own. Maybe he can make my ass smaller. :P

I honestly haven't thought about it much since I've been dealing with all this work drama, but when I heard the design, I was so excited. If it comes out the way I'm seeing it my head, and it probably will and more, it could very likely become my favorite tattoo. Now I'm even more excited for the photo shoot as well. This is going to be an awesome piece to highlight. Plus, I'm way prettier than their last 3 cover girls, give or take.

Meg will be tagging along to document, so keep your eyes peeled for a Facebook album and highlights posted here. Hopefully I'll also have a "tattoo of the day" trophy to show off.

Collaborations

After some serious thought and talking with a few people who truly "get" my obsession, I'll be getting a collaborative tattoo from Russ and Muriel. For those who don't know, it's when two tattooists are tattooing at the same time on the same piece. They usually also share in the design process. It's a way to get a large piece done in half the time. I called today to confirm and Russ, by way of Jason (?) was all for it and said I was awesome. He was tattooing so I just let him know that I was in and would be by to meet with both of them shortly before this goes down.

When I originally asked about it, he said they got to pick the design, I'd only be on the hook for one of their hourly rates, and it would probably take 5-6 hours. Placement will most likely be the front of my right thigh. Now I think he's open to my input on what I want it to be. Crap. That means I have to think! I trust them both, so I didn't much care what they picked, as nuts as that sounds. I have so many ideas, I don't know what would look good on that large of a canvas. This is an opportunity to do something big and visually stunning. And all on display for other convention goers.

Downside is the convention is in Augusta, so I'm going to have to drive 2+ hours one way. The harder part will be explaining this to my parents. I'm less nervous about it now than I was when I made the decision, but I can't just disappear for a day or so. The good news is, if I don't feel like driving back on Saturday night, I can crash at my grandparents' house for the night. They'd probably be happy to see me. That will all be hashed out sometime this week. Daddums is the tougher critic, so I'll deal with him first. I'm half expecting him to say he'd rather do the driving to and from. I can see him at a tattoo convention now. LOL

So that's my big news and will be my final tattoo until September. Yikes! At least I'm going out with a bang before my hiatus. ;)

Adventures in Tattooing

A few photos from yesterday. They're actually reversed, which is a bit annoying, but whatever.

Jenn and I started at Ink & Dagger. They'd actually already finished talking about her tattoo by the time I got there. We hung out there for about an hour just chatting. I confirmed with Kurt that we'll be finishing Lucius on Friday night. Then it was off to Only You, Danielle's new shop.

We got there early, but that didn't seem to bother any of them. They're all super nice and I'd trust any of them to work on me. It took a while to get the placement perfect because of the banner, but once we got it, it was cake from there. I'd expected a lot more pain, honestly. There were a few spots that stung a little, but overall, it was a very easy experience. Of course, now I can't wear a bra for a few days, but who cares? I don't think the cats mind. So if you're thinking about getting your lower sternum tattooed, it's really not that bad. Just try to keep your breathing even and don't laugh. It was definitely one of the easiest experiences I've had to date, but it's also fairly small. I think it only took her 20-25 minutes to do the whole thing. Ah the joys of small tattoos.

Danielle was also nice enough to let us bounce some ideas off her. I threw out the idea for my tramp stamp and she gave me a lot of things to think about. It could end up being both a slightly cheesy, but really awesome tattoo. Once I think on it more, I may go back to her and have her refine it and ultimately do it. We'll see.

In other news, I contacted Sacred Heart about the convention. The artist I want to work on me said to contact her about a week before the convention so she knows when she'll be working. Her old school work looks solid. I've been thinking of getting a gypsy head and she's got a Medusa head in her portfolio that looks to be about what I'm looking for. If they have a "Bad Tattoo" category in the competitions, I've been informed that I'm entering it with Ol' Blue Balls. Oh my how awesome that could be.

More Ideas

So the idea that I had when my brain was scrambled still makes sense. It also makes sense to other people. I was thinking that the roses may have to be extended further down my arm to look right. Since the puppet (currently Em Jr as both of my inspiration pieces happened to be named Emily) is going to take up more space than I originally anticipated, I think it makes sense to extend the roses in both directions. I feel like it wouldn't look right if the roses only extended up my arm and left the bottom part blank. It's definitely something that needs to be discussed in our group pow wow, whenever that happens. Probably shortly before we get started on Em Jr.

My other idea was for a convention piece. As I've mentioned, I love the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. I though that maybe Russ (or someone else) could do that for me during the convention. I could also place it such that it leaves room to eventually add to it. Alice in Wonderland tattoos are fairly common, but I didn't really see many that focused on the Cheshire Cat. Most of them were larger scenes. Again, something to discuss with Russ (or someone). It'd be cool if Mark and Shane went but I don't think they're going to. I know Shane helped organize it a few years ago, so who knows? I'm just going to keep my eyes peeled.

And that's all for now as I'm falling asleep sitting up and it's back to the grindstone tomorrow. *sigh*

Getting Inked in Public aka Tattoo Conventions

So apparently the crowd at Sacred Heart is responsible for organizing the tattoo convention here every year. I actually found an article from '06 quoting Shane about the event. When I'm there next weekend, I'll ask if they're planning on doing another one this year. I would assume so as last year was the 12th annual or so the flyer said. I was considering going to Miami that weekend, but I may put it off to convention it up. So much excitement in the next 6 months tattoo-wise. Allegedly Ink & Dagger is doing their $50-$100 tattoos every Sunday in March (as yet unconfirmed), then the convention in June, and I&D's 4th of July "tribute to tradition". That's in addition to whatever hot messes I decide to get myself into outside of that.

I'm waffling about several other things. I may or may not get a chest dermal. I may or may not get my nose repierced. I may or may not do both. I may place Lola somewhere else. I may not. I may pay Mark up front for part of Lola in case I get downsized/laid off/insert corporate jargon for "no longer employed" here. I hate to ask him about pricing because I feel it's rude, but I'm going to need a hard and fast number. Alternately, I could pick something smaller and more affordable and save up for Lola the old fashioned way. She's going to be at least as expensive as Mae. I figure I'll be honest about the situation. I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't want to be running around with a half finished tattoo because I couldn't afford to pay for the second half (or third as the case may be).

Overall I really dislike discussing price because half the time I think he just pulls it out of his ass. I underestimated Britney & Christina by $70, but I overestimated Butch by $40. It's all fine and dandy when I overestimate, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass when I fall short. I like to plan for all contingencies, so best case I don't get laid off and I can pay for everything no problem. Worst case, I'm laid off and only managed to pay for half or 2/3 of it. The reality usually lies somewhere in the middle. What will probably happen is I'll get laid off, get the check I'm owed, and that would allow me to finish paying her off. Meh. I should stop thinking about this. It's stressing me out.