Thursday  Oct 20, 2005

Justin Pelegano's Tattoos Stories - Andrea Firsthand

How many of us lie like rugs after getting tattooed? We macho up and deny feeling any pain at all. Either that, or we acknowledge that it hurt like all hell, and then we go around wearing that fact like a badge: “Yeah man, it was brutal, but I sat for three hours straight – no breaks – cuz I’m badass like that.” At least that’s what I think I said. Thankfully, Andrea here chronicled her tattoo process. Refreshingly, she’s nothing but honest about what it was like for her:

“After looking at art forever and looking for the right tattoo for over a year, I found a group of women in separate paintings done by the artist Dorian that I wanted to represent the three Greek Fates. Their names are: Klotho, Lakhesis and Atropos. Klotho spins the thread of life, Lakhesis determines the length of the thread and Atropos cuts the thread when the proper time has come for death… Thankfully we are starting out slow and doing the tattoo in parts. Right now I have one of the women on my lower back; an oriental inspired piece that I like very much, but is not my favorite. The other two will come later when I forget how painful this tattoo was.

The outline is the worst part. For a lot of it, the pain is manageable [and] in some parts it doesn’t hurt at all. But the long sweeping lines, the feeling of a bee sting to scraping flesh manifests quickly. I repeated over and over in my head, ‘This will end, this will end.’ As soon as Scott lifts the tattoo machine from my skin, the pain stops almost immediately.

That is the only thing that I think makes tattoos bearable; the pain stops when the needles are not in the skin….In the end, the repeated action of being tattooed adds up, and I started to feel heavy in the heart like I was going to have an anxiety attack. As the pain added up we had to stop a few times so I could relax…I never expected to have that reaction. Scott knew what that was like so [he] took it very slow and gentle with me. We spent about 2 ½ hours of needle time, and I think it was worth it….Now my tattoo is getting into the sunburned feeling itchy stage. Joy! I hope I’m a quick healer; I can’t wait to see what she looks like when she is fully healed.
Each day it is a surprise in how she gets more vibrant and detailed.”

So did Andrea eventually forget the pain and get more ink? Yep. That beautiful hummingbird tat is also hers. Everyone handles the tattoo process differently. Be honest with yourself and honest with your artist every step along the way. Just try not to twitch in the chair; erasing is strictly impossible.

Scott is Scott Strampel from Electric Needle Hut in Edwardsburg, MI . Visit them here

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