I was pumped. I had a new job, that I liked (until I started taking calls) and Chris and I were going to get tattooed that night. So we went to Artistic's where we had our appointment to get tattooed. He was getting a sickel and hammer as well as a badge on his chest. I was getting my cat worked on. I was feeling great when I got there so I don't know what went wrong.
At A Glance Author San Contact San@bme.anon IAM BlueStar When Six months ago Artist Derrek Studio Artistic Impressions Location Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada My cat woman pin up is on my ribs and ribs are a bit of a bitch. The first thing we did was decide on the size of the mouse to put in her mouth. After a couple of different sizes we found one we could all agree on. It was big and would be shaded in nicely for me upon completion. At this point I had no idea how bad I was going to feel in the next hour. I get strange panic attacks where I zone out and everything is amplified, if that makes any sense. I was in the beginning stages of one of those without anything to take (I carry Valium around with me now) and I didn't notice in the excitement of getting tattooed.
The first thing Derrek did was set out all of the ink. All of the pretty colours he was going to use on me. I was pumped. I had wanted this cat finished forever and I had to keep cancelling appointments. So he started. It wasn't that bad, ribs are a bitch, but it wasn't too terribly bad. He started by outlining the mouse in her mouth. That was nothing. Then he switched to shading and started to colour in her hair. Chris had set up his camera on time lapse to make a video later. We did our usual joking around, "Is this your first tattoo?" and then Derrek continued.
The hair on the cat was to be pink and orange. The pain drilled through me and it just plain hurt. I started to zone out a bit and recognized I was in the beginning stages of a panic attack. I tried to sit back and relax but I couldn't. Every time the needle was off of me I'd sit up, almost gasping for breath. It's hard to breathe when its your ribs being worked on because of the movement. But maybe that's just me. I sat up and called it off. Some shading in the cat womans hair and the mouse was done. Derrek refused to take any of my money even though I offered a couple of times. I felt like shit by this point and just wanted to go home. So I waited for Chris to get his worked on.
I consider myself fairly tough and even though I hate getting tattooed its generally something I can sit through. Not this time. After the tattoo I was shaking and couldn't eat. This might have been exaggerated because of the trauma I put myself through but I was in the full out stage of a panic attack. Not the night to get tattooed.
Aftercare was easy. There wasn't much done to it so there wasn't much pain, and no bruising. I put A&D on it once in a while, but for the most part I just left it alone and kept it from being submerged in water, which is hard for me, since I enjoy having baths all of the time. I was exhausted from work that day, I had worked from 7am to 3pm and when my body is under a lot of stress like that, that can happen. It's now under control and I can tell when an attack is coming on and take medication for it.
Sometimes you just can't do it. Derrek was good to me in understanding that I wasn't in the right state, physically or mentally, to get tattooed that night. I hadn't booked another appointment for the cat woman to get finished, but it will eventually, even if it takes 20 more sessions. I'm not the biggest fan of getting tattooed, I don't like the way it feels. I'll post pictures when she's done.
Tattooing the ribs, to me, was almost worst than my elbow. My foot was nothing in comparison. It tickles, because I'm ticklish, but the pain is relatively intense in comparison to other tattoos I have, and I'm fairly well covered. (I have a full backpiece, chest piece, calf pieces and so on.) Nonetheless, my cat woman pin up will be finished, hopefully soon.
I'd definitely reccommend Derrek at Artistics for tattoos. He's fairly booked, there's about a months wait, but he's good, not heavy handed, and fast. Also a really nice guy. His pin ups are excellent, check out his portfolio sometime.