Tattoo Finished!

I got my autumn leaf tattoo finished last night. If you remember it had to be done in stages, and I got the initial part inked back in early April, which was the first 2 leaves and the outline of the 3rd.Shaun figured we could get it finished in one more sitting and we did, although it was a solid 4 hours of needlework with only a 10 min. break. I was at the shop for almost 5 straight hours. This was really too long of a session, and if I'd known what that last hour would feel like, I would've broken it into 2 sessions. For the most part I don't mind the coloring, it's just the outlining that hurts. And when the skin is already sensitive from hours of tattooing, it starts to really hurt. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but this just never ended. A few times the skin/muscles contracted reflexively, and I had to focus on my breathing to try and relax and hold still. By the end I tried singing to myself as a distraction, but kept stumbling over the same few lines, unable to ignore the work being done. But I really believe all of this was due to the length of time it took and how sensitive (ticklish) the area was. A couple hours of work is done quick enough it doesn't really hurt much. Still, it's totally worth it. The tattoo is gorgeous, and it's exciting to have it finished.

Oh, would you like some pictures? Here's one of Shaun working on the 2nd of 4 leaves of the night. He just finished coloring in the white oak leaf and outlining the cottonwood. Now he's applying the base yellow to the cottonwood leaf.As each leaf was finished I'd get up and we'd stencil on the next one. For the final 2 leaves I was sitting on the bench hugging my knees, which is an oddly uncomfortable way to sit for hours, but gave the best canvas for Shaun to work. So here's the front view of the leaves. There's no way to get the whole tattoo in one photo. There's also no way to give a panned back view without an R rating.These are:
Sweetgum (liquidambar styraciflua)
Tulip tree (lyriodendron tulipifera)
White oak (Quercus alba)
Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)

The wind isn't actually red, once it heals it'll be just like the grey swirls around the first leaf. Here's the leaves on my back. They stop right at the edge of my spine, which looks really cool. Shaun did such an awesome job shading the leaves. I think the final one turning green to brown is my favorite. And there are nice details, like shadows where the leaves overlap, that don't really show in photos. He also left a small bit of the final leaf (the left point) unshaded, which I thought was fitting since I never seem to finish anything :)So after the yellow cottonwood leaf, these are:
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)

Each leaf is from a tree special to me in some way, I'd be happy to go into details in person if you're interested. It's hard to believe these photos are pictures of me. It almost doesn't look real. This is the end of my tattoo adventures for a long long time. I have an ultimate plan of getting a tree of life on my upper back shoulder and continuing the leaves up to it, so it looks like the leaves are blowing down off the tree. But that's far in the future.

Tattoo Part 1

Sat. night I got the first part of my new tattoo inked. It's a series of autumn leaves blowing in a gust of wind. I've wanted a hip tattoo for a while, and was trying to decide what exactly I wanted when I stumbled upon a note I'd written about 8 years ago with the idea of a blowing leaves or snowflakes tattoo. Autumn means a lot more to me than winter, so it was an easy choice.

Shaun only had time to outline 3 leaves and shade the first 2. There will be 7 total, curving around my hip towards my back. Each leaf is from a tree that is special to me in some way. So far I have:

Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweetgum)
Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip Tree)
Quercus alba (White Oak)

Yes, I'm a complete dork and know the latin botanical name for each one. I still remember the identification quirks for each one from college ecology, too.

I love the vibrant colors and shading of the leaves. I can't wait to see what the next ones look like. Here's a closeup of the shading:


The way we're designing it is fun. Shaun drew each leaf individually, and I flip it around on my skin until it's where I want. While he's working on one leaf I lay there and think about what colors to use for the next one. The tattooing isn't bad, except there was a ticklish spot he inked that made it hard to lie still. Now I know how a dog must feel when you scratch its 'giggle nerve' and it starts to pat its foot.

I'll post up more pictures once it's finished, I just had to share what I have so far.