Forums → The Tavern → Tattoos: Images, Ideas, and the process

I recently got my first tattoo in celebration of the end of my first year of college. I'd like to clarify before people start hounding on me that this WAS NOT a spur of the moment decision. I had been thinking about this for several years, and upon evaluating whether or not I could stand having it on my body for the rest of my life, went forward with the process.

That being said, tattoos are a PERMANENT mark on your body, and I would highly encourage anyone looking to get one to put it off for a while until you are sure you're ready for it. For those of you who may be interested in getting a tattoo sometime in the future, I've got an outline of what I went through, and what seems to be pretty standard procedure. For simplicity's sake, I have left out a lot of details that you will most likely hear from the tattoo artist on your own time.

Once you decide what design you want and where you want it, the next step is choosing a tattoo artist. I'd highly recommend shopping around for not only prices, but for portfolios. Every artist has his/her own individual style that may or may not fit what you want your tattoo. In addition to this, it's probably wise to do a bit of research into the shop you plan on going to. Google was a great tool for me. People will usually have evaluated their experience at the tattoo parlor, as well as the cleanliness of the shop, (VERY IMPORTANT) and the quality of the tattoo they received.

Although I've only gotten one tattoo, I have to say that I probably had one of the best experiences possible with both the artist and the parlor. He was extremely professional in front of me, and was very thorough in not only walking me through the process as he was filling me with ink, but in instructing me with aftercare as well.

I had gone in earlier with a computer-printed image of what I wanted for my tattoo and scheduled an appointment after talking with the artist and doing my research, so when I showed up he already had a stencil ready. I signed some legal forms he had for me, and then he made sure I approved of it, then got it printed. After doing some quick sanitary work, he put the stencil on my back.

VERY IMPORTANT: If the stencil doesn't look right in any way, shape, or form, POINT IT OUT. Remember, this is going to be on your body forever. Might want to get it right the first time, correct? Mine had to be corrected once or twice, and it's really not that big of a deal.


Here's me, with the stencil on and the outline about to be started

Next, he went onto the outline. Ask anyone else who has gotten a tattoo, as well as myself, and almost everyone will tell you that this is probably the worst part. It takes about 15 minutes for the endorphins to get kicking, and even though that doesn't completely get rid of the pain, it definitely numbs it a lot.

Breaks were necessary. I took five minutes after the outline to stretch and talk to my friend who came with me. The rest of the tattoo was basically just filling in the ink. I took another five minute break between each word that got filled in. You never want to take too many; the endorphins only last 2-3 hours at a time, and the artist is charging you for all the time you're on a break too.



Here's the tattoo, 2/3rds of the way done

A warning: Aftercare is...extensive, to say the least. If you don't want to have to go in for touch ups later on you'll basically want to do everything the nice artist tells you. This includes no hot showers, no soaking the tattoo, no direct sunlight to the tattooed area, and basically treating the tattoo as an open wound for about two weeks. It was all the more pain for me since mine was on my back.


And finally, the finished product

Anything else you might want to know about my personal experience? Feel free to ask! Also, I'm interested in what people have for ideas for tattoos they may want in the future. Remember, keep it clean and respect everyone else's ideas.