After a ten year hiatus and many many thoughts of getting another tattoo, I decided it was high time to just do it. My first tattoo was done when I was 19 and I had put a lot of careful thought to the location and the design. Not once have I ever regretted that tattoo. Its located just above my right bum cheek and easily hidden. I always forgot I had the tattoo, and only remembered I had one every once in a while. I thought of getting others but thought that it was lovely just having that one. So many people always said getting tattoos was addictive and never really realised it until now.
At A Glance Author homeistheuk Contact homeistheuk@bme.anon IAM homeistheuk When A week ago Artist Brent Studio Evil from the Needle Location London
My good friend was getting her tattoo touched up because after 5 years, it looked really faded and uneven. My tattoo still looked great after 10 years, better than hers, in fact. I just remember being very careful with the aftercare. We went into evil from the needle in Camden for a quote on her touch up. I had a rough sketch of the dragon I wanted to get but wasn't able to finalise it yet. The lady at the desk gave me a rough quote on how much it would be and how long it would take. My friend left her deposit and made her appointment to get hers touched up with Brent. He was recommended for his quality black ink work. Since we were both only interested in black ink work, decided he was our man.
I decided to finalise my dragon and spent a whole night trying to get it right. After a few hours, decided on a sketch with a personal touch. The tattoo incorporates the year I was born along with my first initial and it blends in nicely with the design. So I was very excited to have my artwork finalised. The next weekend I went into the shop and dropped off my design and deposit. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get tattoed the same day as my friend since Brent got booked up. So I was penciled in a week after her.
As the time got nearer, I got really really nervous. It had been over 10 years since I got my last tattoo and I couldn't remember how it felt or the level of the pain. In fact, my first tattoo was virtually painless. I just remember a few times where it felt like a bad cat scratch. It tickled quite a bit and I actually fell asleep because it was so relaxing. So I didn't really expect this tattoo to hurt either. I was dead wrong.
The new dragon was to be put on the small of my back. Not so much skin covering me and very near to bone also. A few of my girlfriends had gotten theirs done in the same location and told me it didn't hurt. I was in the waiting room patiently waiting for Brent to be ready for me. When he called me up, I got soooo nervous. He told me it would be fine and I shouldn't worry. He had me lower my jeans so he could put a towel there and tucked my shirt into my bra. He had me straddle an office chair after he stenciled me. Then the machine started up and shut my eyes in sheer nervousness. Now I had heard that the outlining was usually the worst with pain. He started on me and stopped and asked me if that was okay. I just said yes and to proceed. As he was getting into the outlining, I felt quite a sharp stabbing pain with the outlining that I never remembered feeling with my first tattoo. So I thought to myself, this is quite bad, but if this is the worst part, then I think I will be okay. Well, folks, it just got worse, and worse and worse. There were a few times when the pain was shooting up my spine and thought I was going to die. I have quite a high pain threshold and was quite surprised at how much this was painful to me. I tried to stay still the whole time but a few times just did a tiny jump, nothing to make him stop or anything. I wore this expression of pain on my face the whole time and I was making some strange noises, which thankfully was masked by their stereo. My teeth were digging into my lower lip the whole time. It felt like he took a plower and was plowing through my skin to get to the bone. It felt so nice when he watered me down in between the inking. Basically, the pain was BAD, but not unbearable, more so irritating and uncomfortable. I have to say that this tattoo was 85% pain and 15% bearable. My first tattoo was 95% bearable and 5% pain. Such a difference!
But I was so pleased with the outcome of my tattoo. He did such a good job and I could see why he was recommended for black ink work. They are not overly chatty or personable, but do extremely good work and I would highly recommend them to anyone.