My Story & Nervous/Excited about First Big Piece!

[el twe]

Don't worry, the line work will still be there!

 

 

[This is a super rad intro thread, welcome to LST @otisc!]

[otisc]

Update May 20....

Today was Session #2 with Scott Ellis at Triple Crown Tattoo. 5.25 hours in the chair with only a few short breaks. Some of these sections are pretty swollen, and I have one area behind my arm that is super red and angry... but other than that, it looks great. Gonna be a long weekend of feeling sunburnt and frequent washing, and hopefully it will heal as quickly as the line-work. Tomorrow I'm going to the movies, so no need to move it all day.

Before:

After:

Edited May 21, 2016 by otisc

[Devious6]

Wow!  It looks fantastic!

[El Dolmago]

On 5/14/2016 at 0:31 PM, otisc said:

In six days, I'm going back for the next stage in this sleeve.

Has anyone had their linework done and grown attached to it? Don't get me wrong - I'm eager for the next stage... but I've grown fond of my linework and in a weird way am kinda gonna miss it.

 

Ha! Yes! I've been walking around with my forearm linework for 5 weeks now and I'm equally jonesing to be done and being very attached to it!

[otisc]

Holy moly, this has been a painful heal. When I got the lines done, I had a day or two of discomfort (trouble sleeping first night, flashes of pain putting on a shirt)... but the shading covers a much larger surface area. Showering it was unpleasant, and certain areas didn't like having aquaphor rubbed in. But the killer was this little routine I do to get off the excess aquaphor - where I press a fresh paper towel onto the tattoo and then peel it off, leaving a tiny thin layer of ointment. This just seemed to irritate it badly and was really rough the first two days.

Today is Day 3, and most of the pain and swelling has subsided and it looks like it's going to start a nice peel tomorrow... except for the area where my outer armpit meets my chest. Despite frequent washing and reapplication of aquaphor evenly to the whole piece, this little section is just dry and rough looking... and the pain moving my arm in any direction just radiates. Going to follow my usual routine and switch to lotion tomorrow, maybe it will get some relief in there, but I doubt it. I have a feeling this little area is just going to be sore for another 4-5 days when it should be simply itching like the rest of my arm. OUCH!

Everyone always wants to know about the pain of tattooing... and people often ask and get answered with a description of the pain of the act of tattooing. No one ever mentions/thinks about the after pain. These last 72 hours have been rough.

Edited May 24, 2016 by otisc

[DJDeepFried]

When you're getting tattooed at least you get that endorphin rush. And it's fun. Healing not so much

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[oboogie]

I'm going to get started on the rest of my right arm half sleeve tomorrow. It's the inside of my arm/under my arm. WAH. @otisc, your post has made me start thinking about the PAIN of the healing. It's all worth it ... right?

[Devious6]

12 minutes ago, oboogie said:

I'm going to get started on the rest of my right arm half sleeve tomorrow. It's the inside of my arm/under my arm. WAH. @otisc, your post has made me start thinking about the PAIN of the healing. It's all worth it ... right?

Totally right!! Pics are a must!

 

[oboogie]

36 minutes ago, Devious6 said:

Totally right!! Pics are a must!

 

You know it. Expect them very soon. :-)

[otisc]

Actually, the inside of my arm/under my arm healed really nicely and painlessly. It's right at the tip of the V in my arm. And I have another spot on my middle forearm. It doesn't hurt at all during the day... except that it does NOT want me to rub aquaphor into it. Once I do, it feels like a burn for about 45 minutes until it settles down.

In a couple of days, I'm sure it will be fine -- and your brain has a great way of forgetting pain. But until then, I've been very uncomfortable and in various amounts of pain for a few days. Maybe switching to lotion tomorrow will be better.

[bongsau]

wow @otisc coming together really nicely !

and kudos on the pace so far, keep it up, you're arm will feel like hamburger but it will be done and livedin before you know it bud ! cheers

[otisc]

I found this online and think it applied pretty perfectly to this particular heal:

 

• day 1: excuse me while i go wash this off and then do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day -muffled screaming from the bathroom-
• day 2: the lotion hurts me. the washing hurts me. but i must do these things. I will survive.
• day 3: im fine until i try to APPLY LOTION ASDHFFGH
• day 4: oh yeah, probably need to put some lotion on this GIANT BRUISED DRYISH PATCH OF SKIN
• Day 5: is that peeling
• day 6: I PROMISE THERES A REASON I AM SLAPPING MYSELF
• day 7: its so pretttyyyy.... except for those clinging peelies on the edge, haha, but OW BUT ITS STILL SORE
• Day 8: it will stop peeling one day. ONE DAY.
• day 9: Are we done now?
• day 10: Yes. We are done. Back to forgetting I even have this.

[rayray115]

Hey man sorry to bring back an old post but hows the tattoo coming along? I was actually pretty interested in your post prior to making my own lol.

[otisc]

On 6/9/2016 at 10:40 PM, rayray115 said:

Hey man sorry to bring back an old post but hows the tattoo coming along? I was actually pretty interested in your post prior to making my own lol.

Pretty good! I am all healed from the shading/background work that was done three weeks ago.

Unfortunately, Scott Ellis is touring Europe this summer and will not be back in Austin to complete the next stage until late August! I will keep posting updates, for sure.

Edited June 11, 2016 by otisc

[rayray115]

Oh I didn't see that hahaha my bad

[DJDeepFried]

Enjoy your summer and go swimming a lot.

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[otisc]

Update: Aug 31.

Scott Ellis is finally back in the US, so we put in five more hours dropping color into the dragon. I am so relieved to have the ditch of my arm done! That was probably the worst part.

 

 

 

[Devious6]

@otisc Awesome! How is the heal process on this phase?

[Intomyskin]

Oh, Man! very nice! Love seeing your progress!

[otisc]

6 hours ago, Devious6 said:

@otisc Awesome! How is the heal process on this phase?

It is a little better because the area tattooed weaves up my arm, instead of basically all the way around my entire arm... so less surface area is less pain. Applying Aquaphor hurts but is a lot more confined, so when I'm done my entire arm isn't radiating heat.

Today is Day 3 and I've gotten very little sleep the last two nights, so that part is the same. Today the skin in the ditch is tightening, and I can see a few scales look like they may scab (we'll see).

Overall, I'd say the healing this time is 50% easier. Which is not to say I'm not still in the discomfort stage, it's just that the last session with the full arm shaded all the way around in one session -- that was awful.

[Gingerninja]

Two peices of great news:

1) Your arm looks amazing!

2) You never have to do that part again. :)

[otisc]

1 hour ago, Gingerninja said:

Two peices of great news:

1) Your arm looks amazing!

2) You never have to do that part again. :)

I know! I looked at the most painful part of my arm and said "I will never have to tattoo there again!" A couple painul spots on the chest left, but otherwise it should be relatively smooth sailing here on out.

[el twe]

10 hours ago, otisc said:

A couple painul spots on the chest left, but otherwise it should be relatively smooth sailing here on out.

Man, the chest is no joke!  There were spots near the collarbone where I could've sworn my throat was getting tattooed...

Arm's looking great!  Happy to watch all of this progress.

[otisc]

End of Day three and while the tattoo is really healing well - damn am I bruised in the ditch. All the work still hurts in the shower. Putting on a shirt today was no treat (I work from home so this was first time).

And yet I'm close enough to finishing this that I'm already planning the next big one.

[otisc]

Finished!!!!

If anyone ever asks you for tattoo advice: "get enough sleep" needs to be at the top of the list. I've barely slept but a couple hours each of the last three nights.... and I could barely make it through the final 4 hours of tattooing needed to complete my sleeve. After about an hour, everything just hurt bad, and I had very little tolerance for pain this time around.

Here's a pic of the final sleeve. Some of the oranges are really yellow but inflamed... and there is actually no red in the swirling spiral on the back of the arm -- just red from the work.

Going back in a month for some touch-up work (not a lot of green held in the dragon's head first time around) and I will post healed photos in a few weeks.