None of which is to imply anything about ‘Tattoo People’ (other than that they’re badass, Harley riding, father raping, ass-kicking, bambi-stomping badasses). One of my closest friends has a beautiful display sleeved down the length of each arm and a portrait on his chest. Indeed, my wife had a tattoo put on right about the time I met her. So my stance on the inked among us is that the ink they sport neither makes them better, nor worse people. It just wasn’t my thing. But I guess I would have always been willing to get the RIGHT tattoo. It just never came along.
Then, in December 2005, my beautiful, amazing wife, Tina was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. One of the ways I dealt with this by drawing pictures related to Breast Cancer Awareness.
One of the other ways I dealt with her diagnosis was to raise funds for and walk in The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day. But the most important thing I did was to support Breast Cancer Awareness any way I could. I had the idea that I could proudly support her fight with Breast Cancer by getting a tattoo of my own design on my calf where I could show it off to everyone but hide it when I needed to simply by wearing pants. It would need to be relevant to Breast Cancer but also personal to Tina and I, but not specifically about her or us. This is what I came up with:
Now all I had to do was get the Tattoo. Uh-huh. Right. I actually ended up putting it on the back burner for a while. Months became years. In the mean time, both of my step-daughters got tattoos. I kept intending to do it, but never did. Every so often I would jump out on the net and do a little research, or ask someone who had one how much it hurt, but that was about it. In early 2010, I realized time was flying way too fast and that this tattoo was sort of a bucket list thing for me, so I decided that I might look into tentatively exploring the idea of investigating the prospect of possibly going through with this. Uh-huh. Right.
Then one Thursday afternoon a few weeks before my wife’s birthday, on the way home from work, I spontaneously stopped by a parlor called the Inkwell, in Bristol CT. I had been driving past it every day for a few years, so I didn’t think it was some fly by night operation. Upon entering, I was immediately impressed. The several tattoo parlors (is that still what they’re called?) I’d experienced in my life followed the same formula; an open reception area with a desk and some artwork for you to peruse and a backroom or two where they would carve up your body with their fitly needles half filled with ink and rat feces. The Inkwell was different. It was one big, open area. There was a sitting area, a waist high counter, and an open work area behind the counter. Nothing to hide, everything in the open. I had a great first impression of this establishment, and a better first impression of the personable artist named Nycci who greeted me. I instantly thought it appropriate that a woman might be doing my tattoo.
There was a young lady having her first tattoo across her upper back who was grimacing, but told me it didn’t hurt that bad. I gave Nycci my picture, she quoted me a price and I made an appointment for the following Tuesday.
I spent an enjoyable weekend hiking and being with my family and didn’t think too much about it. The day before, I rode my bike 15 miles, and hiked 20 so I would be plenty tired. I arrived a few minutes early and chatted with the other artist and the guy he was working on, a cool Hartford EMT having a sleeve put on his forearm. Nycci showed me her interpretation of my picture and I lay down and got comfy. She sketched it out on my right calf and showed me. The outline looked great and I laid down again. She told me she would start with one line and wanted me to let her know how it felt. After that one line, I knew I would be fine. In fact, she told me it would take an hour to an hour and a half, but after 25 minutes, I took my first look, and it was almost done. At first she told me the white in the bulb would eventually fade to skin color and I might not want to do it depending on how much it hurt, but after the first 25 minutes, I told her to just do it. She ended up finishing in like 45 minutes and explained it went quick and smooth because I didn’t fidget but just let her do her thing and finish it. When she was done, I was extremely pleased with the result:
Even more pleased after it healed for a few days:
In fact, I was so pleased with her service, her final product, and her speed, I gave her (what I considered) a nice tip.
So now the obvious questions
Did it hurt? Yup. Someone scraped my skin to get permanent ink under there. Of course it hurt. But it was completely bearable.
Will I get any more? Probably. I was warned they were addictive and so they are. I’m (beyond) contemplating another Pink Ribbon piece for my left calf and I may get something that reminds me of my parents on my shoulder. I also want something for all my girls, a Red Sox ‘B’, and possibly, a Masonic Emblem.
Good lord, I can’t believe I’ve gone on for over two pages about a simple little tattoo. Well whatever. Deal with it. I’m tattoo people now . You know, badass. So get out of my grill, or I’ll kick your ass…or…like, you know, call the cops, or maybe give you a dirty look when you cut me off at an intersection…
Weight Loss Update:
Ok, back at it. In two more biggest loser contests, one for charity. You'll recall I lost a bunch of weight last fall. well, I found it again over the holidays. So this time, contests notwithstanding, I have decided to try and modify my diet instead of starving myself, and making sure regular exercize is a part of my life. That said:
January 2009: 282.9
October 2009: 228
January 2010: 265
Right Now: 240ish
See why I need to lose weight: ceb364.deviantart.com/journal/…
Find out about my 2 new family members: ceb364.deviantart.com/journal/…
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ABOUT MY ARTWORK
If you don't give a crap about my life as an artist, feel free to stop reading now, I realize I can be a wordy SOB.
All of my work is pen and ink (why do they call it pen AND ink anyway?). Specifically, India ink. I used to work in pencil, and will occasionally do something in just pencil, but I have grown to love the contract and sharpness I can get from ink. Everything starts with rough pencils and is eventually embellished with Micron graphic pens. I used to use Penstix, but they tend to fade over time while the Microns hold up very well. They also come in better line depths and also a variety of colors, which I started experimenting with not too long ago.
I also wanted to make everyone aware that I do commissions (both pictures and cases) if anyone is interested. You see my style, you see what I’m capable of. If you are interested, please contact me. I also want to let you know that many of my originals are available for sale. If you are interested in anything specific, please let me know. This applies to both of my accounts.
Hey look! New Stuff! (click the little picture to make it a big picture)
Mature Content
Mature Content
What else am I working on? I'm currently working on a companion piece to the tattoo on my right calf, I have few uniked pieces to get too, I'm also working pencilling another athelete who also happens to be a cancer survivor, and a project involving a stock model from DA. I also want to work on something with my brother.
I recently uploaded all of my Custom Computer Case Mods. Here’s one now:
. Find out why: ceb364.deviantart.com/journal/…On Saturday, January 28, 2006 (my dad’s birthday), this picture:
was chosen as a Daily Deviation. It was recommended by
and selected by 
.I wanted to express my gratitude to both of those deviants and to all the members who commented and faved this piece who I didn’t have a chance to properly thank. Lame as it may sound, it was one of the most gratifying, important, and proud moments in my life as an artist. Recognition by one’s peers may be the most sincere compliment and artist can receive.My best work:
Which is not only a masterful piece of art I would hold up to anything ever produced by any artist, but also is touching tribute to someone my entire family loved dearly.Some others I consider to be among my best:
I also very much like the abstract pictures that come straight from my imagination:
And let me shout out to my Amazing, beautiful, lovely, CANCER FREE wife by sharing some of the overly sappy, lovey dovey pictures I drew for her that always seem to come out pretty good:
Make sure you visit my kid’s gallery. She’s a recent UCONN grad who needs to upload some of the amazing stuff she’s done in the last few years:
Also, say hi to one of our family’s real-world friends:
I also wanted to mention a few pictures that either didn't live up to their potential, or just simply suck:
And I would be remiss if I didn't throw in a few nudie girls, big boobed babes, and scantily clad super heroines:
:thumb82778035: :thumb82756453:
Mature Content
Later!
