Let me start this off by saying that I have been a serious browser of BME ever since I was a freshman in high school. I always assumed that I would get tattoos eventually, but I wasen't about to rush into anything...so I thought.
At A Glance Author Suzie Contact Suzie@bme.anon When Two years ago Artist not sure Studio Angry Moon Tattoo Location Pittsburgh, PA I was a senior in high school, and had just turned 18. I already had numerous piercings before I was 18 (with my parents consent) but never wanted to get a tattoo before I was 18, and could take myself.
Anyways, I was at my friend's house and we didn't really have any plans for the day. She brought up the idea of going to get a tattoo, and told me she was thinking of an Ohm symbol. I sat with her and we looked online to try to find something similar to what she was looking for. She found a couple of designs and we were off.
We didn't leave with any real idea of what studio we were going to. We drove to the South Side in Pittsburgh because we had both been there hundreds of times, and there were multiple shops to go to. On the way there I decided that I was also going to get a tattoo. When we were driving I kept thinking of ideas. Stars? No. Tribal? NO! Kanji? Nope! We parked on the street and walked over to a studio called Angry Moon. My friend had a friend that was recently tattooed there, and she was happy with the results.
So we go inside and there are two guys working, and no customers to be seen. They were very friendly and asked us what we were looking for. My friend told them, and off the top of my head I had decided to get a skull and crossbones with a pink bow. They asked us if we had ID, and I DID NOT! I had forgotten it! I guess that I convinced them that I was 18 (which I was) because they told me that they would do it anyways (That would have been a no-no to me now, but only hindsight is 20/20) I told the guy what I wanted and he proceeded to draw something up very quickly. A skull and crossbones with a bow that was about the size of a quarter. I liked it, but one of the sides of the crossbones was much longer than the other, and I mentioned it to him. He told me that he thought that I was crazy, but changed it a little anyways. I decided to go first and had him place it on my right hip. He did it, and it hurt I suppose, but not too bad.
My friend went after me, she ended up getting a tattoo of the ohm symbol on the back of her neck, in a brown henna like color. After the tattoos were done, the artist ( No idea what his name was, I think I used to know) took some photos, and mentioned that he was going to be tattooing people at a local concert for advertisement. He told me that he would love to do me, get this- FOR FREE!? I thought about it for about...10 minutes before deciding that I would be crazy to let him tattoo me in an unsanitary place. Not only that, but my first piece was very small, and he was talking about doing a whole back piece of wings. I didn't even know if he was a skilled enough artist! I don't know what he was thinking. He kept hitting on me, and saying inappropriate things and it made me very nervous, and put off. He kept asking for my phone number and email address even after I told him I didn't give them to people. ( Is there any nice way to tell someone you don't know to back the fuck off?)
The tattoo healed fine, and he told me that I could come back for some free touch-ups if it was necessary. It's safe to say that I never went back because he made me feel uncomfortable.
Also, after it was healed, I noticed that the one crossbones, was STILL larger. Also, the whole skull was black...with little white dots for eyes and a nose that almost disappeared over time. I had that tattoo for 3 years, and liked it the whole time. I thought it was cute and appropriate. As time went by I decided that I wanted bigger tattoos, and nothing too visible...YET. I looked at the galleries on here for a long time, and came to the conclusion they I wanted a few well thought out tattoos, not a bunch of random ones. 3 years later now that I am 21, I ended up covering it up with traditional old school style roses on each of my hips. My piece was finished last night, but I'll write about that another time.