Gaurav Joshua Vaz (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} derherr) wrote,@ 2006-12-03 08:51:00 |
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The Tattoo ... yet again :)
So after a long wait and a lot of searching and some saving up ... I finally went and got my appointment to get my other arm inked! I had found this design in May and wanted since then to get it done but after a lot or waiting and planning and scheduling, I had to get it done this week ... for reasons which I will reveal soon enough!
Now, I thought I might as well do a quick how to for getting tattoos done ... If you are the kind that likes being inked that is! after all .. you're just using your body as a canvas ...
First ... you find the right tattoo artist ... THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP ... you find someone that you trust, someone who you are comfortable with ... if you have problems with that, you should try to accompany someone who is going for a tattoo or you should try to see how the tattoo artist works or just take the word of someone who has been there and done that and recommends his/her work... I found Pradeep Menon through a friend called Aparna long time back and since my first tattoo ages ago ... I have stuck to him and recommended his work to everyone! This is him and a photo of some of his tattoos ...
Next ... you get yourself a design that you love. Remember this is permanent ... so you get something that you really really like and would not mind having on you for the rest of your life .. Pradeep himself tells us stories of people who come and get their significant other's names or initials tattooed on themselves and then break up and are stuck with it so have to either remove it or get another tattoo done over it to cover it up! The design for my first tattoo was inspired by the bass clef (for my love of the bass guitar and music in general), a mermaid (for Shilpa! ... its a little secret!) and a Koi Fish (for a spirit of adventure and freedom). The tattoo was a Koi Fish jumping out of the water and has quite a bit of meaning to it!
My second tattoo is for my faith in my religion. I am a non-intrusive religious person which means that I have my faith and stand by it but I won't go around telling you what you should believe in and where you should change your faith etc and that is how I intend it to be. I am more of a "try to understand the message" kind of a guy when it comes to faith and am supportive of what different religions preach than a fanatic of a particular religion. Sometime back I came across this beautiful design of a wooden cross with creepers all over it, a way I would like to see as spreading all around but supported by the cross and that made a lot of sense to me and I was waiting for that to be tattooed on me!
So after a long wait and a lot of searching and some saving up ... I finally went and got my appointment to get my other arm inked! I had found this design in May and wanted since then to get it done but after a lot or waiting and planning and scheduling, I had to get it done this week ... for reasons which I will reveal soon enough!
Now, I thought I might as well do a quick how to for getting tattoos done ... If you are the kind that likes being inked that is! after all .. you're just using your body as a canvas ...
First ... you find the right tattoo artist ... THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP ... you find someone that you trust, someone who you are comfortable with ... if you have problems with that, you should try to accompany someone who is going for a tattoo or you should try to see how the tattoo artist works or just take the word of someone who has been there and done that and recommends his/her work... I found Pradeep Menon through a friend called Aparna long time back and since my first tattoo ages ago ... I have stuck to him and recommended his work to everyone! This is him and a photo of some of his tattoos ...
Next ... you get yourself a design that you love. Remember this is permanent ... so you get something that you really really like and would not mind having on you for the rest of your life .. Pradeep himself tells us stories of people who come and get their significant other's names or initials tattooed on themselves and then break up and are stuck with it so have to either remove it or get another tattoo done over it to cover it up! The design for my first tattoo was inspired by the bass clef (for my love of the bass guitar and music in general), a mermaid (for Shilpa! ... its a little secret!) and a Koi Fish (for a spirit of adventure and freedom). The tattoo was a Koi Fish jumping out of the water and has quite a bit of meaning to it!
My second tattoo is for my faith in my religion. I am a non-intrusive religious person which means that I have my faith and stand by it but I won't go around telling you what you should believe in and where you should change your faith etc and that is how I intend it to be. I am more of a "try to understand the message" kind of a guy when it comes to faith and am supportive of what different religions preach than a fanatic of a particular religion. Sometime back I came across this beautiful design of a wooden cross with creepers all over it, a way I would like to see as spreading all around but supported by the cross and that made a lot of sense to me and I was waiting for that to be tattooed on me!
Once you have the design in mind, go over to the tattoo parlour and get the design sketched ... Most tattoo parlours have artists who will sketch the tattoo for you or you can choose to get it sketched by someone else and just have the artist replicate it and transfer it to the skin. Most tattoos here are traced and only the shading and finishing touches are added freehand. There are tattoo artists who do stuff freehand directly on your skin too but that requires a HUGE level of trust from the person getting tattooed and skill from the tattoo artist .. I preferred having it traced because I could modify the design if need be once I saw it on my arm ..
This design is then transferred on to your skin (carbon paper / translucent tracing sheets etc ..) where you want the tattoo and you can see how the tattoo will look before the tattoo artist gets to work. This is where you suggest changes or make modifications or just scrap the whole idea!
This design is then transferred on to your skin (carbon paper / translucent tracing sheets etc ..) where you want the tattoo and you can see how the tattoo will look before the tattoo artist gets to work. This is where you suggest changes or make modifications or just scrap the whole idea!
After the design is transferred, the tattoo artist sets up the tattoo gun and some ink and starts outlining the design. This is used as a guide to later shade the tattoo and get a proper 3D effect. Make sure the inks used for the tattoo are not lead based or you can expect problems a little later on in life! Pradeep uses only vegetable dye and though its not the darkest in the world, its made of natural vegetable extract so thats a HUGE relief! The newer inks he has got are much darker than the old ones and the results are brilliant!
Make sure you have slept well the day before the tattooing and have eaten well and don't feel any fatigue while you go for your tattoo. The sting of the gun when it starts could cause a lot of unpleasantness and eating well first is a good idea! I blacked out for half a minute since I had not eaten before the tattoo and was feeling quite tired. It required a lot of chicken sandwiches and some cold coffee and water to get me back in shape for the rest of this tattoo! I've had 2 tattoos before with no problem so it was not a matter of pain or it being a surprise ... it was just fatigue and hunger! I got this done in the middle of the afternoon ... without lunch and with only an early breakfast ... NOT a good idea!
The outlining takes some time and for a design of the size I got (6 inch x 4 inch), it took about 2 and a half hours for the outlining with the amount of lines as you see in the tattoo ... Ask the tattoo artist to stop whenever you want to take a break and generally its a good idea to have something else to do ... like read a book or something and not concentrate on the tattoo being done. Let the expert do the job!
Make sure you have slept well the day before the tattooing and have eaten well and don't feel any fatigue while you go for your tattoo. The sting of the gun when it starts could cause a lot of unpleasantness and eating well first is a good idea! I blacked out for half a minute since I had not eaten before the tattoo and was feeling quite tired. It required a lot of chicken sandwiches and some cold coffee and water to get me back in shape for the rest of this tattoo! I've had 2 tattoos before with no problem so it was not a matter of pain or it being a surprise ... it was just fatigue and hunger! I got this done in the middle of the afternoon ... without lunch and with only an early breakfast ... NOT a good idea!
The outlining takes some time and for a design of the size I got (6 inch x 4 inch), it took about 2 and a half hours for the outlining with the amount of lines as you see in the tattoo ... Ask the tattoo artist to stop whenever you want to take a break and generally its a good idea to have something else to do ... like read a book or something and not concentrate on the tattoo being done. Let the expert do the job!
Pradeep started off with the outlining and his apprentice and artist Deep carried on from there to finish the outlining. This is a closer look at the tattoo gun .. and a look at the tattoo when its half outlined. Once this is done, the finishing touches are added to the outline and the shading starts.
The shading is done either at the same sitting as the outline for smaller tattoos with not much of an intricate design or at another sitting if the skin becomes sore from the lines on the design. The sore skin will not take the colour and will result in a bad tattoo so like in my case, most of the outside was fine but the centre of the design had too many lines and had caused my skin to become pink and slightly sore ... so that will be shaded at another sitting sometime later after this heals and settles down ...
The tattoo as it is now is not bad at all ... I love it and it will only further improve ... So if you want your tattoo done .. well.. now you know what to do! (I hope :))
Well ... this is how the tattoo looks in its current state ... I will be sure to post a proper pic after it is complete ...
All pics courtesy of the lovelytwostupidogs
Details about the studio and the tattoo artist...
The Studio:
The Dark Arts Studio is located in Frazer town just behind St. Germain's School.
#32/11, Spencer Road Cross,
Frazer Town, Bangalore 560005
Directions:
Go to Coles park. Take the left at the signal in front of St. Germain's High School. Go past the Centurion bank ATM and take a left at the 2nd circle on the road. Take the first left after that into a slightly small lane, the studio is in the 3rd house on the left.
The Artist:
Pradeep Menon has been doing tattooing for a living for over 4 years now. He is a skilled artist and takes personal interest in each tattoo he does and is quite picky and choosy about the designs etc. He uses safe imported vegetable based dye and sterilized needles and in time, if nothing happens to me, you will know he is a safe bet for your tattoos!
Contact him on: 91 98452 91930
The shading is done either at the same sitting as the outline for smaller tattoos with not much of an intricate design or at another sitting if the skin becomes sore from the lines on the design. The sore skin will not take the colour and will result in a bad tattoo so like in my case, most of the outside was fine but the centre of the design had too many lines and had caused my skin to become pink and slightly sore ... so that will be shaded at another sitting sometime later after this heals and settles down ...
The tattoo as it is now is not bad at all ... I love it and it will only further improve ... So if you want your tattoo done .. well.. now you know what to do! (I hope :))
Well ... this is how the tattoo looks in its current state ... I will be sure to post a proper pic after it is complete ...
All pics courtesy of the lovely
twostupidogs Details about the studio and the tattoo artist...
The Studio:
The Dark Arts Studio is located in Frazer town just behind St. Germain's School.
#32/11, Spencer Road Cross,
Frazer Town, Bangalore 560005
Directions:
Go to Coles park. Take the left at the signal in front of St. Germain's High School. Go past the Centurion bank ATM and take a left at the 2nd circle on the road. Take the first left after that into a slightly small lane, the studio is in the 3rd house on the left.
The Artist:
Pradeep Menon has been doing tattooing for a living for over 4 years now. He is a skilled artist and takes personal interest in each tattoo he does and is quite picky and choosy about the designs etc. He uses safe imported vegetable based dye and sterilized needles and in time, if nothing happens to me, you will know he is a safe bet for your tattoos!
Contact him on: 91 98452 91930
