I graduated college a year ago. Since then I have not really taken any vacations, so when the opportunity to go to Vegas with one of my friends came up, I jumped at the chance. It was going to be hard drinking and a shit ton of stuff I can't talk about, they made me sign legally binding papers not to say anything. I digress, all summer I have been working on a half sleeve/ chest piece with a guy named Chase in Marietta, Ohio. Shortly after Katrina hit New Orleans a buddy of his, Nixxin, came up from New Orleans and stayed for a few days while they figured out what they were going to next. I had just got back from China and Went over and hung out with them. I heard all about what happened in the city. Nixxin left got a chance to go to Vegas rent free for 3 months. I was going to be there in a few weeks so I got his number.
At A Glance Author Recklesstryg Contact Recklesstryg@bme.anon IAM recklesstryg When A month ago Artist NIXXIN Studio Crown Electric Tattoo Company Location Sin City (Las Vegas) I got to Vegas and for the first day and a half I was drunk as a skunk. When I was on the plane I had thought about a new tattoo. I wanted to get something that was traditional and custom. I was thinking about a dagger. I always liked the look of traditional daggers. I have a Half Sleeve with chest plate that is Japanese inspired. I wanted to infuse the look of a samurai blade and a traditional blade. Around the second or third day I was in Vegas I decided to go and get a tattoo. I gave Nixxin a call and got a cab with one of my buddies and went to get a new tattoo. I told him what I wanted and he started up some sketches. He tried to get the look I wanted but I did not like it, I ditched the Samurai blade idea and went all out into a traditional dagger. I wanted to work in a clover into the hilt and a 7 onto the top of it. In the taxi over I had decided to get the dagger on my leg. I do not know what I was thinking but when Nixxin asked me where I wanted it I said to put it on my left ribs. I do not know why I said it. It just seemed a much better place for it to go.
As Nixxin was getting ready for the tattoo we talked a little. The other artist asked what I was going to do and I said I was getting a dagger on the side of my ribs. The guy said that he would never get one there, he had seen way too many people in pain that got a tattoo there. I showed him the underside of my arm which is basically tattooed from the bottom of my arm pit to 3 inches above my elbow, I told him that it wouldn't hurt more than that.
I think that the pain is a necessary element of a tattoo. If it does not hurt there is no way to tell that it is actually happening. Body can take a lot more pain than most people let it. I like to push y body and mind to find its limits. It is only when you are on the edge that you see the extent of yourself. I have taken myself to the edge through engineering, sports, snowboarding, and human studies. I know some on my limits and have not reached others. Each time I get some more work done the first 3 or 4 minutes suck but after that your body reacts and you feel almost euphoric. It is not like being high it is just that you do not feel the pain any more.
After a few minutes we got started. The dagger leans forward to follow my ribs. The outline was fun a combo of tickling and vibration of my chest. About an hour in the outline was done, then came the time to fill it in. Filling it in was not as fun as the outline. The raw meat feeling is something I never like. I just grinned and bared it. I knew it would be worth it. In about two and a half hours of a slight tickling on my ribs I was done. I had a sweet old skool dagger through my ribs and a few blood drops. I also had a tattoo from a friend of someone who tattooed me. After 5 days in Vegas and god knows how much alcohol I got back into a plane and flew home a little richer. I leaned over on my right side and fell asleep looking out over Vegas, lady luck was down there somewhere.