Up Front by Emma Hart

Read Post

Up Front: Not Actually Blue at All

73 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 Newer→ Last

  • JackElder,

    come round at the weekend and i'll put one on with a needle and some biro ink.

    Dude, I think you're taking this frugality thing a bit too seriously.

    Megan: old ten cent or new ten cent?

    All of my tats were originally related to my birthdays. Hey, it's a good way to ensure you only get one a year and don't go too mad. Of course, if I'd kept it up I'd probably have a bodysuit by now.

    Wellington • Since Mar 2008 • 709 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Anyone tempted?

    The best bit about that is the blank space on his left arm with what I think is the state of Texas in it? Ha.
    "Yeah man, totally want like, zombie over my whole body. Oh yeah, and Texas".

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan,

    awww c'mon megan, don't be such a wuss.

    come round at the weekend and i'll put one on with a needle and some biro ink.

    Only if you've got some really good hooch to go with that offer.

    old ten cent or new ten cent?

    Which is smaller? Whichever one, that. Which is why it is ridiculous I am such a wuss about it.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    Only if you've got some really good hooch to go with that offer

    another great bit of advice from years ago was someone telling me that you can't have booze or drugs for 24hours before and after getting tatts.

    "badly effects the look of the ink".

    you mean, by making you get "bullpup" tattooed on your forehead?

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • Kebabette,

    Thanks Emma.

    Contrariwise is an interesting site if you are a bit literary in inclination and like tattoos.

    I got my tattoo 10 years ago, it took a lot of pondering ... I knew the words I wanted, but how to put them on me. and where? It does take a bit of rolling round in your head. it seems madness to me to brand yourself with something you've picked off a tattoo parlour wall! Or friggin brand logos.

    In the end I plumped for the classic bicep locale, put my manifesto round the belt of the family crest shape, and then the lady of the lake brandishing Excalibur cos I love the Arthurian legend.

    It didn't hurt a bit, more of a pleasant tingle (maybe biceps are easy?).

    Christchurch • Since Feb 2007 • 221 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Contrariwise is an interesting site if you are a bit literary in inclination and like tattoos.

    Ohhhh... - and I mean this in the nicest smiliest possible way - you bitch. What a great site.

    another great bit of advice from years ago was someone telling me that you can't have booze or drugs for 24hours before and after getting tatts.

    Heh, the research I've been doing for the book has meant a lot of running across stories that make me go 'OMG', and a lot of teh stoopid comes down to being so worried about the pain that you get too smashed to know what you're doing. Or "I'm scared it might hurt so I'll cover my skin in Bonjella..."

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Why don't I have any cool tatoo stories? Because the one occasion I even contemplated it out loud, the Better Half came back with, "A tattoo? You can't pick a pair of shoes without a bleeding ulcer, and you still want to exchange them the next day."

    At moments like that, I hate him because he's right. The bastard. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    I'd love to get a tattoo some time. And I loved the ones on that site, Kebabette. I've always liked the idea of words on my skin, as opposed to pictures.I wouldn't get one on my back either, Emma. I would be similarly inclined to want to look at it all the time. The only issue for me is when. I think I know who - the guys on College Rd, are they still there?. And I know where - on my wrist, up my arm. But when? I don't know. So please go on telling your tattoo stories - it gives me more food for thought.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    another great bit of advice from years ago was someone telling me that you can't have booze or drugs for 24hours before and after getting tatts.

    "badly effects the look of the ink".

    I asked my tattooist if it was alright to drink after and she said it was fine. But before is a huge no-no. She wouldn't even let me drink Red Bull because it thinned the blood too much.

    Which makes the drunk tattoo an even wrose idea, plus the kind of tattooist who'll let you get a tattoo when your drunk probably isn't the best.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    Oh and remember that they shave you beforehand, but don't wax! The hair needs to have the sharp edge to poke up through the resulting scab, otherwise you'll get in ingrown hair in your tattoo.

    And to juxtapose the literary tattoos, Science Tattoos

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    I asked my tattooist if it was alright to drink after and she said it was fine. But before is a huge no-no.

    I wonder why my tatooist didn't mention this when I went in, completely tanked. And yes, it did come out kinda weird.

    The Who, "Tattoo" (1974):
    http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=U9FsgEKwVyE

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Kim Wilson,

    I got my first tattoo over 20 years ago now - looking back, it was for all the wrong reasons (to wind up my mum, to be 'cool', etc) but now see it as, similar to a previous poster, a connection to the then me - I don't feel any regret over any, including the early ones. I got one each birthday for a few years after my 21st. Then had a break of a few years and let ideas build up in my head and started going a bit crazy on it again about ten years ago. I lost count when we passed the 40 hour mark, and I'm going to miss Paul at Artrageous when I move from Auckland in a couple of weeks.

    None of them are visible at work (apart from the white stuff which is all but invisible on the underside of my right forearm), and the only people who know the full extent of my ink are the few who have seen me sans clothing. I found the most painful spots were ribs, underside of upper arms and instep of feet. Comparatively, other places were a doddle. I have always shied away from getting anything inked on my front simply because of the effects of gravity; what I've got, I know it's there, even if some if it needs a couple of mirrors and contortionist poses for me to view it.

    Definitely no drinking (or other) prior to being tattooed (learnt that the hard way). Definitely addictive. I'm slowly filling the blank spaces...

    I like your new ink Emma!

    Nth Canty • Since Dec 2006 • 28 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And if you want two literary cautionary tales about getting tattoed by funny looking old ladies (or very pissed off ghosts), try the frame stories to Ray Bradbury's __The Illustrated Man__ and Clive Barker's __Books of Blood__.

    Some things you really shouldn't do while drunk...

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • JackElder,

    I'd always heard not to drink before ink 'cos you bled like a stuck pig, and that ain't good for ink retention.

    I like the idea of a text tattoo, but I'd probably want it in Latin. The only English phrase I'd want on me is "This too shall pass", which is either inspiring or depressing depending on how you look at it.

    That said, I quite fancy the idea of having "LEFT" tattooed across the knuckles on my left hand. And "HAND" on the right, naturally.

    I also quite like the ones I saw a while ago - classic "heart with scroll", with the scroll containing either "YOUR NAME HERE" or the word 'narcissism' in mirror writing...

    And finally, my favourite quote ever about tattooing, from a British army officer around the time of the Boer War:

    Every officer in the British Army should be tattooed with his regimental crest. Not only does this encourage esprit de corps but also assists in the identification of casualties.
    --Field Marshal Earl Roberts

    Wellington • Since Mar 2008 • 709 posts Report Reply

  • Sayana,

    I had a year 10 student at the end of term 3 who had got a bit bored in Maths class, so she carved a heart in the back of her hand with her compass, then coloured it in with a ball point pen...

    After I pointed out to her that this was not perhaps the best idea that she had ever had (being at an exclusive private girls' college with VERY definite rules), she scrubbed it out, and it was beginning to heal last time I saw her. It apparently took over an hour to scrub all of the ink out of it.

    Since Sep 2008 • 50 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    I'm in hour number three of my second session and this girl walks in to get a heart tattoo. It's just the outline, it's about the size of an old 50c piece, and it's on her shoulder blade.

    The whole thing from needle-in to completed tattoo takes ~2mins. She gets up, looks at her boyfriend and says: "Well that didn't hurt".

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    I had a year 10 student at the end of term 3 who had got a bit bored in Maths class, so she carved a heart in the back of her hand with her compass, then coloured it in with a ball point pen...

    We used to draw the ink on first, then jab it repeatedly with a compass. I wonder which method gets you blood poisoning fastest.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    When people ask me if I have any tattoos, I always say I have a devilwoman straddling an eight-ball on my ass (not arse). I wonder now if perhaps I should just go ahead and get it done.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • JackElder,

    When people ask me how many tattoos I have, I just say "One. But it's taking a while to join all the bits up."

    Excellent text tattoo - you have to have a good look at his hands to get it.

    Wellington • Since Mar 2008 • 709 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    O wow! Steven C & Jack Elder - excellent collectable items for my tattoo collection...

    I love 'em but wont have 'em because I change my mind far too frequently and moko is for quite a long time...

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    My best & favourite bro-in-law is a cancer survivor. He has an ongoing tattoo which incorporates Maori motifs, Celt & surfie motifs - beautiful. He's a Pakeha, and he's chosen a nice charcoal colour which looks really good on his skin. I have an ongoing poem about writing life on skin and this good man is the inspiration for it-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • liam,

    But I do want something pretty on me. Don't we all?

    Well, I certainly like something pretty on me... but she doesn't have to be tattooed....

    NC, USA • Since Oct 2008 • 11 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I watched the movie of the book Illustrated man, of which Craig referred to earlier, on 16mm, at alternative school. That Ectacrome film has richness of colour.

    Slightly less encouraging is that Zack Snyder (he of the eye-wateringly dreadful 300) has a re-make of The Illustrated Man pencilled in for his next project after the release of Watchmen -- which I expect to continue the perfect row of duck eggs that are film adaptations of the works of comix god Alan Moore.

    I'm not a big fan of Ray Bradbury (in most of his work, the infantile whimsy is toxic) but nobody deserves the Snyder treatment.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    A bad tattoo is like having a shitty haircut for the rest of your life.

    Ended up with my first one (on arm)being what I considered not bad but badly done. So I went up to College hill and bitched to Phil Mattias. He knew the person who had done this and taught me lesson 1, that it isn't the place you go to but could be a particular artist and before long I was booked in for another at his shop. This one I designed myself. Got the ancestry thing going and took parts of an engraving found inside the pyramids in Mexico which I turned into an armband on the other arm, and lesson 2, armpit area aint much fun, I can tell you that for nothing .( I would post a pic but haven't figured out how to so maybe later.) Then I think the bug set in and its a matter of "what next?" so stomach :) Let me just add here SHIT! Lesson number 3, I was informed that the central nerves area is friggin painful so Emma you may want to try the stomach. Got the Sun around my belly button. Lesson 4 is they don't do gold for a colour so it's reds a la yellow, but I like. I only have 3 on my back and that is basically , see no, speak no, hear no evil, (which I try to adopt as a general practice) and I don't get to see these very much but they are IMHO rather nice. Lesson 5 I got from these is, It took me ages before I realised I had a monkey on my back but took solace that, they were good ones
    :) Haven't fixed the bad one yet but I will when I know what is right, but it is a good reminder of a drunket with 2 beautiful
    friends.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Oh and a friend (works in IT) had (as a departing NZ ) a microsoft blue screen of death error message tatooed up his forearm. It ended up somewhere on youtube. Hope you are out there and well Drunken Llama :)
    And also Phil Mattias. RIP

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.