Tattoo Tuesday

I couldn't think of an alliterative but factually correct title for this post so you'll have to deal with the punchy-sounding but inaccurate one above - this was in fact, Tattoo Wednesday. Yesterday, I headed up to Portland for my long-awaited tattoo booking with Henry Rodriguez of Scapegoat Tattoo. I arranged this from home a few months ago and have been counting down the days ever since! 

I didn't have time to do much apart from coffee and some brief bookshopping at the legendary Powell's City of Books, but we'll actually be back in Portland on Saturday so I'm sure I'll be able to regale you with more of its wonders then (Voodoo Donut, for example!). I did manage to take a couple of funny snaps though - as ever, Portland was the sweet caricature of itself that we've all come to know and love (and secretly wish we lived in):

The most Oregonian bumper sticker of all time

 Site of a presumed hipster mugging

  

 You can't really tell in the photo, but this strip of shops is home to a vegan cafe, a vegan clothes and homewares store, a vegan grocery store, and finally the vegan tattoo parlour I was heading to (they use all cruelty free inks and other materials). Tofurkey, anyone?

 The shop is super cool inside, it has a bit of a Victorian feel to it. I was early so had plenty of time to wait around and admire their many steampunk fixtures and amazing classic tattoo flash.

And now to the whole point of the day - the tattoo. Maybe it makes me totally vanilla to say this, but you guys, it really hurt! I'm not sure if it was just because it's been a few years since my last one, or the size and placement of this one, but man, that was a long three and a half hours. Maybe I'm just not a punk anymore? Sad face! I was a bit of a shaky wreck once it was done, so I crawled around the block to a cafe to fortify myself with darjeeling tea and a bagel (as you do). After that, there was just enough time to get some much-needed fresh air on a long walk back to the bus station for the evening bus back to Corvallis.

And now the important part - I snapped these in the bathroom mirror this morning, so they're not the best. He's also still pretty swollen and icky, but once the redness and swelling clears up I think the colours are really going to pop, which is exactly what I wanted. Without further ado, photos!

Paul took one look at him and named him Sterling, which has already stuck. A most dignified name for a most dignified fellow.

When I look at him this morning I can't help but think, duh, of course it was painful - he's so elaborate and detailed, and the shading and colours are incredible. I'll take some clearer photos once he's healed up so you can see the full extent of his greatness! If you've seen my original images, you'll know he's pretty far away from where I was when I started thinking about this tattoo, but I'm so, so happy with him. Isn't he just awesome?!

A lot of advice gets passed around about being assertive when you're getting tattooed, and I guess that is useful to a point. An important addendum to that though, I would say if you've chosen an artist based on a body of work that you love (which I did - if you look at Henry's portfolio, you'll see he knows a thing or two about tattooing owls) you'll be lucky enough to have an artist at your disposal whose judgement you can really trust. Henry took my original idea and turned it into something that incorporates all the elements I wanted, but works so much better that anything I could've dreamed up. If you're in the Portland area and looking to get some ink, do check out Scapegoat Tattoo. I really can't recommend them highly enough.

And now I'm going to go lie on the couch until my arm feels less like it's going to snap off and run screaming into the distance!