So I was one month from having open heart surgery at the tender age of 14, and my parents felt guilty as all hell about this, because they had yet to inform me of it. Their thinking was that "the more I knew, The more I would worry."
At A Glance Author Sion Contact Sion@bme.anon When Five years ago Artist Fat Dan Studio Black Art Tattoo Location Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada I didn't know it, but I could have had anything I wanted, and I just happened to ask for a tattoo. I was 14, and it sounded like a good idea. I was amazed when the answer came back "yes," but I was totally excited about it, so I made a call to the only tattoo place in Dawson Creek. It sounded all good, so I made an appointment without even having a clear idea of what I wanted to get.
To give my parents their due credit, my mom drove me in to the place, and stayed to make sure I didn't get any naked chicks riding a skull, cuss words, genitalia, or any other sort of vulgarity. Knowing me, that was a really good idea on her part. I also brought my best friend Twyla, cousin Teresa, and sister Terynn. It was quite the family outing. I walked in to the studio, and the only reason I didn't walk right back out was that I didn't know any better. The floor was covered on mud, there was one workstation, and it was right out in the open with no semblance of privacy (I feel sorry for the poor bastard who went there for genital tattooing), and there was a crossbow under the counter, which the guy swore was for hunting deer.
We all sat down to look at the tattoo books, and after about a half an hour of searching, Twyla found a picture of a wolf that I really liked. I had thought about getting a Canadian flag on my arm, but she found the wolf and said i should get it, so I said "Slap that on my shoulder and call it good!" We had to walk down the street to a copy store to get the image enlarged because the guy could not draw it larger on his own. He had to trace it. If I was smarter, I would have been a little nervous, but I wasn't.
So the tattooing started, and I had my teeth clenched for almost the whole thing. The outline felt like it was burning. The worst part was the outline of the ears that was higher up. That was almost unbearable. Keep in mind that I was 14. My most recent tattoo felt more like being scratched by a little kitten, and when I think back about it, I'm almost disgusted by my previous display of wussiness. So I was halfway through this hour and a half ordeal when my little sister found the perfect flag that I was looking for. The tattoo artist just laughed and said "Oh well, that's what god gave you two arms for!" He was obviously looking for a returning client.
The filling in was a lot easier to handle, and finally it was done. It looked great, and is one of the best examples of shading I have ever seen, but in hindsight I'm lucky that my arm didn't fall off. That place was DIRTY! So I'm heading for the door, and all of a sudden I realize that I forgot to pay the guy his $160. I turned around with my hand on the doorknob, ready to make a joke about running for it, but when I looked up, there was a crossbow leveled at my face. It was pretty much the scariest thing ever, especially considering the stories that this guy was telling about the Hells Angels while he was doing the tattoo. I politely paid the man his money and then got the hell out of there.
So if you take anything away from this story, it's that you should always know what you want before you go into the studio, and know what you're getting into beforehand. It pays to do a little research and shopping around.
And one side note - The tattoo artist was ran out of town by the Angels within a year of tattooing me. Last I heard there was a contract out on him for some reason. I don't know why, I wasn't asking too many questions.
One more note - The heart surgery went well, and now I have a wicked-huge scar on my chest. The whole process got me interested in scarification, and I've played around with a little branding. I love it, but I can't find anyone who actually knows what they're doing with it. If anyone knows of anyone in the Calgary area who does branding and does it well, I would love to hear from you. Thanks.