Chest pieces are fun Part 2

I had the lightning bolt on the left side of my chest tattooed earlier in the month. It healed up pretty well and I’ll need to have the darker green areas hit again. It’s a tough color to go in and it usually needs a second drilling to finally set.

I was in the studio recently and made an appointment to have the bullseye on the right side of my chest re-inked. When I told my artist, he was like “the whole thing?” I said sure. I didn’t realize that it might have been a better idea to have it broken down into two sessions.

Let me give you some background on this tattoo. The tattoo is a bullseye that goes around a previous tattoo. The previous tattoo was what I called the Taurus Shield. It was four bull heads – one facing up, one facing right, one left and the last facing down. It was basically a heritage piece of sorts. The taurus was my birth sign. I had each head filled with green, white and red – the colors of the Italian flag, since I’m half Italian. Anyhow, once I got a better heritage piece on my forearm, I created the bulleye tattoo that went around the taurus shield tattoo. I had the taurus tattoo blacked out and had the bullseye done in red, yellow and blue. The tattoo was done several years ago back in 2004 and it was done in two sittings. One for the black work, bulleye outline and the other for the bullseye color.

Back to the present. The tattoo itself covers pretty much my entire right pectoral. It’s not really a small piece. It’s not intricate and there isn’t a lot of detail, so I think that’s what made me think it could all be done in a single sitting. The day arrived and I was ready for session. The outline wasn’t all that bad and the only spots I really noticed was towards the top of my chest. Around the nipple wasn’t even that bad eventhough I was asked if it hurt. Nope.

The filling in with black was a lot more noticeable. It was a burning sensation that was intense at times. There was a lot of black to fill-in and combined with phone calls and customers there was starting and stopping. We took breaks as well. If it sounds like I’m complaining, I’m not. From the moment the outline started until the last bit of black was re-inked – it was going on three hours. We still had the colors to do.

The red was done first. It covered the smallest area. The burning sensation was beyond intense at times. It felt like a white hot poker being stabbed into my chest. Picture it in slow motion. I don’t remember exactly how it felt when I had the tattoo originally done. I’m guessing it likely felt similar – especially since the other artist was a heavy hander. Anyhow, the yellow was next and it was just as intense. It was going on 6pm and I told him that once it was six, I was all set. Four hours is the limit I set for myself. Once the yellow was inked, I was relieved. I checked out the re-inked tattoo in the mirror and it looked neon bright compared to the other tattoos on my chest. Then it was cleaned and bandaged.

I gave it a good cleaning before bed time and made sure to bandage it again before going to bed. The next morning, I gave it another cleaning. I didn’t notice any areas that looked to be scabbing on the blacked-in areas. There was a small mark on the red color that felt like a scab. I cleaned it two additional times during the day. I showered quickly when I got home from work and I made sure not to get the tattoo wet. Once I get a tattoo wet, the chances for a successful healing drop. I didn’t notice any scabbed areas. Hopefully, the healing goes well.

Here’s a picture of the re-inked tattoo. It almost doesn’t look real when you compare it to the other tattoos on my chest and stomach:

Chest pieces are fun

I forgot just how awesome it feels getting chest work done. I’m being sarcastic, yes. On Saturday, I had my first round of chair time since Keith had his surgery. He’s not really back yet but he goes down to the shop to hang out and what not. He hasn’t really been tattooing – but he agreed to tattoo me and some of the other loyalists who stop in and visit him. Before he headed off the get his kidney removed, I talked with him about what my plan was for 2009. I told him about getting wings on the f-bomb tattoo and that I wanted to re-ink the green lightning bolt and the bullseye tattoos on my chest. Saturday, the green lightning bolt was re-inked. It’s a pretty basic tattoo and it’s been inked and re-inked countless times.

Originally, the tattoo had two outlines – a thicker outer outline and a thiner inner outline. However, the artist that did it, didn’t do a great job. To fix the problem, I had the two outlines merged into a massive outline. I also wanted the green to be bright – almost like a neon green. The green I got was closer to leaf green but I guess it could have been worse. I could have gotten a puke green.

The tattoo is also right on the edge of my chest and its placement makes it hard to tattoo. The skin can’t really be stretched up near thre armpit.

So fast forward to about two months ago. I told Keith that instead of having just a solid green lightning bolt tattoo, I wanted it to be striped. Two shades of green – one dark and one light. It was something that would give the tattoo a better look – in my eyes anyway.

The tattoo session started later than ususal. I wasn’t concerned. I was really up for the session but I really didn’t eat anything. All I had was a couple of donuts in a bag that I ate WHILE getting tattooed. For the most part, the feeling was tollerable. Some burning here, some pinching there. Up near thr armpit was an intense burning sensation. At the top of the lightning bolt, I was getting annoyed by the weirdest sensation I’ve experienced yet. It was a strange vibration that spread across my chest. I also had a weird feeling down in the pinky of my left hand. I think it was from Keith’s weight on my arm – cutting off blood flow. Honestly, I don’t know. At one point, it felt like I was having my nipple tattooed. One of the lightning bolt’s points is literally a quarter inch from my nipple.

Before adding the green, Keith added the stripe marks. Then he used the darker green first and then added the lighter green. When I looked in the mirror, I was pretty happy. The green stripes reminded me of something – which I still haven’t figured out.

As far as aftercare, I had the tattoo bandaged. I cleaned the tattoo when I showered later that night (When I removed the tape, I actually had a cut in the skin) and re-bandaged the tattoo before going to bed. I cleaned it often on Sunday and by Monday it was already starting to flake. There were no scabs at all. As of right now, the tattoo has completely flaked and I’m using lotion.

Next up is the bulleye on the right side of my chest. That could be done in the next few weeks, we’ll see.

Here’s a picture of re-done tattoo:

Tattoos and Baking don’t mix

So I was working an overnight shift the other day.  It was overtime, so I agreed to do it.  Part of the overnight is baking bagels, croissants and muffins.  If there was an opening just for baking, I’d take it in a second.  However, besides the risks of being overcome by intense garlic fumes, there is a danger of getting burned by searing hot bake pans.  Sure enough, I got burned.  The edge of a bake pan touched the tornado tattoo on my right forearm.  It hurt for a second and I looked to see what kind of damage I did.  From the looks of it, it appeared minor.  I had an oven mit on but the pan got me.

Turns out I did a lot more damage than I thought.  A few days after, the burn was more noticeable.  There was some swelling and redness.  The burn actually looks like the metal weave pattern of the pan, so hopefully once it heals up – it won’t be very noticeable.  The tattoo is my favorite so I’ve got my fingers crossed that it heals up good.

Here’s how it looked today:

**GRAPHIC** Surgery Pics

Normally, I wouldn’t have to put a **GRAPHIC** warning on any of the posts I make in my blog. This post is the exception. The photos below are one of my tattoo artist’s kidney’s after being removed. The bulge on the end of the kidney is a cancerous tumor. This all began about a month or so ago. He was having some pretty serious pain in his side and went to the ER. The doctor explained that it was likely a cyst but then said there wasn’t much else that could be done in the ER and sent him home! With the pain still searing, he went back to the ER the following day. This time, they did an extensive exam. That’s when they found the tumor and diagnosed him with kidney cancer. A complaint was filed with the hospital when he first went to the ER. The results of the complaint have lead to changes in the way patients are treated.

 About a week or so later, he was seen by a specialist who came highly recommended. They did some tests and discussed treatment options. From the tests, it looked like the cancer was confined to the kidney and treatment would be to have the entire kidney removed. He would also undergo an MRI and a bone scan to see if the cancer had spread to his lungs or bones. Both tests turned out negative, which was good news

He had to bank two units of his own blood before his surgery, which was on May 7. It was a unique day, as it’s only one of six times in a century that the date would consecutive odd numbers (5.7.09). It was also the National Day of Prayer.

In spite of the fact that he had cancer, he remained upbeat and positive. These two things are extremely good qualities when faced with bad news. He even continued to tattoo – even though he was in quite a lot of pain. That alone says a lot about my tattoo artist’s character.

 The day arrived for surgery. According to updates from his wife, who did an awesome job informing all of us on his exams and the surgery, the surgery went well. He did have some issues with the anesthesia and was admitted to the CCU to be monitored. He was in extreme pain that even morphine wasn’t controlling. On the 8th, he was taken out of the CCU and doctors were still attempting to control the pain.

Again, these pictures are pretty gnarly and if you have a weak stomach, you might not want to bother looking.  This is your last warning.

The kidney

It looks like they sliced open the kidney in this picture. The tumor is highlighted.

A close-up of the tumor.

He’ll be in the hospital for a few days.  Then he’ll be recovering at home.  I imagine he’ll have to continue seeing the doctors.  They did check to see if the cancer had spread to any nearby tissues and I’m not sure what the results were of that.  He says he plans to be out of the shop for about a month.  I’m thankful that everything has turned out as well as can be.  Kidney cancer is treatable if caught in time and it’s often discovered because of other issues not directly related.  My artist learned that there’s a high occurrence of this cancer in this area.  Hundreds of surgeries have been preformed.

Healing…

The F-Bomb Wings tattoo on my chest is healing up great.  I thought I might have messed up part of it a few days after getting it.  I try like hell to not get my tattoos wet because any scabs tend to get gooey and gross.  My towel went right over the tattoo and it looked like I pulled some of the outline out.  I kind of freaked a little but the next day I noticed that the outline was intact.  Cool.

My artist has his surgery very soon.  Then he’ll be chillin’ and healing for a little bit.  I don’t know how long he plans to relax but knowing him, he’ll try really hard to be back up and running.  There could be surgery photos – so be warned.

F-Bomb Wings

 

April 24 was my birthday.  It’s a good reason to get tattooed.  I knew that I wanted something other than back worked on.  As much as I love my downtown destruction tattoo, backwork isn’t the greatest.  The last sitting was especially sucky.  So, I decided to flip it and get some chest work done.   Since the winter I had been toying with the idea of gettin g something added to the F-Bomb on my sternum.  I decided on a pair of wings.  Thing is, I didn’t want wings that looked like, well, wings.  I was going through images on Google, trying to match the image in my mind with a image on the screen.  After numerous pages and several search topics, I found it.  It was a pilot’s pin.  It had a simply winged design of three bars with curved ends.  It would fit perfectly.  I told Keith what I had in mind and I printed out an image so he could draw it.  he also told me to draw up a design.

The day arrives.  I had the design with me.  He looked at it and I explained that the wings were too fat and needed to be more skinny.  he did a re-draw and then measured the drawing on me and said it would need to be scaled down further.  I was OK with that.  Once he had the transfer made, it was time to place it.  Easier said than done, as it took five attempts I believe.  That’s a new record in terms of number of attempts to place a stencil for a single tattoo.  It was all good though.

When I had the F-Bomb done originally, it hurt like a MFer.  When he worked on me this time, the line work for the wings wasn’t bad.  The left side hurt less than the right side.  The re-lining of the F-Bomb wasn’t great but I remember it being more brutal when it was first done.  I was thinking the right side was going to hurt more anyway because of him pressing down on my ribs.  I have a bruised rib on that side.  For color, he used gray for shading the wings and blue for the diamonds on the sides of the F-Bomb.

After slapping bandages on me, I hung out and ate chicken fingers.  Had a really good time.

Here’s a pic:

Now, this will be my last tattoo session for a bit.  My artist is scheduled to have surgery on May 7, so he’ll be resting up.  Not sure when my tattoo sessions will start up again – but I’ll be posting updates.

40th Tattoo coming soon

I was at the studio today and made an appointment for a new tattoo for my birthday, which is in a couple of weeks.  I decided it was time to go with a new piece, since I’ve undergone four sessions on my back.  I need a bit of a break from back work, so I’m moving things to my chest.  I’m getting my F-Bomb wings.  The wing design is not like a bird wing.  That style just didn’t fit with the F-Bomb.  These wings are basically three bars going horizontal with the top bar the largest and the remaining two getting smaller.  The outside edges are angled in with a shadow at the bottom of each bar.  Around the F-Bomb will be either a circle or another shape.  I’m not sure how big they will be.  I’ll have to draw them and either make them bigger or smaller.

To make the F-Bomb and the wings match up, I’ll have to have the F-Bomb tattoo re-lined, which is totally going to suck.  I haven’t decided on what colors to use but I’m pretty sure one color will be blue.  Once I have a design drawn up, I’ll post it.

New Videos Posted

New videos are available for viewing on our YouTube video channel.  The videos are from the latest sitting for my Downtown Destruction tattoo.

As far as the tattoo goes, it’s healing good.  No scabbing.  I’ll switch to lotion on Monday and since it’s lower on my back, I’ll be able to reach it.

One of the videos is loaded with information and trivia pop-up’s – just to make it more interesting.

Downtown Destruction tattoo 98% finished!

On April 3, I had my fourth sitting for the Downtown Destruction tattoo.  The road, sign and papers were colored.  Light gray, a darker gray,  a  light blue and yellow were the colors used.  I figured that it wasn’t going to be too bad because it was more on my mid-back.  Wrong!  The blue swirls done around the papers felt like a hot knife digging into my skin.  The feeling was amazing.  After that was finished, Keith used a darker gray on the edges of the road to seperate it from the sidewalks.  That part was cake.  The light gray was used for the road.  Some areas were not too bad.  Other areas just flat out sucked.  Normally, the intensity wears off a bit but not this time.  Over the spine produced an electric shock feeling and at one point, I twitched.  I’d say it was about 90 minutes of work with a few breaks thrown in.  I was very happy with how it turned out and as the title to this entry states, it’s 98% finished.  The remaining 2% will be for touch ups when we do our fifth and final sitting.

Downtown Destruction tattoo

New Information Topics coming soon

I would like to add a few additional information topics to the site hopefully sometime in April.  These topics would focus on the tattoo machine – with a diagram of the parts and how the machine works.  Also, a topic on tattoo needles.  This topic would give descriptions about tattoo needles, the different varieties (such as liners, shaders and mags…) and the different groupings ( 3 rounds, 9 rounds, six flats…).  I plan on sitting with my artist soon so I can gather this info.  Stay tuned…