| | My first tattoo
After much pestering and putting up with ear-numbing lectures, I finally managed to get approval from parents to let me to get a tattoo. I've actually made a decision to get a tattoo when I was in highschool but I was denied by my parents and also because I was still studying back then.
To ink a tattoo on your body is a life-long decision. One should never get one simply to look macho or be fashionable. Poor quality or bad design tattoos will not only make you look like a wannabe but it'll haunt you for life. During conversations with my tattoo artist, Bobby, I was told that there were many people coming to look for him because they were unhappy with their tattoos inked by other artistes and needed his help to cover it with a new one.
There are 2 important considerations that should be carefully appraised before one decided to get a tattoo. One is the search for a good and experienced tattoo artist and the other one is the search for a good design. There are people who were really concerned with the pain during the tattooing process but from my experience, the pain is bearable. Besides that, if you happen to get a good and experienced artist, the pain is minimal.
I'm actually quite lucky to get hold of Bobby due to my sister contacts in Singapore. My sister's boyfriend happen to have a share in a tattoo centre there and he recommended Bobby to me. On the first day, I spent much time thinking and coming up with a design with him. I can tell how good he is because he rejected any proposals to do simple objects and tribal designs because he claimed those tattoos lacked spirit and can be done by anyone. At the end of the day, we finally came up with a design that both of us were happy about.
I went back the next day to ink the tattoo. The first step was Bobby tracing the tattoo design on piece of paper and then sticking it on my arm. It's very much like making a carbon copy. Once he removed the paper from my arm, the tattoo outline can be visibly seen. He repaired some lines that were not visible with a pen and then the inking process can be started.
The first inking process required him to do an outline on the tattoo. This time is not by pen with tracing paper but with a tattoo machine. The machine looks like a handgun and the needle is at the tip of it. There are various different sizes of needles avaiable for different needs, apparently. My tattoo required 3 different needles. Throughout the process, the artist will occassionally dipped the needle into a special ink to get the tattoo colour. The frequency of it will affect the overall colour and its brightness. Also, the skills of the tattoo artist is very important during inking as you don't want to damage your skin cells. Good artists are able to know how much strength he/she needs to apply in order to avoid the needle to penetrate too deep into the skin; thus damaging skin cells and caused bleeding.
After making an outline, Bobby started to use a bigger needle in order to fill in the colour for the tattoo. After 2 and a half hours, my first tattoo was done. The pain was bearable. However, be warned that bony areas such as your shoulder, elbow, collorbone etc will bring far greater pain and anguish. As my tattoo stretched from my upper arm, Bobby did the top part near the end. Hence, all the great pain was reserved till the end. It's hard to describe the pain but just imagine how you will feel if someone poke you with a needle or a knife on your skin and repeated it for almost 3 hours and around the very same area! Pain + agitation...
There was a time when I felt really agitated and wanted to punch something or just walk away. But there were quite crowd watching both me and Bobby as the centre is located in a shopping complex. More imperatively, there were quite a few girls who were interested with tattoos came inside to watch us. As a pride Leo, I had to forcefully put a brave macho face despite all the pain.
The next one week involved applying soothing lotion on the tattoo area as the skin will dry up and eventually peeled off. Just for this reason alone, I bought a few singlets so that the I don't further irritate the skin.
The name of my tattoo design is called Maori. It's a Samoan tradition to get Maori tattoos and culturally, each tribe will get a Maori tattoo called Ta Moko to signify their positions in the tribe. Although my tattoo is based on the Maoris, it is not Ta Moko in principal because Ta Moko tattoos involved traditional inking process and each tribe/family has a distinctive Maori design that can only be applicable to their tribe/family members. More info from http://www.tamoko.org.nz/
My tattoo design is blended with Maori influence but I have no intention whatsoever to imitate Ta Moko because Ta Moko tattoos represented deep cultural significance and importance to the Maoris.
My tattoo comprised of a large central circle at the top and is surrounded by 5 stripes that stretched downwards from the circle. The circle actually represented the unity and strenght of my family. As this part also bought me the most pain during tattooing (it's bony cause it's near shoulder area), it also represented the pain and sacrifices of my parents. The 5 stripes represent the 5 members of my family; my father, mother, elder sister, me and my younger brother.
I have friends who have asked me how to get tattoos that can carry meaningful messages. They have to understand that there is not textbook on the meaning of tattoos. Every tattoo can carry personal messages. Even common designs like flowers, lotus, butterflies etc can have its own unique messages.
At the end of the day, I'm truly satisfied with the results. In fact, I don't have to pay a thing for this tattoo because of my contacts. This type of tattoo normally costs around $300... I also need to mention the professionalism of Bobby. Bobby is not a full time artist and only occassionally come over for the sake of his interests and challenge. On the day of my tattoo, he actually had to start his work shift at the hotel at 3pm but he only left me at 2.55pm. Instead of rushing it out, he took his time to explain to me on some post-tattoo care and even took his time to take pictures with me. I was really really impressed with his professionalism and commitment. The fact that he's not charging me anything further impressed me.
Sadly, Bobby will be leaving for Borneo soon and Malaysians and Singaporeans alike will lost an opportunity to meeting one of the best artists in this region. My best wishes to him...
For people who are staying in Singapore or nearby and are interested with tattoos, feel free to drop by this tattoo studio:
Dragon Pearl Tattoo Studio
100 Eu Tong Sen Street
#01-12 F Pearls Centre
Singapore 059812
Bobby + Me.
Me + Raymond. This dude has really good tattoos all over him...
Me + my brother. They said we looked like twins... although I'm actually 4 years older than my bro... >.<
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| | Posted 3/11/2006 12:50 PM - 17 Views - 2 eProps - 3 comments
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