My First Tattoo

The year was 2019. I had been thinking on and off since my undergraduate days at Ohio State about getting a tattoo. I wanted something meaningful, something that says something about me. And I wanted something that makes a statement. If I’m going to get a tattoo, I thought, it needs to be visible and not hidden away. I want EVERYONE to see it.

Maybe that’s bold, or brave, or just stupid. I’m not sure which. That’s how I felt (and still feel) and it’s also the reason I waited so long. But I was rapidly approaching 50 and I thought, it’s now or never.^[1]

So I dusted off some ideas that had been simmering on my mental back burner, opened Adobe Illustrator, and started sketching some things out. My initial plan was for a cuff tattoo just above the wrist, consisting of a few bands representing the three most important people in my life.

At some point in the process, I decided that a cuff was not enough and that I wanted something even bigger. I continued adding elements to the design.

I called a local place to make an appointment with an artist. I hadn’t really shopped around for an artist at this point and was randomly paired with an artist I knew nothing about. She didn’t have a good sense of how to do what I wanted and didn’t seem to be very enthusiastic about the project. We parted ways after she arrived completely unprepared for our second meeting. I didn’t mind that I had to eat the $50 deposit.

At this point I began doing a little more homework and found a local artist named Ian Friend at High Street Tattoo. I liked the work he was showcasing on Instagram and I liked that he was a CCAD grad.

I took my designs, along with a pile of screenshots of tattoos I liked, and spread them on the table in front of Ian. At this point, one of two things might have happened. Either I was going to get laughed out of the place or we would have a conversation.

Not only did we have the conversation, Ian spent literally hours with me going over everything—planning, stenciling, taking pictures, erasing, starting over. There were no needles until we had things worked out. Needless to say this was an iterative process. I was—and still am—so grateful for the time and care Ian took to understand my vision (fragmented and incomplete as it was) and give it life. He made sure that all the design elements worked together cohesively and with the musculature of my arm. He also provided the creativity I could not, to fill in the gaps and make the piece complete.

After that first couple hours on that first day, Ian started to prepare his workspace. He carefully laid out the needles and ink, while I waited and watched with great interest. (I’m fascinated by such rituals.) Then it suddenly occurred to me: what if this is so painful I can’t stand it? All that time wasted?! I was apprehensive, to put it mildly. I had just signed up for many hours of this with no concept whatsoever of the level of pain I should expect. Before I could sort out and deal with the vortex of fear and anxiety that was now building up in my mind, he leaned in and said something like, “all set?” I smiled bravely and replied, “Let’s do it!”

I closed my eyes and tried to be prepared for the worst. And it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had feared. Phew! Now I just had to lie still for what would be quite a long while.

Ian’s station in the shop was in the window—he had seniority—so I was lucky to be able to watch people go by on the sidewalk outside. Saturdays in the fall are game days in Columbus, so there were lots of people going to and fro. I observed more cases of White Claw go by during those sessions than ever before or since.

I went back two more times. The entire process lasted for around 20 hours over three sessions, about 12 hours of which was actual inking time.

I’ve had a lot of people express surprise at this having been my first tattoo. I’ve also received a lot of compliments, including one from a native Hawaiian who greeted me at the car rental desk in Maui. (I was terrified from the moment she noticed my arm until she finally spoke, giving her approval.) I’m still very happy with how it turned out, and very proud to display it.

Someday soon I hope to start on the other arm, but I’m still working on that.

Thanks to Lou Plummer for inspiring me to write this post.