I've always wanted a tattoo ever since I was a kid. The weird thing was that nobody in my family had one. My dad was a biker guy in his early years and my Grandpa was a Marine in Korea. Oddly none of them had tattoos.
At A Glance Author Bill Krueger Contact Bill Krueger@bme.anon IAM Bill_Krueger When Six months ago Artist Jeff Studio Flesh Chamber Location Appleton, WI About six months before I got the tattoo I started sketching up ideas, and came up with a military style knife with the text "One Life/One Family". Pretty much stating I would do anything for my family, even die. So the idea was born. I hate going in unprepared for a body mod. All my brandings and piercings I have gotten had some thought involved way before I stepped into the building.
The day started out kind of odd. I woke up with a hang over from the night before. My friend and I only goal was to go get breakfast at like 1 P.M. We picked up another friend and went out to eat. After we were done eating, we decided we all wanted tattoos. I called up the Flesh Chamber, but they were all booked up. So we decided to check out another place in a closer town.
We got there and they said they had plenty of time to do us. My friend went first and got her lower back done. While waiting for her I had another artist start drawing up mine from a sketch I had. Unfortunately he could not sketch the knife correctly. I wanted a military knife done, and he had a lot of trouble drawing the stacked washers. He couldn't even get the number of them correct until his third attempted. He had an apprentice girl redraw it up because she was a better artist. To my horror she changed the design and had some of the shadowing and angles completely wrong.
At this time I found out our other friend was having no luck. She had talked to some one to draw up her tattoo. The girl said she would, and then just walked away and never did a thing. At this time the tattoo artist came over to me and said that he had to leave early, and would not be able to do my tattoo today. If it wasn't for the two piercings I got by their really hot piercer, it would have been a total waste for me. And my friend who was able to get a tattoo was not pleased with the guys work. He seemed to be in a hurry to get to some party.
I decided to call good 'ol Flesh Chamber the next day and schedule us some appointments for a Friday night. That Friday I decided to bring in the actual knife I wanted tattooed on me. When we got there my friend was suppose to go first. She was not prepared at all. She told him what she wanted and expected him to draw it up. He told her to go look at some flash art and show him the style she wanted. This did not go over well with her, and she showed it. Well, Jeff did not appreciate her attitude and got a little pissed him-self. Dave stepped in and said if his next appointment wasn't going to show up, that he would do it for her (Dave didn't think they would). While she looked Jeff started drawing up mine.
Jeff asked me all sorts of questions like what kind of lettering I preferred, and where it was going to go. At that time he recommended that the knife not go on my left arm since it would cover two muscle groups. And with its shape being long and straight it would look odd. I decided the best place for this would be my lower right leg.
Jeff then went and drew it up and had a little trouble at first. It is a 3d object that is completely black. The lettering style I picked out would also not work. So I told Jeff to pick out a style appropriate for the tattoo. The few times he asked me to come back to his room, I could tell he was not a happy man. He is the kind of guy that looks like the person you would be most afraid of in a dark alley. And he was going to be tattooing me, which kind of freaked me out. When he was all done he showed me his work. He came up with a killer looking drawing that I was very pleased with. At that moment I was glad I was getting it done at the Flesh Chamber, but still concerned about the guy. While Jeff was drawing up my tattoo, Dave's appointment showed up, so he had to cancel with my friend. This should not have been a problem since there was still time with Jeff, but she was not happy.
She ended up going out side and crying I think. Well it was my time to get my tattoo. Stepped in Jeff's room and was amazed. I loved the decorations and his music choice. The heavy metal calmed me down a bit. He started shaving my leg and applied the transfer. He walked me through what he was going to do, and then started. I was a little bummed cause I was missing my other friend getting some inner conch's done.
The tattoo felt odd to me, being my first tattoo. Kind of like he took the knife I brought in and dragged it on my skin. We started talking and he apologized for his attitude. I told him it was no problem and that the girl needed to learn the tattoo/piercing place was not like a fast food restaurant. Expect to be there a while. He said he would do her after mine was done, but at this time she had made up her mind not to get it done.
The tattoo was going good and his attitude changed dramatically. Underneath that scary guy was a very nice person. We talked a lot during the tattooing. Even stopping once to compare pocketknives. Half way through he decided I needed a break. I kind of did, this was a rather large tattoo for my first one. I think it was just he needed a cigarette. Could you imagine going through nicotine withdrawal while doing a tattoo?
We went back at it after a few minutes and he finished up the tattoo. He went over care instructions with me and told me I should get some tattoo goo. The session was over, and I paid and tipped him well in my opinion. My friend was so impressed with his work that she had her next tattoo done buy the Jeff.
Over the next few weeks the tattoo looked weird. The blade part was red due to the light color of gray ink. As it healed, this went away and now I have a beautiful tattoo!
The whole thing was quit the experience. I found out that some friends you don't bring with you, and that I needed more tattoos.