Hello from Essex

[Brady]

Hello everybody!

I've sat on the sidelines for a little while now and have enjoyed a lot of threads, so I'm signing up now.

This Friday I'm going to the Tattoo parlour to share my plans with the lady there and see if she's up for tattooing me. I have two tribal pieces and although I still love them, I'm after something different and plenty of colour. Strange how my tribal pieces have changed in my mind - I've actually lost the connection to whatever got them on me in the first place, now they serve as milestones in my life and bring faces, feelings and even smells to the surface. They're 7 & 8 years old now, so it's been a while.

For a long time I've carried several pictures with me that I stumbled upon looking for something else - Beautiful ladies bearing the make-up of the Day of The Dead Sugar SKulls. This comes out twisted however I say it - but I feel almost like I've fallen for them, a real attraction and yep I've wished they were real! My weirdness aside, I think it's time I got them tattooed on me. I'm not just perving by the way! I came across these ladies at a time when I didn't know how to keep going, nor could I see the reward for doing so. As a kid my favourite Disney video "The Three Caballeros" filled my world with colour and a mad carnival vibe, years later the images of these ladies (I recognised the theme, just forgot the feeling I guess) did SOMETHING. Words often fail me, but it's like echoes through my memories and well, colour bled back into the world.

I'm more than excited! One thing I found out through my experiences so far is that I love the feeling of the needles - blood test me and you have to velcro-strap my arm so I don't squeal and wiggle till you mush my vains, but tattoo me and it's nearly erotic. Again - ignore my weirdness! I just can't relate to stories of pain and cut-short sessions. Of course, the real reward is a beautiful tattoo and I can almost see it already.

I'm still uncertain so I need to speak with the artist, but I'm thinking (several ladies faces, marigolds, roses and several small Day Of The Dead type dolls sleeping) left side ribs, up round my side to my back (lats) and up to cover my shoulders - sort of trailing the work around me. Never one to big myself up, but after years and years of heavy deadlifting it's fair to say I have a decent back, so the whole thing may fill more than planned. The only downside I can see is that these pics I have are pictures of other people's tattoos... never been sure if this is ok or not, though for sure the artist will give them her own style and seeing how I'm planning on several different faces with the flowers binding it all together, this piece will feel "my own". At the risk of sounding foolish, I feel that I've carried these images for enough time, shown enough people and dreamed of them enough to know I need them in my piece.

Ok, well I hope to soon post a couple of work-in-progress pics and continue to soak up wisdom here. Loving this forum, it's obvious to me from lurking that this is the soundest online community I've joined!

Peace to all

John

[gougetheeyes]

Welcome, John! So you're one of the ones that relishes the pain -- never quite got there myself, but when I was younger it wasn't quite the problem it is now. Good luck with your new ones, sounds great!

[bulldog]

Welcome from an Essex boy.

Have you decided on an artist yet?

[Brady]

Welcome from an Essex boy.

Have you decided on an artist yet?

Haha, I'm never far away from one! I have mate yes - Georgette at Bitch Ink in Ockendon did my other two, and providing she's still there that's where I'm going.

- - - Updated - - -

Welcome, John! So you're one of the ones that relishes the pain -- never quite got there myself, but when I was younger it wasn't quite the problem it is now. Good luck with your new ones, sounds great!

Thanks I appreciate it! I'll definitely be posting up the results or work-in-progresses!