So today I spent 3 hours getting work done, and finally the Dragonscript tattoo is a reality! It looks amazing. So different from the original plan, but that's half the fun is seeing the design change and evolve.
On Thursday night Tasha sent me a new design she'd thought of with the banner wrapped around a chinese dragon, which, while it looks amazing, did not include the rose and skull. This morning when I arrived at the shop I was presented with two ideas, one keeping the dragon with it holding the skull and the rose, and another without the dragon, with the banner wrapped around a large rose, the stem of which pierces a skull. Well, I went for the second of the two and this is the result:
Formatting pictures on this blog can be a pain. But you can see the angles so that's what matters. I am so happy with this one, and it even featured on Tasha's instagram, which is quite an honour! Lovely to finally have a colour tattoo, and the removal of the dragon has left me with a want of a chinese dragon.... Maybe wrapped around my wrist? All I know right now is my arm hurts. The wrist was especially painful to have done, although now doesn't hurt at all. In roughly 90 minutes I'll be removing the cling film to let it breath and wash it, before covering it again before bed... Tomorrow the cling film comes off again for good and then starts the slow healing process. With it, the desire for more ink. I'm sure I'll get some more in the coming months. I should draw out some designs and post them here. Expect poorly drawn designs!
~Rusty.
So I finally have my Dragonscript tattoo appointment booked, for next Saturday. Just a week away and I'm so excited! The new Dragonscript quote is going to say "To Love is to Live" as mentioned in last weeks blog, and that looks like this: 
I'm so excited to finally be getting this piece, as it means a lot to me, as does the person who helped me design it. Unfortunately due to events that I will not go into detail on I may not be able to speak to her again for a long while, if at all, which makes this tattoo all the more special. It's going to be my first large piece visible under a t shirt, as it'll be on my forearm where my other two large pieces are on my upper arm. It will also be my first piece with colour, as the script will be accompanied by a rose and a skull. The skull representing life and death, the rose representing love. I've always liked the rose as a symbol of love, as it's such a beautiful and vibrant flower but along it's stem are tough, sharp and powerful thorns. A reminder of how wrong love can go sometimes. As someone who was once in an abusive relationship I hope to use this to remind myself that I should aim for the flower, and leave if all I'm getting are thorns. It also reminds however that things will go wrong along the way, there will be arguments and tough times, but if you tackle them at the right angle you can pass them unscathed.
I love symbolism.
Next week shall be pictures of the new tattoo! Maybe updates on how it heals up too, for my own use more than anything as I always forget how long I take to heal after ink.
~Rusty.
So this week not much on the internet has caught my eye in the way of tattoos, however I do have an update about my own tattoos!
A week on Wednesday, so 11 days from now, I am hoping to get my next tattoo done, or at least started, it really depends how long an appointment I can get. The next one is my Dragonscript tatt, although the quote has been changed from "To Love is to Survive" to "To Live is to Live" as suggested by the person who came up with the quote originally, the lovely Christa. As she rightly says, live implies more of an enjoyment in life, and that is where I am at now with mine, learning to enjoy it. This is going to be placed on a banner on my inner right arm, under which will be a rose, the stem of which will start at my wrist, ending with the flower around the middle of my arm, and a skull in front of my elbow. The skull representing life and death, the rose representing love. I really excited for this piece as firstly it'll be the first large piece to be fully visible when not wearing long sleeves and secondly because it will be my first piece with colour!
In other news, I started going to the gym this week to get in shape properly, so far I'm enjoying it, my fitness instructor is awesome and he reckons I'll be where I want to be in roughly 12 weeks! Weight training is awesome. Oh and I have some job interviews coming up, so more money for ink in the near future hopefully!
Short blog this week, as that's all there is to tell, but at least I'm keeping up with weekly posts!
~Rusty.
This blog will be weekly, every Saturday night I will post, unless something happens to stop me, in which case I'll post as close to Saturday evening as possible.
However as will often be the case I won't have had any tattoo work done. Otherwise I'd be sore and broke constantly. So I'll try to keep up on tattoo related things or anything in my life that affects my tattoos... As such I have an example of each kind to talk about this evening.
The first is a Tumblr page that was brought to my attention through a Buzzfeed article.
Essentially what it contains is work by Visual Artist Cheyenne Randall, in which he has Photoshopped tattoos onto celebrities and it is AWESOME. Some of my favourites are Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Kate Moss, Christopher Walken and David Bowie. But mainly Audrey Hepburn. So much A.H, umph. Anyway, it's all awesome work so if you've often wondered what certain celebrities would look like covered in ink, look there.
Tumblr: http://shoppedtattoos.tumblr.com/
Buzzfeed Article: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/this-is-what-it-would-look-like-if-your-favorite-celebrities
On from that awesomeness... I finally got the confidence to start going to the gym... In the last 10 months I've lost 2 stone in weight by myself, but have decided to tone up a bit before getting any torso tattoos. I'm on a 2 week introductory thing at the moment, first session on Monday. Trainer I met with this morning is coming up with a tailored workout session to achieve what I want, and reckons it will take around 12 weeks. As I make progress I'll probably post pics, or I may just wait till the end. We'll see. Either way, once I achieve my target I'll be getting some more ink and then signing up with Alternative/Tattoo modelling agencies! It's not something I ever saw myself doing before but I'm suddenly so motivated I figured, why not? It would be a lot of fun if it took off, and good money if I got the right work. Making money from the tattoos I get out of a love for them would be awesome.
So that's me this week, short and sweet, unlike myself!
~Rusty.
So now the intro's out of the way.... Let's talk about what I'm getting in the future. Exactly when depends on when I have the money to get it done.
So first off, I'm getting a large piece on my lower right arm in dragonscript. It reads "To love is to survive", which right away I know sounds cliche, but if you read my first blog you'll have gathered it's the people and things that I love who kept me alive during a very tough time in life. If you still think it's cliche, then, well fuck you. This will most likely be on a banner of some form, and as always with me there will be symbolism, something to represent life, love and death either around or behind the banner. For those who don't know, the dragonscript I'm using is from The Elder Scrolls video game series. Partly because I love Skyrim and partly because the script itself just looks awesome and unique.
The next piece I want to get after that is a tiger, but not just any tiger. It's going to be a miniature version of my father's tiger tatt, the one that got me interested in tattoos all those years ago. It's going to go on my upper left arm, with a border pattern added to it to cap the shoulder. This is just because I've always loved this tattoo, even though it is an off the wall design. It means a lot to me, without this design I may have never got the tattoos I have now!
Tigers are also my favourite wild animal. So you know, that helps to.
The last couple of designs I have in mind are either smaller projects or very early in design. The first being the smaller project. This is to get what I call the "generic tattoo star" on the front of each shoulder, in black and red. If you don't know what I'm referring to, as with most things I mention, I'll leave a pic by this paragraph.
Lastly I'm looking at two designs that are very early in development. One being a cuff pattern for my left wrist, as being 6' 8" tall has left me with 9" wrists, meaning I struggle to get bracelets that don't break after two days of wearing, if they even fit to begin with. The solution to this seems obvious to me, get interesting things tattooed on my wrists, that way I don't need bracelets. Then on my right wrist I want something similar to a charm bracelet. Something I can add little details to to remind me of the important things in life. Both of these are very new ideas and so nothing has yet been drawn up. Tasha is going to be doing most of the designing of them. She's a wonderful artist and I love her style, so I know she'll come up with something perfect for me. But until then, she'll be working on my Dragonscript and Tiger tatts and I'll be working for tattoo money. That's how it goes. Well, when she not working with others customers or relaxing, obviously!
~Rusty.
I'm Rex, or Rusty, whichever you prefer. This is one of three blogs I have. One's been deactivated for a while but will be started up again soon. Another is for Video Game posts and is kinda up and down as to when I post. Lastly this one, is my tattoo blog.
I'll start with a bit of background. I've wanted tattoos for as long as I can remember. As a child I'd look at my father's tattoos and imagine getting my own some day. When we finally got a computer with internet at age 12, I spent many hours each week looking at tattoos on famous people, reading tattoo blogs and still imagining getting my own. At 16 my father took me to the local tattoo shop to see about finally getting one, at which point I was informed I needed to 18. finally at 19, last year, I had the money to get my first tattoo. My father designed it, and my tattoo artist, Tasha Brooks, made some adjustments and just like that we were good to go.
My first piece was a Phoenix, on my right arm. Symbolising how I'd changed in the last couple of years. After lots of severe bullying and an abusive relationship I was quiet and timid with no confidence, but after a lot of work I became the confident man I am now. Defeating the suicidal thoughts, depression and outbursts of anger I'd become prone to. The Phoenix, a symbol of rebirth and new life, summed that change up perfectly for me. I should also mention, I didn't go small. Go big or go home. Four and a half hours over two sessions. £280. This is the result.
This was my first taste of ink. November 2013. It's true what they say, once you get one, you can't stop. For me the worst part is the itching when the dead skin peels. Knowing you can't scratch it gets so frustrating. I also much prefer shading to line work. Line work stings like a bitch, seriously.
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Recently I got my second and third tattoos. Again from Tasha Brooks, who has recently started at a new shop based in Soham called Skin Folk. These were both done in one session and due to their size, and the obvious simplicity of the third only took an hour and a half, costing £110. I should explain them. Patsy is my dog. I got her when my depression was at it's worst and she gave me a reason to live. She means the world to me, but she's old and ill. I owe this dog my life and want to remember her. Her name is circled by her favourite scarf, as it's a bit more personal than a generic German Shepherd head piece or silhouette. The tally marks are actually a reference to The Silence in Doctor Who, if you get that then awesome! If not then I won't worry about explaining it further. The number 13 was honestly a random choice, I didn't even think about it at the time, but people find it weird so I'm thinking of hiding 13 tally marks into future tattoo designs. See if people can find them!
I do have future plans to talk about on this blog. But I want to keep planned tattoos and completed/working progress posts separate.
So that's my tattoos. Not much right now, but I will be adding to them as and when I can afford to.
Next post will be my ideas for the future!
~Rusty.
