I'm 32 years old and have wanted a tattoo ever since I first realized that there was such a thing as a beautiful tattoo. Coming from an area of the US where it's illegal, there weren't many pretty ones, but once I saw what was possible, I had to have something for me as well.
At A Glance Author Plainsong Contact Plainsong@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Pena Studio His Master's Tattoo Location Helsinki Tattoo Convention The problem? I have a very low pain tolerance. I used to throw temper tantrums and run around the doctor's office before getting shots. Getting my eyebrow peirced was really painful. To imagine a needle puncturing the skin at a high rate of speed for a few hours? It probably wasn't going to happen.
Fast forward some ten years, and out of the blue, my husband suggests we get tattoos for ourselves. He wants to custom design it, but I start looking at portfolios and flash for inspiration. And then I found it. The One. It was a black tribal with dolphins and turtles, symbolic of the ocean and the circle of life and all those things I hold dear. It was beautiful, but it was simply....me.
My husband still can't finalize a design, but he was all for me getting what I wanted. We went to a local highly reputable studio, and the guy there didn't seem too jazzed about it, but he copied the flash for us and mentioned they'd be at the convention. Ok, that's where I'd get it done.
I played around with placement in the meantime, and finally settled on the inner ankle. The skin on my legs is a bit dry, but does well with moistrizer, so I figured that would be ok, and it's where I best imagine it being.
I was really nervous leading up the convention, but my husband walked the tightrope of being understanding while not trying to talk me out of it. I don't know why, but in the days leading up to the convention I researched other artsists who would be there, and found one studio that had tons of pictures online and basically not one of them was bad. I kept that in the back of my mind, not really knowing why.
We got the convention, and the layout of the place was confusing. There was one tiny room, and not even half the studios on the list were there. The other larger hall had a beer convention going on, so maybe they just got lost in there or something. At any rate the studio we had gone to wasn't there (I learned later that they were, but not in that one tiny room they certainly weren't).
But who was there but my "backup plan" - His Master's Tattoo. I showed Pena the flash and he talked good sense about changing things, to make it look better, more authentic, and to avoid any unfixable blurring that may happen with time, or bad aftercare, and simply to make it look nicer.
We discussed the price, and it was reasonable, and he made sure I'd made no appointment with any other artist (because that's just not cool. Common sense here) so with that he set about tracing the outline. In the meantime I chatted with his apprentice Chris, also an American ex-pat and all-around nice guy. He knew how to take the nerves away. :-)
After too little time, Pena said he was ready and we figured out a good position for me to keep my leg in. I hooked my foot through the opening in the chair (this was a convention after all), just like I did through stirrups on a saddle when I was a kid and used to ride horses. I knew my leg wouldn't jump if I did that. We settled on a placement, and he really just needed the outer layer of the outline. Everything else was so changed from the flash that it was like freehand.
I'll go ahead and interject that the autoclave was right there, and everything else was fresh out of its plastic wrappings.
And then the moment of truth...... and that's it?? This is the huge pain?? It was like having a bee work on your skin with a stinger that couldn't do the job, or a cat work at you with its claws, not really a big deal. Pena, Chris, and I talked and quoted old funny movies, and basically the party was all in our little corner. The time ended up speeding by and before I knew it, and hour passed and he was done.
I felt stupid for having put it off for so long just because of some minor discomfort that I'd built up as being huge pain, but glad that my "backup plan" had been the right choice all along. It looked awesome. Much better than the flash, much better than the work I'd seen online from the other studio. Not that that version sucked, but they were different - this was more original and mine. And as is inevitable, we even discussed ways of expanding on the theme.
What I didn't expect was the huge high. Some of it has to do with finally getting what you want and having a good time with nice people, but it's also from the pain - and I'd always thought people were full of poopoo when they said that, but it's true.
And now the aftercare -
He put some lotion on it and covered it with plastic wrap and gave me the aftercare instructions you've all heard before. He gave me his phone number and he lifetime guaruntees his work. The trouble is, it's a convention and people are waiting for their turn, so we didn't talk maybe as much as I'd have liked about aftercare, but he in no way fobbed me off or didn't want to discuss it. Like I said, he gave me his number even. It's not possible to have been more friendly. I just wanted to get out of the way so he could get to the next one.
I went through all the weird stages that you go through with a new tattoo and did much research to make sure it was ok. I started out at "feels like sunburn" to "OMG THE ITCHING!" - At about day 3-5 there was an awful-looking layer of flakey icky skin over it. Or sure it looked great after I drowned it in lotion, but after washing it it looked like peeling gray and white flakey crap. That entire layer fell off at day 7 though, revealing the tattoo in a more "settled in" form, but not blurry, and in all it's black luster.
It heels much like a sunburn - when that layer peels you have new skin and that also kind of itches, but not like that first layer did. What I did do with the new skin was put too much stuff on, and backed off washing it - and the lotion just caked on and on and on until it was an itchy red mess. I made things worse by using a scented lotion (someone suggested it helped itching - umm, not). I was about to call Pena, and then perhaps see a doctor. The tattoo looked awesome, but the surrounding skin did not. This is early week 2.
What I did do is remember Pena's advice. I washed as needed, anytime before I felt I needed lotion, and I backed way off on the lotion - I used hot and cold water since I have big pores (I don't think everyone needs to do this but I think it works for me), and the skinned calmed right down. By day 14 it looked like normal skin with a normal tattoo on it. ... no itching, no anything, just normal. :)
I'm waiting a full month before shaving that area again, since I did abuse it a bit, I want to make sure it's well and truly fully healed, but I'm sure it's done. It looks awesome, and if I'd taken his advice to not drown the thing, I doubt my skin would have gotten irritated like it did.
So to sum it up, my "backup plan" is now the only guy I'd trust to put ink on me. And it is addictive, so it's a just a matter of time before that happens again. :) Pena is teh hawesome. ;)
Do your homework on all the artists if you plan to get work done at a convention, you never know, you may end up with an awesome experience and a beautiful piece of work that you would otherwise not have had.