lowquality.net

I was supposed to have had this session done last Tuesday but Sean forgot that he had to pack up his gear to go to a convention down in Tampa, FL. To make it up to me he let me come in on his day off and now it’s finally finished. The most immediately noticeable thing is that he relined a lot of the tattoo much darker to make it crisper. If you recall the initial work done with the tattoo were mostly graylined to act as a permanent stencil so Sean kind of did this backwards, coloring the the stencil and then darkening the lines. Apparently Dave Lukeson (who shares a cubicle with Sean at Fuzion Ink) utilizes this technique exclusively but this was Sean’s first time trying it.

The little designs around the ring were graylined in at the first session as well, but the designs on the fretboard and strap were totally freehand, as was the some of the extra ornamentation in the arch. I think the little designs are really amazing, but they hurt like hell. When he was doing the black lines it really didn’t hurt– probably the least painful of any of the work I have had done, but he started darkening some of the background and inking the little designs and it was the most painful work so far. Apparently its normal for the pain to get worse after multiple sessions, but I think it hurt more because the color had been done more recently and was probably still a little tender to the touch of a needle.

You know its a good sign when your tattoo artist starts giggling and saying “This is so cool!” as he’s finishing your tattoo. Sean isn’t a guy who gets super excited, so I wasn’t sure if he was joking with me. Sean had me parade around the shop and showed it off to other guys in the shop.

Needless to say this experience has been super positive. As ridiculous as it might sound I think my life is better for having gone through with this. I can’t explain it, but it just is. I am totally hooked and already wondering what I will want to get next, but I don’t think it will be as extensive as this one was. Kim, on the other hand, has plans for a half-sleeve (a full-color peacock) this summer so I am excited to see how that comes out.

Session One
Session Two
Session Three