Day 3 - Outline Complete

Date: December 23, 2011
Prep/Hand-Drawing/Stencil-Application: 40 minutes
Breaks: 1 (15 minutes)
Tattooing: 4 hours (2 outline, 2 shading)
Totally Tattooing Time To Date: 12.5

"You got great skin to tattoo, did I ever tell you that?"

"What the fuck's that mean - you flirtin with me, Rube?"

For inexplicable reasons, today was my easiest sitting to date.  Considering that I had only slept 5 hours the night before, skimped on breakfast and the majority of today's work was finishing the outline on my ribs and spine, the absence of pain was remarkable.  Perhaps sleep-deprivation is the way to go, but it can probably be chalked up to the constant (and unusually busy) influx of walk-in customers.  Apparently a fair number of people had gotten their Christmas bonuses and were eager to lay down some ink to celebrate.  Needless to say, some of the requests were a little dodgy and nothing quite makes me giggle like that fabulous Massapequa, Long Island accent (and this is coming from me: a guy who ordinarily intones in a Yonkers/Brooklyn mash-up).

One woman in her 40s kept peeking into the room where Rube was busy grinding away on my shoulder-blades.  "Sorry, I'm being nosy," she said when I made eye contact with her.

"It's alright, you can come in and watch, if you like," I replied.

"How're ya just sitting there?  Doesn't it hurt?"

"Don't be silly, of course it doesn't hurt," I lied.

"Don't you lie to me.  I've heard it hurts.  I'm about to get my first one and I'm shitting my fucking pants out here."

She left the shop long before Rube and I had a chance to ask her about the state of her underwear.  Based on the time she spent in the shop, I can't imagine that her tattoo was very large.

The couple in the next room were apparently very big into the Ren Faire scene.  They were talking quite seriously about jousting (and how to travel by air with a lance in your luggage).  There was also a guy who wanted an Ace of Hearts, but didn't want red, so he was more than happy to settle on a club or a spade.  A good chuckle can be the best thing to get you through a session, sometimes.

I can safely (hopefully?) say that we finished up the outline today.  Rube added some more cherry blossoms around the right side of my rib cage and a few extra maple leaves on the left.  We finished up the linework in the hair/mane of the dragon and also got the wind-bars sketched out on both sides of my ribs.  Again, a fairly easy sitting, oddly enough.  Maybe it was because I was thinking of that woman's shitty drawers.

The last two hours were spent shading the wind-bars, clouds (to which Rube masterfully added a slight steel-blue tint) and the water on my left shoulder.  We also connected the wind-bars from my chest-piece up over the left shoulder onto the rear.  Things are shaping up incredibly.

At a certain point, Jen (the "shop girl" at the front desk) wandered in and said, "Jesus, Brian - You're really covered.  I mean, Mike, I've seen you do backpieces before but, this, for some reason, just looks really huge."

"That's why we call him 'Big Bri'," Mike replied.  "It ain't really a backpiece; this is more like a backpiece and a half."

I probably stand close to a foot taller than Rube so I can imagine that my back kinda looks like Everest to him - or at the very least, a drive across Kansas from East to West.  Regardless, it makes me really excited when I see him smile in the mirror and say, "This is lookin' sick."

I've got a few weeks off, which is fine by me (my left shoulder/armpit feels like 8lbs of raw hamburger).

Next sitting: January 10th.  I'll keep ya posted.