So Friday we did some more tattoo work. It was a shorter session. Just about two hours of tattooing.
The plan was for the weeping angel to be a brown statue. I liked how she looked in black and grey though. I also want her to tie into the rose window and should that stone be brown? Mainly, I like her contrast from the rest of the sleeve. Like the pumpkins below Jack and the Jack-o’-lantern lid on my shoulder already get a bit lost.
We decided to color the leaves and then decide. I decided to stick with the greys. Two other artists also thought it looked better in greys. One was even complimenting her on the choice to have it contrast, so I feel like it’s a good choice. And it’s not like we can’t go back and do the brown wash later.
That meant just a two hour session. That was for the best. Cause y’all… YALL. Tattooing the elbow is fucking spicy. You know how hitting your funny bone is hell? Well just fucking needle it for an hour.
I had been dreading this session all month since she did a bit last time. Fuck me, that hurt. I was laying on the table on my stomach (my choice, I had pillows for comfort). So when it hurt, I’d bend up my legs and swish them. But at one point she was like “OK, that’s way too much moving.” So I had to switch to turning away and scraping the pillow right by my ear for distraction.
And like she knew it was gonna hurt and made no pretense that it would not. IN FACT, when she started she literally said “NO MERCY!”
Like, fuck, y’all. And she didn’t just use the 20 shader and do solid color like last time. Naw, she had to do details. Good thing she didn’t run that by me first cause I’d have vetoed it. Oh AND she had to go over the color she did last time because the elbow doesn’t take ink well or something. Jesus.
Both sessions that she tattooed my elbow, I had a huge sweaty hot flash. Not fun.
Then she was shading behind the angel in “hag green.” She was shading up around my armpit and was like “how is this not bothering you?” Naw, fuck man, all my body knows is that you’re almost a foot from my elbow. I even had her go back and shade more there by the arm pit.
I do remember when she did that leaf on my shoulder that it was crazy spicy when she got close to my armpit. But Friday my body was like “anything but the elbow.” I don’t know if my pain sensors were burnt out or temporarily recalibrated, but naw armpit all you want.
Saturday, I pretty much had a broken Trex arm. I wanna act all tough. But y’all. I felt like my arm got hit by a truck. I was literally contemplating when I last hurt that much and remembered when I totaled my car and was covered in bruising and spent days in bed covered in ice packs.
I mean, I should still get major bad ass points for doing it though.
We went to the plant show and I couldn’t really carry anything heavy because I couldn’t straighten it or move it far from my side. Devon recommended ice when I told her she beat me up. That helped! That seems so obvious. Severe swelling = ice. Nope. Never thought of icing a tattoo. Even then, there was no hand clapping at the circus that night. Just knee slaps.
It looks fucking AMAZING though. She did an elongated leaf I affectionately call the “Chernobyl leaf” over my fat bump and elbow. This totally camouflages my fat arm! Woot! There was lots of bending and straightening both for the lines and while she was tattooing so it would line up. So when my arm is flat down at my side, normal leaf. I love that she did a detailed leaf there. I’d have vetoed it for the pain, but I like the outcome.
Oh and she covered all of the keloided surgery scar. My arm scars after the skin removal healed weird. They are perfectly flat until you get close to the elbows where they keloided. So on this arm, all of that has disappeared. Damn, keloid and fat bump camo.
The vast area of blank space behind my tattoo had bothered me, now it’s fucking solid. It looks like it wraps. And I love it. I had always wanted a sleeve going in. I never intended to stop where it was. So while it may shock some, I’m fucking jazzed.
Can’t wait to get pictures when the swelling goes down. Writing this on Wednesday and it’s still swollen. Getting into the itchy phase now. Fucking itchy elbow. It looks so fucking amazing. I am an art piece. And chefs kiss on the weeping angel. It’s fire.
Oh and I have a new tattoo tradition! I went by Bucky’s on the way back for a pee break. My car needed a wash so I was probably gonna get one anyway. But when I saw a dollar off per gallon with purchase of a wash? Fuck, sign me up!
It looked like a unicorn was pissing on my car but in a fabulous way.
Like that was fun. And I picked up some delicious BBQ to eat when I got home. For sure doing this every appointment now.