Here is an update on the progress of my James Jamerson tattoo. I still have one more session to go but the majority of the work is done. Sean is going to go over a bunch of lines again and make them darker so the details have more depth and stand out more against the color and add some more design to the outside ring and the inner arch, but I am really happy with how it is turning out so far.
Sometimes between the last session and now Sean got the opportunity (during a Showtime “free weekend”) to see Standing In The Shadows of Motown and he seemed to have a whole new appreciation for the subject of the tattoo. Not that he didn’t do an incredible job with the initial work, but I felt like he was more inspired and more thoughtful this time around, even saying that he wished he’d seen the movie before he did the first session.
There was such a gap of time between the first session and this one that I had really grown used to the way it looked before. I am totally blown away with how it looks now and I can’t believe that in a couple of weeks it will look even better. It’s insane.
Something you don’t really understand about tattoos until you get one is the odd camaraderie you have with other tattooed people. In an environment where you are doing your best to move as little as possible you find yourself craning your neck to peep in a mirror to get a glimpse of what the person next to or across from you is getting. You find yourself talking to people you have nothing in common with– except that you both have tattoos– and you find yourself appreciating the common thread all tattooed persons have.
I think that part of the camaraderie involves the fact that those with tattoos at least have taken the courageous step of making a commitment to something. Even if it’s just a drawing, it’s there for life. Part of it also is the excitement of something new; I’ve had mine for almost ten years now (I just turned 28 a couple of days ago), and I’ve got to say that I’ve gotten so used to them that sometimes it just hits me that I’ve got cool tattoos. I don’t even notice them half the time. The camaraderie definitely won’t be there when you meet some piece of dung with a swastika or black panther on themselves.
Congratulations on the ink. You’re a true metal warrior! Sign of the Hammer!
Thanks Miller.
There is something to be said of having symbols or images of ideas or people you admire on your skin all of the time. For a long time I swore I would never get a music-related tattoo because I thought it was stupid to have a symbol of something I do every day on my skin.
That, of course, was when I was at Berklee and I thought I would be playing music every day for the rest of my life.
keeps looking better and better everytime. Next time I expect him to jump off your chest and start thumping the bass.
as you frantically try and recover the bleeding from your gored manchest.
I really think you should enter this piece into a contest if we decide to go to the tattoo convention.
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