Elle had asked me to post a pic of my tattoo long ago, and I never got around to taking a pic of it, until now. so here it is.
the back story. Back in college my crew mates all talked about getting tatted together. Any way, that fell through, but a buddy and I still wanted to get ours, so the fall of our last year on the team, he and I went down to the famous Sunset Strip Tattoos and got them. Well, he got his and I got mine started. This was back in 1995. I had actually thought about it for a year about what I wanted and where I wanted it. I decided to put it on my back for two reasons. One, the back is an important in rowing. The legs provide the power, but the back is where you have control and finishes off the stroke. Two, I thought about where on the body that the design wouldn't distort with age, and the back is the least likely place to get wrinkled and stretched. I chose the gryphon, because I love mythology. The beast has the strength and ferocity of a lion, and the speed and stamina of those that rule the sky. Those were the general qualities valued in sports, so it symbolically relates to rowing. Even in rowing we describe cutting through the water as "flying". My first instinct was to design something symmetrical, but I came upon an image in a book and knew that this was the one I wanted. It was one of a white gryphon however.
The tattoo took 3+ hours to do, and fortunately had to be done in 2 sessions. The first was 1.5 hours, doing the black outlines. That didn't hurt much at all. During that time, I talked to Eric the tattoo artists about this and that. I listen to him answer other people's questions about designs they wanted done. It was important to hear him turn down jobs because he knew what they wanted wouldn't turn out well. I got to really trust him, so in the second session, I told him to just do whatever he wanted with the colors. It took 2 hours to do the colors. Again, didn't hurt so much, as I was able to study for an Econ midterm as it was happening. The only part that hurt was where the colors blend. The first pass of color made my skin feel like it was sunburned, then to do a second pass on an already sensitive area. Those were the times I had to concentrate so I don't flinch and mess Eric up. I was really happy afterward, with what he did. It turned out better than what I originally wanted. I especially love the touches of yellow at the wing tips.
so who else got tattoos or body art they'd like to share? I especially love to read the story about what you chose, why, etc.
