My first tattoo experience occurred when I was 16. On impulse my friend and I went into a tattoo shop when we were in Niagara Falls and a couple of hours later I walked out with Winnie The Pooh on my left shoulder blade. Slowly, I grow to hate my tattoo. I think I liked the idea of having a tattoo and that's why I did it in the first place. But a cartoon character, as I've discovered, is not always the best choice for a tattoo. I hated it so much that I would always where a shirt that covered it. So when I started to seriously think about having it lasered off my body only a few years later, someone suggested I have it covered up with another tattoo... something that I could live with for years to come. I thought immediately this was a far better idea.
At A Glance Author Jewel Contact Jewel@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Fabien Studio Malefic Tattoos Location Mississauga, Ontario
With my prior impulsive experience in mind, I decided that this time I was going to do a little research first. I checked out the pictures of tattoos on BME and read some of the stories, which were all very helpful and informative. I also looked up some websites of local tattoo studios here in Canada and checked out their numerous pictures. I've always loved wildlife and since I'm a Leo, I thought I would like to get a life-like tattoo of a lion. I found a photograph of a pretty cool looking lion, very majesitic looking (on a calander of all places) and I took the picture down to this guy named Fabien who owns Malefic Tattoos here in Mississauga, not far from where I live. A friend of my boyfriend's has a Japanese style sleeve tattooed on him by Fabien and it's quite impressive looking. This tattoo studio specializes in custom-type tattooing and I was told they could take any picture or design and tattoo it on you. So I was very excited to see if they could do this lio n photograph over top of my Winnie The Pooh and I begged my boyfriend and his friend to take me.
I was so hyped and really nervous when we got there, walking in with my wildlife calander clutched in my sweaty hands. The shop looked very clean and smelled like bleach when we walked in. There was a group of people waiting to get pierced and a guy was getting a tattoo done on his arm right in front of us. We were greeted by a blonde woman behind the counter with elaborate tattoos covering her entire right arm. She was very friendly and helpful and totally put me at ease. I showed her the hated Winnie on my back and asked her if she could make it go away. She seemed very enthusiastic about my lion photograph and went and brought Fabien out to meet me. Although he was a little scary looking with his long hair and tattoos all over him, he was really friendly and took the time to talk to me about my ideas and answered my questions. I was impressed that he really seemed to care about my ideas and I felt comfortable with him right away.
As it turned out he had a cancellation that day and asked if I would like to get my tattoo done in about an hour! Well, I wasn't expecting to get it done right away because I was told Fabien books up weeks in advance. But I was totally phyced and since it was Saturday and I didn't have any other plans I said, "Sure!" For the preparation to be able to cover my old tattoo with the new one, he took a piece of clear packing tape and placed it over my Winnie and then made a tracing of it with black marker. Then he made a tracing of my lion photograph and somehow he managed to hide the old design within the main of my lion. It was amazing to see him do this on paper before me, but I admit I was a little skeptical if he could do the same thing on my skin.
After spending a lot of time drawing out the design and working on paper at hiding my old tattoo, we were ready to get started. I had to fill out some paper work and show him my I.D. and then he let me watch him set everything up. My boyfriend took off to get coffee which was fine because he was just making me more nervous anyway, joking about how much it was going to hurt. So I was glad to see him leave at that point. Fabien joked with me that it wasn't as bad as child birth or hitting my thumb repeatedly with a hammer. He's quite the comedian and his jokes kept me at ease, even though I was shaking a little on the inside. I think it was the adreneline rush and the excitement of having it done that was making me shake and not real fear. He showed me the needles and equipment he would be using and explained how the needles were all made on the premisise and then sterilized in an autoclave, which he showed me as well.
Then, once I pulled my shirt off (I kept my bra on but unhooked at the hack) he shaved the area he would be tattooing and cleaned it with antibacterial soap. He made a stencil of the design and took some time getting it in the right position to cover my old tattoo. I was able to approve the position by looking in the mirror before we started. When the buzzing of the machine started I have to admit I started tensing up really bad. I was sweating like crazy and my heart was beating so loud, I was sure everyone in the shop could hear it! Fabien told me to just keep breathing, not to hold my breath and try and go with it rather than fighting against the pain. He said this would just wear me out and if I focused on relaxing that it wouldn't be so bad. This was really helpful and he also talked to me about how to calm my mind and get myself into a state of meditation. It wasn't easy, especially when I first felt the needle in my skin. I thought, "Oh my God what am I doing ?" But about after ten minutes or so it didn't feel so bad.
I kept asking him if he was sure he could cover the old tattoo completely. Finally Fabien just looked up at me with this devilish grin on his face and said, "Of course, I can do anything." Well, I believed him after that and I had good reason to. How he managed to transform Winnie the Pooh into an amazing piece of wildlife art on my back is a miracle!
The tattoo took over three hours to complete and I was able to take a 20 minute break for a cigarette and a coffee. It didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would (the memory of my first experience was far behind me at that point). Certain areas were worse than others, like closer to my arm pit. That was definately not a fun spot. But overall, it wasn't too bad and I think the breathing and relaxing helped quite a bit. My lion looks so amazing and I can't even see where my old tattoo was was at all. It's completely hidden in the lion's mane! I paid him $300. for the tattoo and gave him a $20. tip. I was so pumped up when we were all done that when Fabien bandaged me up and went through the after care with me, I was too excited to even listen to what he was saying. It was a good thing that he gave me an aftercare sheet to take home. The next day when I took the bandage off, I was so blown away by how good the tattoo looked and how bright the colors were. The detail in the lion is so incrediable. The face is slightly turned to the left as if he's looking at something in the distance and coming out hehind him there is some tropical flowers in orange and red and jungle foilage that Fabien added. It looks even better than the photograph. It took about a week to heal completely and all the scabbing to fall off. I used vitamin e on it for the first two days, as recommended on the care instructions, and then I used Lubriderm lotion after that. I was careful to keep it totally dry and took baths all week, keeping it out of the water. It healed really well and didn't scab very much either.
So this was my second tattoo experience but I don't think it will be my last. I'm already thinking of something for my calf, and believe me, anything to do with Loony Tunes or Disney is definately out!