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Final Ink: The 6149 Tattoo
My tattoo is finally healed. That took a lot longer than I expected.
The story of the "6149" tattoo can be found here and here:
Welcome to My Life Tattoo Part II: Final Ink...for now
Here is the finished goods:
- Inside arm: Highway 61 & 49 signs
- Back of arm: gramophone & 45 rpm record spindle
- Outside of arm: Heart with wife's name, roses, decorated skull
Welcome to My Life Tattoo Part II: Final Ink...for now
(Click here for Part I of "Welcome to My Life Tattoo". And, since I published the these pics in this post, the tattoo has completely healed. Go to this post for the real-deal healed pics)
Whew. Five and a half hours of tattooing. By hour number four I was singing to myself, "have mercy, have mercy on me...", a line from the Don Covay tune, "Mercy Mercy" (I was actually singing The Stone's version off of "Out of Our Heads").
That is a lot of time to be under the needle...without stopping! I wanted to finish the job in one go no matter how long it took. The guy responsible for inflicting the pain and the great ink work is Heath Nock (check this out for some of his photos). Heath works at Steel Lotus in Sydney. If you are looking for a top notch, passionate-about-what-he-does ink slinger, go see Heath.
Heath and I met a month or so before this inking session took place. I was actually supposed to have the work done at that session, but we both didn't feel great about where the design was at. Good lesson here...if you aren't sure don't do it. Instead of tattooing we talked about the design for an hour or so. Heath drew some designs on my arm until we got the right feel for what we wanted, how big it needed to be and if it would compliment the great work he had already done on the outside of my arm.
I left feeling really good about the design. When I showed up four weeks later, Heath had the stencils ready to go. One was the Highway 61 and Highway 49 road signs. Another was of the gramophone. That was Heath's idea and he was spot on with that one. The final one was the old 45 RPM record spindle. Each one was really a separate tattoo that we would weave together with a little shading and fill magic.
The designs...what are they all about?
The Highway 61 and Highway 49 signs were the mandatories. I'm not so dedicated to this blog that I needed to get a tattoo about it. It is the other way around. I love music, the blues especially. I've waxed on many times about how it is not just the music I love, but the stories and the characters and the folklore, etc. that really gets me. The signs are a part of all of that...the crossroads, the Mississippi Delta, the well traveled road on the way up to Chicago...I love the symbolism.
The signs, as they relate to the "crossroads" also represent "choice" to me. From an existential bent...we make choices and we need to own the responsibility that goes with them. I am "deep-end" believer of this and the signs represent that for me as well.
The phonograph turned out great. It still has a bit of healing to do, but I love it. I like old time-y music. Gramophones harken way back when to when my favorite music first started to get recorded. If I could have got a Charley Patton tune written on the label I would have ("High Sheriff Blues" would have been my choice)
The record spindle was just something I wanted there. It too is an ancient piece of record playing history.
_____
I'm very happy about the ink work. I love the whole thing. If you are going to get a tattoo...small or massive...you have to make sure it means something to you and that you are going to like it. Make sure you find someone who does great work and that you are comfortable with. Protect your investment as well. I make sure I drench my arm in 50 proof sun block when ever I go out.
I think I am done. At least for the foreseeable future. I have a few other ideas, but I will wait until the time is right. Plus, I'm still feeling that five and half hour job. Youch...
(still a bit of healing to go, but all is going well...)
- Posted from Darlinghurst, Australia
Welcome to My Life Tattoo
"The Who Sell Out" was The Who's third album. It was their/Townsend's first foray into the concept album (their second album, "A Quick One" showcased Pete's first mini-rock opera, "A Quick One, While He's Away"). It was crafted to parody a pirate radio station in London...complete with commercial spots. The album is a set of killer songs and a glimpse into the humorous and playful side of the four hell-raisers.
Song five on the disc is, "Tattoo". "Welcome to my life, tattoo.
I'm a man now, thanks to you.
I expect I'll regret you,
but the skin graft man won't get you.
You'll be there when I die Tattoo"
_____I got my first tattoo 19 years ago when I was 18 years old. Since then I have been back to ink-slinger three times. Tattoos have run the gamut on stigmas...sailors, motorcycle gangs, criminals and full-on ink freaks. In the past decade, they have made there way into the mainstream with mixed results (see, "Tramp-Stamp" for one such bad example). Personally, I like them; I now have three, one of which is a growing work in progress. It is a matter of preference, really. I like them, but I don't like them everywhere. I try and keep mine corralled to a certain area. Mine are all on the left side of the body. I'm a "right-brained" guy so, maybe I am trying to convert my left brain to the creative side (check out Dan Pink's book on right brain'ers). I have one on my left upper thigh, one on my left shoulder blade and one on my left arm...that goes shoulder to elbow. The one on my left arm used to be just a simple, classic tattoo: A heart with my wife's name in it. I like classic tattoo designs. I usually take a classic design and try to put a spin on it. This past December I had the ink fever. I wanted another tattoo, but I didn't want to start using up more skin real estate to put it somewhere else. I loved the heart tattoo I had as it was and I liked where it was. I figured, "why not add to it and fill up the whole arm". Sure...why not?!? I found a guy in Sydney who's work was recommend to me. His name is Heath and he works at Steel Lotus in Sydney. I went in to talk with Heath and told him I wanted a skull...but not a skull representing death, rather it should represent life. That was the brief. What Heath came back with was unique, but it didn't stray too far from the classic skull tattoo design. We set up an appointment and went to work. The skull took about three and a half hours. Once finished, I had these two tattoos sitting on my arm that needed to be joined. Over two more session, Heath filled in the blanks and we ended up with a short-sleeve of ink...on the outside of my arm. I let heath take direction on how we should join the two. He made suggestions, I gave feedback and then he got the needle buzzing. I am very happy with the result...but we're not done yet. I am going back in in a couple of weeks to do the inside of the arm; this will fill up the entire upper arm from shoulder to elbow, top to bottom. Heath took off to Spain and Germany to hone his craft. Before he left I gave him a new brief. I want certain images in the design...how he incorporates them all is up to him. I'll sign off on final design and then we'll finish 'er off. This is what I wanted included: the Highway 61 & 49 signs in the image in the my profile on this blog (to your right), an old 45 record spindle, a horseshoe and another skull & heart (smaller and different than before). I am thinking I might want to replace the skull and heart and have a few thoughts on what I can swap them with. One idea is the classic R.Crumb portrait of Charley Patton. I'm open to a suggestions if you have any. After this last inking, I'm done...at least for a while. I have one other idea that I am leaning towards, but not for a couple more years. I've attached pics of the tattoo transition on my left arm. They show the simple heart design, the addition of the skull and the first and second round of "fills". Stay tuned for the updates...
_____Not familiar with "The Who Sells Out"? You should be...check out these links:Wikipedia: The Who Sell Out
Official Site:The Who
I'm a man now, thanks to you.
I expect I'll regret you,
but the skin graft man won't get you.
You'll be there when I die Tattoo"
_____I got my first tattoo 19 years ago when I was 18 years old. Since then I have been back to ink-slinger three times. Tattoos have run the gamut on stigmas...sailors, motorcycle gangs, criminals and full-on ink freaks. In the past decade, they have made there way into the mainstream with mixed results (see, "Tramp-Stamp" for one such bad example). Personally, I like them; I now have three, one of which is a growing work in progress. It is a matter of preference, really. I like them, but I don't like them everywhere. I try and keep mine corralled to a certain area. Mine are all on the left side of the body. I'm a "right-brained" guy so, maybe I am trying to convert my left brain to the creative side (check out Dan Pink's book on right brain'ers). I have one on my left upper thigh, one on my left shoulder blade and one on my left arm...that goes shoulder to elbow. The one on my left arm used to be just a simple, classic tattoo: A heart with my wife's name in it. I like classic tattoo designs. I usually take a classic design and try to put a spin on it. This past December I had the ink fever. I wanted another tattoo, but I didn't want to start using up more skin real estate to put it somewhere else. I loved the heart tattoo I had as it was and I liked where it was. I figured, "why not add to it and fill up the whole arm". Sure...why not?!? I found a guy in Sydney who's work was recommend to me. His name is Heath and he works at Steel Lotus in Sydney. I went in to talk with Heath and told him I wanted a skull...but not a skull representing death, rather it should represent life. That was the brief. What Heath came back with was unique, but it didn't stray too far from the classic skull tattoo design. We set up an appointment and went to work. The skull took about three and a half hours. Once finished, I had these two tattoos sitting on my arm that needed to be joined. Over two more session, Heath filled in the blanks and we ended up with a short-sleeve of ink...on the outside of my arm. I let heath take direction on how we should join the two. He made suggestions, I gave feedback and then he got the needle buzzing. I am very happy with the result...but we're not done yet. I am going back in in a couple of weeks to do the inside of the arm; this will fill up the entire upper arm from shoulder to elbow, top to bottom. Heath took off to Spain and Germany to hone his craft. Before he left I gave him a new brief. I want certain images in the design...how he incorporates them all is up to him. I'll sign off on final design and then we'll finish 'er off. This is what I wanted included: the Highway 61 & 49 signs in the image in the my profile on this blog (to your right), an old 45 record spindle, a horseshoe and another skull & heart (smaller and different than before). I am thinking I might want to replace the skull and heart and have a few thoughts on what I can swap them with. One idea is the classic R.Crumb portrait of Charley Patton. I'm open to a suggestions if you have any. After this last inking, I'm done...at least for a while. I have one other idea that I am leaning towards, but not for a couple more years. I've attached pics of the tattoo transition on my left arm. They show the simple heart design, the addition of the skull and the first and second round of "fills". Stay tuned for the updates...
_____Not familiar with "The Who Sells Out"? You should be...check out these links:Wikipedia: The Who Sell Out
Official Site:The Who
