When it comes to my body mods, I am pretty loyal to one artist, but this last April I changed it up a bit. On Friday the 13th, a tattoo place was promoting $13 tattoos and against my best judgment I gave into the itch for ink, and I said "What the hell, let's go!" I called up my tattoo buddies and they said sure!
At A Glance Author Nicole Contact Nicole@bme.anon IAM leopardgirly When Three months ago Artist Adam Studio Circle of Saints Location Fresno, Ca When I arrived at the place with my tattoo buddies, who happen to be the best mom and dad ever (Long story, but the family that tattoos together, stays together!), I saw a bit of a line, but since we came a long way we decided to at least check it out. We found out that the deal was that the designs they were offering (50 in all) were pinned up inside, but we could not see them till it was our turn in the door. Taking a chance that I would like any of the designs, I stayed. We got in line and it was about 1pm. in the next couple of hours we moved quite a bit and it seemed as though we would be next very soon. I got to know some cool people in line, including a girl who wanted to get her first tattoo and was very nervous.
More time passed and we were practically in the door. Our feet were getting tired and the line continued to grow behind me. Finally, after 5 hours outside, I made it through the door with two new friends. My mom and dad were still stuck outside and they would be in the next group to come in.
Surprising enough, the 50 designs they offered were pretty nice. All on the small side of course, but each of the artists contributed some. There was everything from skulls to flowers to lucky number sevens. Luckily there were two designs that struck my fancy and I would not mind living with them for the rest of my life. I decided on a bird and a little bow (actually something I had planned on getting before this!). It did bother me that so many people would share the same tattoo, but it had been an awesome day so far, and these tattoos would bring back great memories in the future. Plus I would have a pretty good story to tell!
So I filled out my paper work, got id checked, and paid my $26. From there they had a system laid out where they would divide out the work between the 4 or 5 artists working. I was still behind a lot of people and my artist was going to be Adam. His portfolio was great, and I saw many people get worked on by him that day and they looked great!
An hour after I made it in the door, my parents made it through. My mom chose a kitty as her tattoo (she is a huge cat lover!) and my dad decided to get a skull. We were starving so we got subs at a near by restaurant while we waited....
and waited
and waited
and waited
then finally my mom was up! It is 11:30pm by now. She had come in after me, but she was worked on before me by a different artist (Danny). Her little black and white cat took about half and hour and my dad and his skull was up next. By this time I was so exhausted from having gone to my college classes at 8am and standing in line for almost 12 hours. I was also having some doubts about this... I didn't want a crappy tattoo and I knew the artists were good, but they had to be so tired by now. I didn't want the quality to suffer, but Adam seemed to be going strong. My new friends were finally up and that meant I was next after them. I was finally in the chair at 1am, 12 hours after I arrived there.
I chose to have the bow colored pink and placed on the back of my neck, right above my nape piercing. The bird I chose to be blue and yellow and had it placed in the center of my back, between my shoulders.
Adam was very nice. I know he was tired, but he didn't let that get in the way of him doing a good job. He was very professional. I was very happy with his work and tipped him nicely after he was done. The tattoos look great, thankfully, and people can't believe the wild day I had when I tell them about it!
Thinking back on it, it was not the best thing or smartest I have ever done. I talked to a piercer at another studio who said she saw some bad work come out of specials like that, so I guess I'm lucky to have gotten a good artist. It most likely will be the last time I go for $13 tattoos because I may not be so lucky next time. But I am glad to have done it. It was fun, I met some great people, and I have two nice tattoos that I love and the price too bad either. But I don't mind paying the price for good work, so the next time I get the itch to get more ink, I will be heading to my favorite place (Tiger Rose Tattoo in Pismo Beach, CA)