Is it going to hurt? Yes. Is it going to be over once you leave the shop? No way. This doesn't apply to tattoos smaller than the palm of my hand. Considering my sleeve was my very first piece, I don't have any experience healing small tattoos, and I'm sure its a breeze. I was under the impression that I would get drawn-on by a buzzy needle, it would hurt a bit and feel like a sunburn for a few days, and then it would look great. I was so wrong. I was surprised to find out that tattoos heal differently for everyone, and the healing process depends greatly on size, placement, and artist's style. How you care for your new ink in the first few days after getting tattooed are crucial in determining how it will look forever, so its very important to listen to your artist and listen to your body. Having so much done in such a short time frame created a very unique healing experience for me. Initially, everything is just a goopy mess. All kinds of liquids are leaking from your skin now that the top layer is removed... blood, plasma, excess ink. You take a shower, it feels like bathing in acid, skin rubs off, you wrap yourself in plastic, you get even more goopy. It's super fun. Taking the train from Sunderland to London, having a layover in Dallas and then finally flying back to Denver required my fresh open wound to be in contact with public transportation which grossed me out more than words can explain. The most up-to-date shops and artists use a medical-grade breathable wrap used for burn victims called Tegaderm, which is an adhesive that will stick to the dry, unaffected skin around your wound. Since my entire arm was a wound, I didn't exactly fit the model patient. Without any untouched skin to attach the Tegaderm to, we opted for good ol' cling wrap. You are supposed to remove this after leaving the tattoo shop, but due to my circumstances I essentially committed tattoo suicide and left my this wrap on for an extra few days to navigate the trains and planes with the least amount of mess. Without letting your wound breathe and dry out, the risk for infection is high. A hot, sweaty, plastic-wrapped wound is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. I'm still thanking the tattoo gods for allowing me to return home safely without some incurable antibiotic-resistant infection that would require amputation of my right arm. The plane ride was interesting– I MacGuyvered an elevation rig out of airline pillows, blankets, bags, etc. to try and combat the swelling which was amplified by being airborne. Every inch of my arm from shoulder to wrist tripled in size, which stretched my wounded skin even more. Ouch. Once I finally returned home, showered, and slathered myself in Hustle Butter, the peeling and scabbing had already begun. It felt tight, itchy, and my designs that were so beautiful a few days prior had become an unsightly mess, which isn't ideal when everyone wants to sneak a peek at your new ink. Each day, things seemed to get a little better. More skin would come off in the shower (or in my shirt sleeve) and the swelling slowly subsided due to persistent icing and elevation. The colors are dull while it heals, because the top layer of your skin is regenerating. After a few weeks, the vibrancy returns and your tattoo begins to look less like a mutant disease. When the peeling period finally ended, I was left with redness in areas with lighter shading that looked like it might never go away (see wrist). This lasted for weeks, even after most of my tattoo was completely healed. I was terrified that I had done something wrong and that it would result in a scar. It turns out that the red, inflamed skin was partly due to the swelling from being on an airplane for 10 hours, which had stretched the skin and then deflated within a short time frame, dragging out the healing process in that area specifically. Hustle Butter and time are your only allies. Like I've said before, this is a worst-case scenario, and if you aren't planning on being a psycho who finishes tattooing an entire body part in five days and then journeys 5,000 miles home, you probably won't experience these issues. Within a few weeks my tattoo looked good enough to show off, and as of now (two months later) every last inch is fully healed. Everyone's experiences healing tattoos are different. If you do any consulting of the internet for advice, you are going to get many different methods– wet heal, dry heal, antibiotics or not, as long as you are taking care of yourself you should end up with some good looking art. And since its skin, not a canvas, there are some unpredictable outcomes that are very common. Ink might fall out, especially color, and especially in areas with tougher skin. It is standard practice to schedule a short session with your artist a few weeks or months after your tattoo is complete to touch up some of these areas. I definitely experienced some color loss in the shading of my most colorful spots, especially around my elbow. Since my artist lives so far away, we had to schedule my touch ups for the next closest convention, which will be in Montreal this September 2017. Thanks for reading, I hope you have a more *realistic* idea of what to expect when healing larger tattoos, especially if you are traveling to get them!
Claudia
2 Comments
Deciding to get tattooed in the first place will be the easiest decision you make– from there, the hard part begins. Tattoo shops are on just about every street corner, making it tough to parse through the artists and find someone who is experienced, open to new clients, and whose artwork aligns with your vision. Social media has made it increasingly easier to find a high quality artist because their photos circulate through apps like Facebook and Instagram, and the artwork markets itself– the better the artist, the more likely it is to show up on your newsfeed. These artists are generally world renowned and have multi-year long wait lists, if they are even taking new clients at all.
Growing up, I was surrounded by tattoo culture and I always knew that one day I would embark on a journey to collect the artwork of artists I admired. Names like Jeff Gogue, Shige, Nikko Hurtado, and Kat Von D were always on my radar, but booking an appointment with one of these artists is a bit like winning the lottery, not to mention the high price tag that comes with. I searched for years for my perfect artist and attended tattoo conventions to familiarize myself with the big names in the game. I sent so many contact emails that were never answered or resulted in automated rejection. Sadly, the process cannot be rushed. In 2014 I found the work of Elliott Wells and knew immediately that he was the right artist for my first piece. When I got an email back a year later, I couldn't pass up the opportunity and booked my trip to Sunderland, UK for January of 2017. Elliott specializes in a modified style of traditional Japanese Irezumi, which is my favorite style of artwork. I always say that tattoos don't need a meaning behind them, and simple admiration for the artist’s work is a sufficient reason to get tattooed, but the inspiration to get my sleeve done in this style reflected two reasons. My best friend growing up was of Japanese descent, and when he died in a plane crash many years ago, I wanted to memorialize the impact he had on my life. In addition, my great-grandmother was incredibly well traveled, and decorated her home with this style of art. I was always surrounded with beautiful oriental rugs, jewelry, and sculptures in her home. The combination of these things that shaped my life, and the interest Elliott showed in planning a full sleeve for me, was the perfect storm leading me to embark on a nearly 5-thousand-mile journey. Because I was a traveling client and couldn't take more than a week away from school, I had to fit the entire process into just five sessions. Generally, people take years to complete large pieces that cover an entire area of the body. Outlines are done first in a few sessions depending on the size, and then black and grey shading, followed by color, with enough time (months) to heal each part before starting on the next. I didn't have the luxury to space out my time in the pain cave. Luckily I had never been tattooed and didn't know what to expect. Had I known what I was getting myself into, I likely would have reconsidered. When I walked into the shop on January 9th, the morning of my first session, I was a ball of nerves, half ready to have a panic attack on-site. Once I sat down with Elliott to begin creating my piece, everything clicked. Our visions were aligned and everything was smooth from that point on. He understood what I was looking for and I gave him full artistic freedom to use my skin as his canvas. My entire piece was done freehand in sharpie with the exception of the chrysanthemum in my inner elbow, which was stenciled from a drawing he did specifically for me. We worked in sections starting at my shoulder, and ending at my forearm and completed the line-work, shading, and color for each section before moving on to the next area. The healing process begins the minute the needle leaves your skin, which makes it difficult when your artist is spending many consecutive hours on a piece. Once the tattoo starts to scab and peel, you can’t tattoo back over that spot until the healing is complete, which makes the aspect of planning extremely important. With the size of my piece and given time frame, Elliott had to work fast and plan smart. The first day was a breeze and I was able to tolerate the pain fairly easily. The pain grew increasingly less manageable each day, especially because we worked on more painful areas towards the end of the week. Shading on the cap of your shoulder is a lot more tolerable than line work in your armpit. Over the course of the week I spent close to 30 hours under the needle, roughly six hours per day. I got lucky and was fortunate enough to be in a great environment. Triplesix Studios is an immaculate and beautiful shop, and the staff made me feel like part of the family. Spending that much time with someone who is inflicting an incredible amount of pain onto you creates a prime opportunity for bonding. By the end of the week, I didn’t want to leave Sunderland. The question I get most from everyone is what part hurt the most, but he answer is not so black and white. Tattoos are fairly common, and if it wasn’t bearable, people wouldn’t have them done. I won’t act like it didn’t hurt, but I left that week with a new baseline for what pain actually is. Tattooing is quite literally a group of needles piecing your skin thousands of times a minute, injecting your skin with permanent pigments. Its bloody, gruesome, and nothing short of a traumatic injury. The top layer of your skin that is tattooed is scraped off, and the healing process attempts to rebuild your skin over the new color. Since my entire arm was tattooed in a week, I had to heal one giant wound all at once. Being tattooed is one level of pain, but it doesn’t end when you walk out of the studio. Your body enters a state of shock which feels similar to getting a bad case of the flu. You feel tired, drained, and the site of your tattoo is swollen and immobile. Its tough to sleep comfortably, showering is a nightmare, and the worst part for me was the public transportation returning home. I am working on posting a healing guide with step by step pictures of what I experienced during and after the tattoo process to give people a better idea of what to expect, because I feel like I was extremely underprepared. When it comes to the pain you experience in the chair, imagine getting your skin zipped up in a metal zipper constantly for the duration you're being tattooed. This is the most accurate analogy I could come up with in the hours I spent in the chair. It would hurt a lot more to get your upper inner arm, or elbow zipped into metal zipper teeth than it would on less sensitive skin, and it’s the same with being tattooed. Whether you're going over muscle or bone affects the levels of pain as well. Shoulder, bicep, and forearm were a breeze. Anything on the backline of my arm, elbow, and armpit was essentially surgery without pain killers. I went to England to get tattooed, but my tattoo has become a way to remember my trip. The experience was so incredible and unique that my piece is a way to remember all of the details that happened in the week I was there. I feel like my sleeve is a badge of honor, a symbol of dedication (and pain tolerance) and a unique aspect of who I am. It’s a conversation starter and I am able to inform others on the nuances of the tattoo process who may be interested. Through this journey I have formed relationships with people on the other side of the world and have joined a community of independent thinkers who have proved tattooing to be more than just a rebellion, but an art-form of self expression. I look forward to future endeavors, seeking out my favorite artists, and traveling around the world to acquire art from the best of the best. Currently I have booked touchups on my sleeve with Elliott at the tattoo convention in Montreal in September 2017. Thanks for reading about my journey and I hope I have inspired and informed you in the process! Claudia |
AuthorClaudia, 22, Denver ArchivesCategories |