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Random Stories - Tattoo Stories
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Latin, Pawprints and Ink
Illyria Jade
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Author of this Story:
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Illyria Jade
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Shop Pierced @ and Location:
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Beau Myers, Righteous Studio Tattoo, Hutchinson KS
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Was the inital Piercing Painful:
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same as any other tattoo
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Initial Jewelry used:
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black ink
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Current Jewelry being used:
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black ink
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Date Pierced:
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December 2004
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Description:
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I was itching for new ink, and looking for that one tattoo that you just *know* is the right one. Strangely, when I realized what I wanted, it was text, which was a total first for me. Once I knew the quote I wanted, I just couldn't put it in English. I don't know, I'm weird, but my thing with my tattoos is that if they're going to have meaning for me (personally, emotionally, etc), I want it to be a sort of hidden meaning. Then, not everyone knows their purpose, and I can choose who I share that information with.
So, I had to figure out what language I wanted it in, and then find a reliable way of translating it into that language. Personally, I love Latin. So Latin it was. However, I was clueless how to find it, since my Google searches kept coming up blank. Finally, on what felt like the 30th page of results, I found exactly what I needed. I was ecstatic and started planning immediately.
I wanted to place it low on my stomach, but I also want to have children at some point in the future, and I most certainly didn't want to stretch it out. Next I considered my chest, having it written vertically on my sternum between my breasts, but there just wasn't enough room. So I finally decided to place it on my lower back, spacing it between the tattoo I already had there, and the other tattoo I wanted there.
The next step was to find the font that I wanted my tattoo in. Something old, medieval and fancy, but not a common tattoo font, or anything frilly or over-the-top. I downloaded 200 fonts off the internet that I liked over the course of about a week. Then I typed the phrase I wanted to use, copied and pasted it over and over, and changed the font on each one to fonts I had liked. I was able to cut the number of fonts down considerably in a short period of time (2 days), once I saw the phrase in each font. Finally, I found the font I just *knew* was the right one.
I was really excited, once I had it all finished and printed out, with the spacing and the font just exactly how I wanted them, because my best friend had just finished getting her tattoo at a relatively new shop in our town. Righteous Tattoo was so close to me and I didn't even know it was there, but I saw Blackbird's blackbird, and I knew I wanted Beau to ink me, too! It was such a relief, I didn't have to drive over an hour to get a decent artist...since the tattoo was going to be on my lower back, that would have been a nightmare! And the other tattoo studio in town? I refuse to so much as step foot in it.
Righteous is tucked back in a corner on 17th and Plum, in the little strip mall there. Unfortunately, that meant I could drive past it 100 times and I would never have seen it. So I abducted Blackbird one day after her classes were over, and made her show me where it was. We kept trying to schedule a time that we could both go together, but it never winded up working out. So the next day that I had free, I got my money and went!
I was impressed when I walked in. It was a beautiful, tasteful studio. The "flash" on the wall isn't sheets, but framed pictures hanging on the walls, there was a comfortable seating area and a few tattoo magazines on the end tables. Beau was behind the desk, took my idea, made it exactly the right size (it's hard to see your own back to judge!) and copied my existing tattoo so he could put the same image on the other side, so that I would
have my paw print on both sides, and then the words in the middle. He did warn me that it is hard to reproduce another artist's work, but he would try to make the paw print match as best he could.
He went and prepped the tattoo room while I talked to his apprentice/flash artist and saw a bunch more of Beau's work. By this point I was in love with his masterful artistry, and was glad he was in my town! His stuff was even more amazing than all the "bigger" shops in Wichita. He came out and told me he was ready for me, and I couldn't wait to get started. I walked into the room behind him, and told him that I was glad that we had a decent studio in Hutchinson. He looked at me in mock-shock and asked "We do?!" By that point, I knew I liked him! Even better than that, I was completely comfortable with him.
Since I was getting the tattoo below my jeans waist, I unzipped my pants and pulled them down slightly, enough so that Beau could apply the transfer. He cleaned my back and wiped a deodorant across the area before pressing the transfer on. I somehow managed to twist myself enough to see most of the transfer in the mirror, and told him it looked good. By this point, I was almost bouncing off the walls. The anticipation right before the tattoo is a wonderful feeling.
I got out my book, straddled the tattoo chair, and leaned forward as Beau directed me. He pulled the back of my jeans down a bit lower and tucked a paper towel in them so that he wouldn't get ink on them. I was surprised that he had used deodorant to apply the transfer, so I asked him, just in case it was some new tattoo product I hadn't seen before. Turns out, it was regular men's gel deodorant. It also turns out (as I saw in the mirror behind me) that the transfer stayed on my skin much better than previous methods that other artists had used on me.
He told me he was going to start, and I started reading, enjoying the feeling of the tattoo. It was quite easy, as tattoos go. I've found that the location of the tattoo doesn't have as much to do with the pain level as the artist does, and Beau was superb.
I had only one scare while Beau was inking me. Suddenly the tattoo gun went quiet, in the middle of my lettering. I waited for him to say something, but it took a minute before he spoke. "What does this mean, anyway?" I smiled and translated the sentence for him, and he was back to work.
I enjoyed every minute of the tattoo, and I was sad when it ended. It hadn't taken very long at all, but when I looked at it in the mirror, it was absolutely perfect. I couldn't have been happier. He explained again that the paw print might not look the same as my other one, and it might need a bit of a touch up. He said that if I wanted it changed any I should just come back in after it was healed. He also asked me to come back in a week so that he could look at it and make sure that it was healing ok.
I thanked him, paid him (plus a big tip for being so great) and went out to my car. The drive home wasn't as fun as the inking was, and I drove the whole way home trying to keep my tattoo from touching the seat. Even though my tattoo was covered, it wouldn't have felt so good against the seat.
My tattoo healed easily, and when I saw him the next week it was already peeling and itching. He said it looked great and reminded me again that if I wanted the paw print changed at all just to come in once it was healed.
Four months later and I still swear that he's the best artist I've ever had. Blackbird and I went in yesterday to get my paw print touched up, Beau used some black ink and white ink, just to give the paw print more texture like my other one, and it looks absolutely perfect! Now, I have a pair of paw prints (my dog's actual foot print) that hide just below the waist of my jeans, with Latin wording between them.
Not only did we get my tattoo touched up, but we hung out with Beau for about an hour and a half, too, talking and goofing around. I've never had such a fun tattoo artist, or such a good tattoo experience. I'm very impressed with Beau's work, on myself and on everyone else, and I can't wait to start on my back piece! There's no one I'd rather have inking me!
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Author
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miri1968
Registered: Sat May 14, 2005
Posts: 6
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Review Date: Sun May 15, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid for piercing: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Very nice.... had a semester of Latin a few years back, had to rack my brain to bring it back, but I got the gist of it.... :-)
The paw print is a cool idea too, but I imagine it was hard to match the shade of it just right.
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