I had been planning on getting a tattoo at some point for close to a decade. I had had lots of ideas over the years, some of which I gave up on, and some of which are still floating around somewhere in the back of my head. The one idea that made the cut, though, wasn't one that had been lurking and developing over the years, but rather one that snuck up on me and demanded to be realized. I don't think I was planning on getting anything done at the time, as I had recently gotten a nipple pierced recently, and my navel was still having some issues. One day, sitting in the computer lab at school, I just knew I needed a tattoo, and this was the tattoo that I needed.
At A Glance Author Larry Contact Larry@bme.anon IAM Larry666 When A month ago Artist Tom Studio Planet Ink Location Toronto It is a snowflake, but not just a run of the mill black-outline-boring-tattoo-snowflake. I ran through several possible prototype snowflakes before finding the one I would turn into my snowflake. The "winner" ended up being a sort of geometric, abstract snowflake. I knew right away that I wanted it to be colourful, a little ambiguous, and most of all unique, so I set out on my most intense (to date) drawing sessions. Although I don't think even my mother would want to display my "sketches," they accomplished their purpose, and I ended up having some sort of idea of what I was going to tell my future tattoo artist that I would like him (or her) to draw, just in a much more artistic and uniform way than I would ever be able to accomplish. My final "drawing" ended up being an almost-flower with an almost-snowflake sort of superimposed on it.
I've never really liked flowers, but I liked the juxtaposition with the snowflake, and the colours that the flowerness of the tattoo demanded. Having something that I don't particularly like embedded into the concept has also made the tattoo more meaningful. I think I had first though of getting a snow-themed tattoo when I had been planning on moving to British Columbia, to be with someone I was dating. I grew up in Ontario, and not only do I love this province, I feel like I'm a part of it. A snowflake would have been a sign of remembrance of the "real" winters, that really only happen in central Canada, and that I love so much. This new incarnation has become much more the stereotypical "all snowflakes are unique" kind, because I've discovered in the past year or so that I need to live my own life, and I need to live it for me, but it does of course retain some of my love for winter and snow. Whether I like it or not, I cannot change who I am, or the life that I have, an d what is most important is to live my life. I also have to accept things that I don't necessarily like, just as I've grown to love this flower (that I was originally very morally opposed to).
I was planning on being at my normal shop to get some jewelry changed, and so I made one of my infamous awkward telephone calls ahead of time to try and figure out how to go about getting an artist to sit down with me and have a design-chat. It turns out that I got stressed about calling for nothing, as I just needed to show up, and because I didn't want to get the tattoo that same day, I would need to leave a twenty dollar deposit. The next day, I went in and chatted with my piercer and the counter-watcher about jewelry and other various things that crossed our minds for while before I was finally able to summon the courage to ask about talking to an artist about a tattoo. Tom had just finished one, and we all agreed that it was pretty awesome. So he was free for a bit to chat and sketch, and I had now seen living proof that he was able to wield a tattoo gun with artistic ability.
Tom isn't your usual, run-of-the-mill, stereotypical tattoo artist. He isn't in his twenties or completely covered in tattoos, but he is very approachable, and knowledgeable. I felt really comfortable with him, and he was consistently very friendly, and open to my ideas and suggestions. He was also realistic, and advised me against some of the things I suggested because he didn't think they would work well or that I would be happy with the finished product.
We sat and chatted for a while, and I showed him my ideas. And then Tom started sketching. Right away, the tattoo was looking very different than I had imagined and expected, but I really loved it. I asked for a few details to be tweaked, and I refused to even consider the idea of doing it in pink, but overall it just felt perfect. I knew then that I wasn't just settling for something I kind of liked, and that I wouldn't end up regretting the tattoo. We decided I would come back in a few weeks, at the first time we were both available at the same time, and I left my deposit.
Eventually I was back, and very excited to finally be getting this tattoo. I ended up waiting for quite a while because I was crazy early, and just before we were ready to start, someone came in and asked about a sleeve. Eventually I was called upstairs to Tom's room, which was much smaller than I had expected. I had though ahead and worn long, loose shorts, so I could just roll them up, thus exposing my hip, so we skipped the usual "so how much clothing do you want me to take off and how" conversation, and got right to placing the stencil. On the first attempt, Tom followed my instructions precisely, and put it exactly where I had thought I wanted it. However, when I went to approve it in the mirror, it was all wrong. Apparently it's harder than I though to see my thighs without a mirror. So Tom did his best to scrub the first try off, but it was pretty stubborn. It ended up being there for about a week afterwards, but some blue mess on my leg was totally worth it in the end. Then he put the stencil where he though would be good, and it was perfect.
He showed me that the needles were new, and he poured the ink in front of me, not that I was concerned about anything being unsafe. Once Tom was all set up I had the genius idea to think about whether or not and how much this was going to hurt. Tom assured me that it shouldn't be too painful; kind of like a scratch. He started, and he was right about the pain being entirely tolerable. We chatted about kids and school and life in general, which made the time pass, and, according to Tom, let him know that I wasn't going to pass out or anything.
In general, I really enjoyed being tattooed. There were points where it hurt, particularly closer to my hip bone, and there were parts that I could barely feel. The best part was the centre of the tattoo, because I was feeling it closer to my knee, instead of where the tattoo was actually being done. Tom explained that this is because the nerves are all connected, so if you're tattooing over one, it can be felt in another, connected place.
About two hours later we were done. Tom bent and disposed of the needles in front of me, and covered the tattoo with A&D and plastic wrap before explaining aftercare. He suggested that I rinse it with cold water that night, and starting the next morning to wash it with Dove, and then apply Lubriderm a few times a day. He also explained that it would probably take between seven and fifteen days to heal, and that it would get scabby and flaky, but not to pick at it or anything. He also showed me one of his tattoos that had been done with the same ink about ten years ago, explaining that mine should stay bright and clear, as long as I took care of it.
I followed my instructions to the letter, and wore skirts for a whole week to avoid rubbing it, and my tattoo healed beautifully. It got a bit swollen in the first few days, which I wasn't expecting, but it wasn't too bad, and went down fairly quickly.
I took advantage of my free touch-up privileges a few weeks later, once I was all healed, because some of the ink didn't stick well. Tom fixed the colour, and re-touched the outlines, to make it "pop" more. I didn't really understand what he meant when he explained it, but I trusted him, so I didn't argue. Once more, he knew exactly what he was talking about, and made what I though was a perfect tattoo even better.
My snowflake is now completely finished and healed, and I know I won't live to regret it.