It's hard to know where to start with the experience of my latest tattoo. I guess with the inspiration behind it. I've been a Richard Laymon fan since I was fifteen. It was my mum who first read a book of his and she gave me a couple to read, Body Rides and Bite. Somehow I managed to read both of them at the same time, alternating chapters the whole way through. I had always loved the Body Rides cover art, a golden bracelet in the shape of a snake laying on a road in the middle of a desert with cacti growing and a garish sunset in the sky.
At A Glance Author Willow Contact wiccanbutterfly83@hotmail.com IAM TheWitch When A week ago Artist Jamie Studio Sydenham Tattoos Location South East London I began searching online to find where I could get a print of it, but all I found was Richard's actual website that was selling the original painting, however the asking price was $1000. Not a price that the average girl can afford. So I kept my love of the art, and my loathe of the price, trying to figure out a way to get it without shelling out about £700, and that's without postage costs from America.
Then last October I got into body mods and I found a whole new way to express my love for art, animals, music and whatever else. Honestly, the idea of getting the bracelet tattooed on my arm didn't occur to me right away, in fact it only popped into my head a couple of months ago. I had just bought a copy of the book online as my brother's ex had destroyed my other copy. So I got the book and as soon as I saw the cover in my hands I knew I wanted it tattooed on my arm. So first time after that I had money I drove down to see Jamie, my artist and friend, and booked an appointment. I made it for a couple of days after a trip to the beach I had planned as I love splashing about in the sea, but that isn't too good for a fresh piece of ink.
So the day finally arrives, the 10th of July and I give Jamie his present of a stick of rock (If non-English people don't know, it's a long stick of candy that has the name of the seaside running through it, flavoured usually as mint, but can be cola, pineapple, fruit salad, banana and anything else. It's basically 98% sugar, 2% colour and flavour.) We talk pretty much non-stop as usual, this trip mostly confined to him making fun of me for being so excited about the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and him tutoring me on cool music.
The outline wasn't so bad, it took about 40 minutes as there was some shading to do at well. It did burn a bit as it was all done with a single outline needle, but it wasn't too bad as we were joking the whole time. On a scale of one to ten I'd say the pain was mostly about a 6, it was harsh, but in some places I didn't feel it at all. I paid £30 and £10 tip and was on my merry way.
Aftercare was pretty easy, I use baby wipes to clean it, then leave it to "air out" for about ten minutes before rubbing on some Tattoo Goo, I love this stuff! It heals the tattoos so well with little to no scab, it shortens the healing time, and also smells of lavender, which I love. It took about four days for the scab to start coming off in little specks, and after ten days it was all off, except for one small piece that had a thick scab like a cut. I always have one spot like that on each tattoo I've had, but knew it'd heal ok.
Then skip forward to the second appointment, the 27th of July. The first time I had enough money. I had to book the appointment about two weeks in advanced because Jamie was booked solid, goes to show how talented he is! I wanted it close to the 2nd of August though as it is my 22nd birthday, and this was my present to myself. I knew it'd be more of the single needle so I stuffed myself full of food and had a couple of cans of Red Bull at hand if I needed them.
More teasing about my Harry Potter obsession, because I'd told him I read the book in about 15 hours. (Excellent, by the way!) We talked about my irrational fears this time, clowns, dolls, puppets and basements and attics. Much ridicule later and we were off. This sitting was two hours long, my longest ever and I did NOT enjoy it. The first hour or so wasn't too bad, the pain being about a 4-5 but in the last half an hour my endorphins began to run out so the pain shot up to about an 8. I was just praying it would be finished soon, and finally it was. This session cost only £20, I didn't have a tip this time, I apologised and pulled a huge stick of rock out of my bag from my latest trip to the coast, Jamie says how I spoil him with all the sugar!
The residual pain in my arm was pretty bad, I stopped in to see Michelle (the piercer) about getting 6mm flared plugs in, she was going to taper them but the pain was so bad in my left ear, and it started to bleed, so I stopped her from going any further then about three-quarters of the way through with the taper. I only mention it in this experience because the pain in my left lobe made the pain in my arm disappear!
So that's it. The fantastic story of my tattoo of a $1000 piece of art. In closing I can only say: I hope I don't get sued for copyright infringement!