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queenie
Writer Notes
This is just a place to keep track of my life. Let me know if you enjoyed it, or can relate to it. I'm not worried about the writing, actually. I think it sounds like me; and I don't really care about grammar. Just let me know if you liked reading it.
Listen to the Reader
My Tattoo
By: queenie
It took me forever to get my first (and only) tattoo. About a
year ago I started thinking that I wanted some symbol of my
personality/independence: i.e. I wanted a tattoo (I was 19 at
the time). I decided that I wanted a dragon almost
immediately; to me they symbolize everything I would like to
be: fierce, independent and resourceful. I started looking for
pictures online and in fantasy art that were similar to the
pose I wanted, but I just couldn't find anything that I
liked enough, or maybe I wasn't ready to get the tattoo.
Either way, I gave up for awhile.
Fast forward to this January (2001), my 20th birthday, when two
of my friends were going to a local tattoo and piercing shop
they liked a lot; one to get an existing tattoo touched up,
another to get a new piercing. I told them that I'd come
along, and maybe get a tattoo if I found the right picture. I
frantically started searching on the internet again and found
a wise but fierce looking dragon sitting down and decided to
bring it as an example of the look of the dragon I would want.
It would be my birthday present to myself.
The day came and I went to the shop, but much to my dismay the
first guy I talked to at the tattoo place said the type of
image I showed him would have to be far bigger than I wanted
for it to look good. (I was initially thinking something that
would be around 4 inches long by 3 inches high). He then
pointed to a piece of flash the shop carried that was a dragon
with its wings spread as if it just lifted off the ground
looking very fierce. It was much bigger but I fell in love
with it. As my one friend got her nose pierced I stood in
front of the dragon trying to make up my mind - it was bigger
than I expected, but from my searches I should have realized
in order to get what I considered a cool dragon, it had to be
bigger than I imagined.
I finally decided to get the dragon and have the artist color
it red like the one I originally wanted (from the beginning I
wanted a red dragon even when I first started thinking about
it). It took a few tries to get the [transfer] on my back
right but when he did it looked wonderful, even in purple and
not inked. My friends (who were very nice about not pushing me
into anything up until this point) said they thought it would
look really wonderful. The tattoo artist (who I was happy to
find out had 10 years of experience) sat me in this chair and
began inking the outline.
I don't know about people who have really high tolerances,
but let me tell you, it HURT. I could manage not to squirm or
yell or cry, but it took most of my concentration at first not
to flinch. The worst was the bottom which was right above my
ass - not in the center but on some sensitive nerve endings,
evidently. After the outline we talked about the color scheme
and with the help of the artist decided against a gold belly
and just to do the belly shadings in grey. Unfortunately for
me, I was not one of those who found the shading much easier
than the outline - it still hurt a lot, although now I was at
least used to holding myself still.
The entire process took between 1.5 and 2 hours, and the
finished dragon is about 4.5 inches high and 7 inches long
(when I wear low pants the top inch or so shows). It's
been a month and I'm still not quite used to it -
it's a big change, and people who are used to a female
tattoo being something tiny are often surprised by it - but he
turned out even better than I expected. I don't think
I'm going to get another tattoo anytime soon, since I
don't have anything else significant to get put on my
body - but overall this has been a great experience. Sometimes
I still wonder if people will look at me strangely or judge me
harshly by my tattoo, but I haven't had that happen at
all: people either love it or are neutral about it.
I think the most important thing about my tattoo is that I put
it in a place where I don't have to worry about
stretching (my lower back) and I thought about it before
getting it. Even though I picked it off the shop wall, I knew
I what I wanted for a long time. I hope that I will continue
to love it this much as time goes on.
Comments
Corrie
If the picture with the story is the same red dragon....COOL. I found the your experience interesting and well told. But I didn't care too much for all the parentheses, but that's more about my personal style than your writing.
- September 24, 2014
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Founded by Steve & Judy
If the picture with the story is the same red dragon....COOL. I found the your experience interesting and well told. But I didn't care too much for all the parentheses, but that's more about my personal style than your writing.