From: swanv@wsuvm1.csc.wsu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.bodyart
Subject: The tattoo
Summary: It's beautiful
Keywords: My own art piece
Date: 28 Sep 92 22:00:47 GMT
Organization: Academic Computing Services


 When I returned, my teenage daughter said, "Geez, Dad I thought you were
going to get some big fuzzy, blue thing." (my old, small tat has gotten
blue and fuzzy with age, but still means as much to me as the day I got
it a lot of years ago). She continued, "But you came home with something
pretty rad ... no, not pretty rad, really awesome ... no, ... it's
absolutely definitive! It's beautiful!" My wife said, "Well, it's your
body ... but it *is* pretty neat!" Such was the reaction after my weekend
trip to the "local" bodyart shop about 90 miles away from where I live.
Hey, we live in the *real* out-back in this part of the world! ... :-)
 
I had visited the artist earlier in the week and we took various ideas
from some flash and his back-of-the-counter folder and he generated a
a real work of art for me (at least IMHO ... :-) ). I now have an
approximately 5 inch by 7 inch, seven color dragon on my left arm,
the 5 inch measurement is from wing tip to wing tip wrapping around about
1/3 of my arm and the 7 inch direction is from head to tail running about
3/4 of the length of the shoulder to elbow distance.
 
One of the things that makes the design interesting to me is that I
asked him to combine a rather traditional Oriental dragon design with a
European dragon with wings. Some purists would claim that the image was
bastardized by such "unorthodox" combination, I'm sure, but then we
all know about the neuroticism of purists, don't we? :-)
 
Just to bore you a little more, here is the color palette,
  Black -- outline (of course), shadowing, and wing shading
  Purple -- horns
  Blue -- wings, eyebrows
  Green -- body
  Yellow -- body, blended with the green
  Red -- body, wings,tongue, dorsal spine ridge, and eye pupil
  White -- eyes and teeth
 
I had it done at Artistic Impressions in Hillyard, Washington (a suburb
of Spokane) by Duffy, the shop owner. It took him a little over 2 hours
from start to finish at his custom rate of $75/hour. There's a *lot* of
fine-line, shading, and color blending in the piece, so I consider it
very reasonable. It's excellent work and I think he really did his best
on this one. I would highly recommend work by Duffy.
 
"Is it real? Did it hurt? Would you do it again?" My answers are going
to have to be "Yes, No, Only when I have enough cash." ... :-)
For me, the pain thing, at least for this body location, was *Much Less*
than I was expecting, but it was interesting to feel the difference in
irritation on some of the long lines going from one part of the arm to
another. Also, for me, the endorphin thing is much over rated ...
unless my general joy and elation with the tat means they are still
pumping out 3 days later ... :-). On my drive home about 1/2 hour after
I left the shop, the area was feeling like a good sun burn feels, and
that is as uncomfortable as it has gotten, but then the itching hasn't
started yet ... :-) There was less than 3 drops of blood when I got
home 2 hours later, it stopped weeping 2 hours later and there is no
scabbing that I can feel when I carefully clean and moisturize
the area. I saw no evidence of ink leakage, and with all those colors,
I think I would have had there been any to see.
 
One other thing about this tat is a little different (...maybe ... )
is that I had him put it on upside-down ... well, not exactly ...
it's all a matter of perspective, isn't it? ... :-) It *is* rightside-up
to me. While we were discussing placement, etc., he said, "but you
get tattoos so other people can see them." My reply was, "I don't
... I get tattoos so that *I* can see them ... this one's for me!"
He did it. I think of it this way -- I now have a beautiful work of
art that hangs in a room that only I can enter and view the piece
correctly. That makes it pretty personal and very much my own.
Maybe next time I will get something done "for everybody else" but
which will forever be upside-down to me ... huummm ... I guess I need
to think about this ... :-)
 
This one when *so* much better than what I remember of the first one,
that I'm ready for the next one ... now, let's see, where *did* I put
those $100 bills???
 
--
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Victor L. Swan               swanv@wsuvm1.csc.wsu.edu         IP# 134.121.1.39
Academic Computing Services  swanv@tomar.accs.wsu.edu         IP# 134.121.3.91
Washington State University  Pullman, WA  99164                 (509) 335-0490
 
'87 Virago 700 Glider Pilot      DoD #700        VOC #3848         AMA #626809
            Tattooed and pierced people are often unconventional!
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