So...go figure that after months of thinking and planning and researching the two new tattoos I wanted (to start my plans for my upper half sleeves)...I get the money saved up, make my appointment...and the weather turns bad!
At A Glance Author Kristi Contact Kristiloves69@yahoo.com When It just happened Artist Ricky Lee Studio A1 Tattoos and Body Piercing Location St. Paul, MN Let me start from the beginning. I have 12 tattoos (including one cover up), and they are all scattered throughout my body. I finally realized that I should plan out my ideas a little bit better, so I don't have a conglomerate of tattoos that don't match, and frankly, don't mean anything. Since my mother (who also happens to be my boss) begged me not to get any tattoos below my elbows (there goes the full sleeve idea) I decided to start on upper half sleeves. Since I already have a tattoo on each upper arm (left arm, baby wolf, right arm, baby tiger), I decided to keep each sleeve tiger/wolf themed. I found designs for each tattoo that I liked, by searching and searching the internet, library, book stores...and just had to wait for the money. The day finally came, and I asked my fiancé to make me an appointment for Friday the 4th or Saturday the 5th. I got one for Friday, so I was very excited.
Friday came, and of course Minnesota weather had to mess with me. It started sleet/snowing, so of course, nobody could drive...I mean heaven forbid we know the weather and should be able to drive like regular people right? Needless to say, I was an hour late for my appointment, after spending almost two hours trying to drive 10 miles. ARGH! And of course, a group of 5 came in right before I got there. I talked to the artist, Ricky, and we decided to wait to see how long it would take for him to do the other tattoos, and start at least one of mine. FOUR HOURS LATER, we finally started on mine. In my rush to get out of the house, I forgot my darn designs (months of hard work down the drain), so we sat down and he found a design for exactly what I wanted...even better than the ones I found. I should have just came and saw him in the first place. ;) Unfortunately, he was only able to do one of the tattoos (the tiger on my right arm) that night...so we made plans to do the ot her one the next night. He placed the tattoo, and we examined it in the mirror to see if it was a good placement (right above my elbow, and right under the existing tiger tattoo). I thought it looked wonderful, and so I got situated in the chair. He decided to show me an idea he had to incorporate the two tattoos together and make them a full piece on the outside of my arm (I have another idea for the underside, and he concurred on it). He drew it on me, and I must say, I loved it. I have brought up my ideas to another tattoo artist that works there, and another one from another shop, and neither of them could incorporate what I had in mind.
So we agreed on the new design of the sleeve, and got to work on the tattoo we were doing tonight. Now, I have a very high pain tolerance, but I must admit, this was the most painful tattoo I have so far. It wasn't enough to make me stop him, flinch, cry or anything like that, but it SMARTED! Especially when he reached the underside of my arm...but all in all, it was a tattoo, and no pain no gain right?
It took him about two and a half hours to complete, which wasn't bad at all. What I really liked, is that he took time to make the tiger look as realistic as possible. He used a variety of oranges, yellows, reds, white, gray, black, and a wee bit of flesh color (for her nose). It puts the other tiger to shame! But, I figure, this tiger is an adult, and the other tiger is a baby...so I have always thought that adult tigers have much more beautiful coloring than the babies.
I went back the next night to get my wolf on my left arm...same experience, same attention to detail and color. I won't bore you with the blow-by-blow version of that one, but they were pretty much the same ;)
Now, I have to start saving to finish these sleeves, so I can go on to my next works in progress...I have to finish the cover up on my left breast, and duplicate it on my right breast (got to match!). Then my fiancé and I have both decided to get a portrait done of our daughter...we looked through all of Ricky's portfolios, and we have decided he's the best man for the job. After that, I am starting on my back piece (wildlife of course).
If you are ever in Minnesota (Twin Cities area) I would DEFINITELY recommend you stopping by A1 Tattoos. I have been tattooed by all three artists (Peg-Leg, Kevin, and Ricky) and would recommend them to anyone! Their website is http://www.a-1tattooco.com/.
If you would like to see my new tattoos, and some of my old ones, go to http://hometown.aol.com/kaileysmommy01/tattoos.html . The pictures are not the best, sorry about that!
Thanks for reading this extremely long experience! I happen to be long winded, so I do hope that you are not bored to pieces! Feel free to e-mail me!