I got my first tattoo last week and I’m still so super excited about it. I had wanted this tattoo for ages so it was very satisfying to finally get it. I figured what everyone really wants to see is pictures, so a bunch follow with a few words. All pictures were taken by a friend who was kind enough to keep me company the whole time.
The first order of business? Making sure that there was one last shot of my tattoo-less back.
The last shot of my naked back
Then it was time for the stencil of my tattoo to be applied. This was my chance to make sure that the tattoo was positioned exactly where I wanted it to be. The tattoo artist, Cesar, is all around awesome and nailed the stencil on the first try. I think he has some slight mind reading abilities.
Cesar applying the stencil
Next it was time for the fun part – the needle! The first step was drawing in the outlines of the tattoo. Cesar asked me how it was feeling and I started to eloquently say, “It feels like a sharp…” and stopped as I realized what I was going to finish saying, but Cesar finished for me with “needle”. He said a lot of people described it as that, which isn’t really surprising, as that’s what it is. It did literally feel like having a sewing needle or super sharpened pencil dragged forcefully across your skin. That part was a little painful, mainly because the strokes were long. The next part was the shading which felt much better because it wasn’t a lot of needlework at one time. However, the stars were painful. Big time. He kept returning to the same spot over and over again and my skin became extremely sensitized.
Time for the fun part - the needle!
It was a bit less than two hours for the tattoo – maybe an hour and a half? I didn’t keep track of exactly when we started, but I was definitely happy when it was done. In a large part because my butt hurt from sitting still for so long. I did get up to walk around at one point in time, but it was nice to be free after sitting in one position for so long. I’m very happy with how the tattoo turned out, although the picture doesn’t do it justice. I’ll post a picture once it’s all healed and my skin isn’t red or flaky.
The finished tattoo, slightly red.
Of course, I can’t forget the lovely people who kept me company. And, importantly, who had also recommended Cesar to me.
Lovely Company
In the end, it was a great experience. I was nervous going in, never having had a tattoo before. Cesar was really awesome and reassuring. It was slightly painful, but nothing all that bad. The artwork turned out really well, which is all thanks to Cesar since I don’t think I did the best job of describing my idea to Cesar at first. It’s odd because it’s not quite what I had first envisioned a couple of years ago, but I can’t see it working any other way. Of course, it’s now time to start thinking about what piece of art comes next.
