| At A Glance | |
| Author | Jen |
| Contact | Jen@bme.anon |
| IAM | savagerabbit |
| When | A week ago |
| Artist | Shane Faulkner |
| Studio | King of Fools |
| Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Chapter 2 - We're All Mad Here
Chapter 3 - Pain For Pearls
Chapter 4 - And the Red Queen Is Off With Her Head
I had made my next tattoo at the shop after my last appointment. It was a first really because usually I have no idea when I'll be back in Toronto but this time I had come down in April and knew I would be back in Toronto for BMEfest on July 1st so it was easy to do. A month or two later I got a phone call from King of Fools asking if we could change my appointment to a Wednesday. My appointment was originally scheduled for the day after Shane's birthday and he decided coming in to tattoo me the day after his birthday was not something he really wanted to do. We rebooked my appointment for June 28 and we were all set.
Before I left for my flight my mother asked me if I was going to be bringing any Tylenol 3 with me. I said no and couldn't figure out why she'd asked me that. It would become apparent later. Wednesday morning I go up and headed downtown with my friend Krista. I left her at her work and headed off for some usual pre-tattoo fast food. I also picked up a bottle of orange juice, remembering how I'd felt faint last time. I still had time to kill so I sat around in Starbucks waiting for 12:30 to come.
I headed over to the shop a little early, filled out the usual form and made a bit of small talk before Shane called me back into the room. We sat and talked about the tattoo a little. It had healed well and all he had to do now was shade her in and tie it in some with the top. Since we're doing my sleeve in pieces, we complete one character before outlining the next. It saves me from walking around with a lot of unfinished work since usually I only get to Toronto once a year.
Shane got set up and I sat down and made myself as comfortable as possible. He started on the tattoo and I was surprised at how easy it felt. I remembered how badly it hurt last time and I was expecting more of the same. We made small talked while he filled in the tattoo. Everything was going fine until he came to the part of the tattoo that circles my elbow. Suddenly I realized why my mother had asked if I was taking Tylenol 3. I usually take a pill about thirty minutes before my tattoo appointment. The pain was pretty intense. Not unbearable pain, of course, but extremely unpleasant. I sat there with a huge smile on my face. I guess I figured if I smiled through it, it would hurt less or something? It didn't work, either way. Shane laughed and said it was the last time he would have to tattoo my elbow, "until the next arm." Very funny.
All told, the session was only about 2 hours but by the time he told me he was finished I was definitely ready for him to be finished. I was getting to the point where I couldn't stand the discomfort any more. The tattoo, of course, looked phenomenal. The detail in the shading is great. Another nice thing that happened at this session was that we had a chance to sit and talk about the next session a little and tossed around an idea for the inside of my upper arm. It started as a joke in relation to the Queen and sword she was holding but the more I think about the idea, the more I know it will be incorporated into this piece.
Shane wrapped me up, I paid, made some more small talk and jokes and then headed out looking like an accident victim with a white pad wrapped and taped all around my arm. I went shopping after that and a few people asked if I had just gotten tattooed and one clerk in a store asked what happened to me, which was kind of amusing. My arm was pretty sore, mostly stinging like a really bad sunburn.
I got back to my friends' apartment, took the bandage off and hopped into the shower. Washing the gunk off my arm felt good and though it was an angry red it looked damn good. The next day I noticed a huge circular type bruise around one area of the tattoo which was kind of amusing as I've never before bruised like that when getting tattooed. The bruise was quite sore to touch but otherwise didn't hurt me any and now six days later there is no sign of it.
I left it alone for a day and on the second day started to put lotion on it. The only lotion I had with me was an unscented Vaseline lotion so that's what I used. Mostly I just applied a thin layer in the morning and again at night. It has been itching but not as badly as in the past. It scabbed up in some places but mostly my skin is just peeling, not unlike a sunburn. There are almost no scabs left today just a lot of peeling skin.
While this piece is inspired mainly by Alice in Wonderland, it is a tattoo born from mine and my tattoo artist's imagination. I had no desire for any of the characters to look like anything Disney has produced or even the classic Tenniel illustrations. The Red Queen does not look like any Red Queen I have seen before. This is what I wanted and it is perfect but a lot of people don't seem to "get it". They don't understand how this fits in with the upper, quite obvious, Mad Tea Party. They don't deny that the work is beautifully done but they can't seem to get around the fact that Disney made the Queen into a dumpy, ugly, older woman and this is not what I wanted for my sleeve. I find myself explaining more often than I'd like who she is and I'll admit that she looks like a warrior princess but then that fits perfectly in my mind. The fact remains, this tattoo is for me and it represents many personal things. If it's not how others expect or imagine it that's ok because this tattoo is not for them. I asked that Shane draw her in a certain way that I imagined and he did just that. That she looks like no other imagining of the Queen is not a negative thing, after all the character comes from a storybook, not from existing art.
This is certainly the most visible of my tattoos and the amount of attention it garners is sometimes annoying. I believe before a person embarks on something like a full sleeve tattoo they should think long and hard about the possible repercussions. If you're like me you may not enjoy the attention your tattoo brings. Now I know I have a beautiful work of art on my arm and I'm very proud of it and proud of the compliments Shane gets about the work however there are times when I'd rather not get the attention. Oftentimes the attention is positive and just simple curiosity but on rarer times it can be negative, vulgar and unwanted. I have no regrets about starting this sleeve. If I was so inclined I could put on a long sleeved shirt of some kind to avoid the stares and comments. This isn't something that you can truly be prepared for. While it's not as visible as a facial or hand tattoos, it's still out there and it's something I have to consider both career-wise and in my personal life. It was not a decision that I undertook lightly and I hope anyone reading this and considering a full sleeve thinks long and hard before they begin. You may decide it's right and perfect for you and that's great but don't rush into it. Your body is not going anywhere. Make sure you know where your career life is taking you. Be prepared for the possibility of having to wear long sleeves to work, even in extreme summer heat, if your work environment is not comfortable with visible tattoos. Be prepared for people who will stare, who will ask questions because they are curious or because they admire the work but also be prepared for those people who weren't fortunate enough to be brought up with manners, who make be rude or crass towards you. I choose to be polite and to try and handle these situations with class. Just because someone doesn't have the ability to be polite does not mean I will lower myself to their level.
So far the journey has been an interesting one. There is still a long way to go before completion but the sleeve is definitely beginning to take shape and has exceeded all of my expectations of beauty.