I've been interested in tattoos for several years now. I got my first tattoo when I was 15. It was a little chinese symbol and I've since had it covered up. I also began self-harming at 15. I won't go into the hows and whys but I was left with both arms covered in scars.
At A Glance Author Nic Contact nichola54@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Trevor Studio Eagles Wings Location Blackburn I've always hated my arms, I have spent years trying to cover my scars, wearing long sleeves all throughout summer, avoiding swimming etc etc. I was looking on BME one day and I thought I love tattoos so why not just get my scars covered. Get something quite ugly turned into a beautiful piece of art.
I read a couple of experiences about people getting their scars covered. Some people mentioned it helped to disguise them, but didn't completely cover them, other said you can't even tell the scars are there. I'd never go out with even a single scar on show so I knew I'd have to have a full sleeve on my left arm (planning my right arm after my left arm is completed). I'd also have to have no skin showing at all. So my whole arm would be coloured or shaded in. A lot of work!
The pain never really worried me as I've had quite a large foot tattoo (I've heard they are meant to hurt a bit) and the pain never really bothered me. I guess I just have a high pain threshold.
The thought of having a very large visible tattoo didn't worry me either as I always wear long sleeves. The idea of finally being able to wear a vest top for the first time in 6 years far outweighed any issues I had in the back of my mind.
I decided to go with a floral theme for my left arm as I consider myself to be quite girly and a colourful person. I picked a few pictures of lilies as these are my favourite flowers, and also a couple of gladiolus pictures (flower of my birth month, August). I decided to have shading in between the flowers and a butterfly or two to make it very feminine.
I called into the studio at the weekend to show them my design and check that they would be able to tattoo over my scars. Trevor looked at my arms and said it should be fine. There are a few raised scars but Trevor said he would do more detail over these areas to try and disguise them. He suggested some other flowers with more lines in, I could still have my lilies but only where there aren't many scars to cover. This didn't bother me much as they flowers he suggested were still very nice and I know he knows what he's talking about! I booked my first two hour session and paid my deposit and left feeling very excited.
Roll onto this morning, I slept quite well which was surprising as I don't normally sleep before big appointments. I ate a sandwich before going to the studio and then arrived feeling very very nervous. I was so nervous I almost threw up that morning. But I had nothing to worry about.
I arrived 10 minutes early as I couldn't stand waiting any longer. Said hi to the guys and Trevor said he'd just be a few minutes. After setting up and doing the stencils Trevor sat me down and we discussed the placement for the flowers.
Now the good bit...he started my tattoo. There wasn't really much pain on most of my arm. Trevor said the raised scars might hurt more but I have to say I didn't even feel anything when he went over the bigger scars. There is one flower that goes over my elbow and I did feel a bit of pain then, and after 90 minutes my whole arm started to hurt so I was glad we were only having a 2 hour session.
The line work on the bottom half of my arm is done now. It looks excellent so far. My arm is slightly sore but I don't think that's down to the scars. I've read that scars can sometimes become raised after a tattoo but my flat scars are still flat and the raised scars are still the same. The next session will finish the line work on my upper arm and then its all colouring and shading.
I have to say to anyone that is considering covering their scars up, you'll never forget where you've been and what you've been through. But if you can turn your past problems into something beautiful I'd say go for it. I can't wait till both my arms are finally finished and I can go out in short sleeves and not have to suffer through another hot summer!