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Hannah Aitchison Tattoo Experience

I have officially been Hannah Aitchisoned! Like I said on here before, I got it into my head to get my Family Crest tattooed on my shoulder, and Hannah Aitchison is the artist I wanted to do the work from the beginning. She was awesomely gracious and fit me into her schedule (her wait is usually 12 to 14 months), so my wife and I flew from Texas to Los Angeles and met her at High Voltage Tattoo (aka LA Ink) Friday, the 27th.

She was absolutely wonderful! She made the time pass with great conversation, stories, etc. — lots of talking about music and art. She talked about the show a little, and about future plans, and she is just a pleasure to be around (and she's even prettier in person!). I could go on, but I'd rather post pics...

After introductions, she tested the sketch size on my arm, and decided to increase it 20% so that it filled-up my biceps better. That ended up being perfect, so she shaved my arm and made a stencil transfer. The first placement was too high, so she dropped it lower, and it was perfect!

The next step was to get all the black border work done, and she made the outline of the shield and helm nice and thick so they'd pop better.

Next we moved to color, taking care of the green, then the helm...

Here's a shot of the ink caps, showing just how good Hannah is at mixing the basic colors she chooses into all kids of shades and hues...

Hannah then set into shading and shaping the texture of the mantling (you can see one of Hannah's prettiest unfinished tattoos on her arm in this pic, too)...

At this point, Hannah casually says that she's seeing blue behind all the mantling, just to fill-in and really set off the entire piece. I told her to do whatever she thinks since she's the expert, and it turned out looking AWESOME! And yes, the red you see on the back of my arm in the last pic is blood...

After six hours, the work was finished:

Overall, this was just a totally great experience. It was a really fast trip (we arrived late Thursday and came home early Saturday) so we didn't do any sightseeing — but the Hotel Beverly Hills was amazing, and that's where we'll stay at the next time we visit for sure.

Lastly, the first thing everyone asks me is about the pain. Does it hurt? Yes — you're getting poked with needles all over, thousands and thousands of times. Any way you slice it, it's uncomfortable — but the tender parts of your skin (like under your arm, the back of your arm, etc.) are especially painful.

After an hour, you begin to get used to it, so you can zone-out and just focus on something else. After 3 hours, your butt and back start to hurt a bit (if you're sitting up), so that makes it even easier to ignore the needlework. Hour 5 is when things started getting really rough, and I started to get really thirsty, antsy, and the shakes. The work on the back of my arm was really, really bad, and there were 2 times I mentally stood up and said "okay, we're breaking for an hour!" I focused on that imagery, and drank water to try and put the pain behind me, knowing that she'd be done back there soon. However, there's just no escaping the sensation of someone trying to rip your skin open while rapidly puncturing it with needles. This is also why artists don't usually do pieces as big as mine in one sitting — it's freakin' rough for both parties. Hannah said some people will go into a shock state and start turning green, puking, getting intensely thirsty, pass out, etc. I can see how that is possible, for sure — but I didn't have a choice, so I just sucked it up and tried to zone-out as often as I could. Hour 6 is a blur, like I was swimming under water a bit — and I don't remember a whole lot except me working hard to ignore the pain.

But did it hurt enough for me to never do it again? HECK NO, MAN! I already have ideas for other work, and I'm already looking forward to getting more of Hannah's gorgeous artwork on my body somewhere!

Posted at 10:51am CDT | Permalink | Comments (7)

Boba Bobble

I ordered some Star Wars boble heads from Woot.com, and they came in today. And, of course, I couldn't resist taking a shot of my favorite Star Wars character, Boba Fett.

Posted at 5:37pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hannah Aitchison Giddiness!

In almost one week, I'll be under the needle with Hannah Aitchison, getting my Family Crest tattooed — and I am TOTALLY STOKED! We've been going back and forth via email, nailing details down, and it's been an absolute pleasure to work with her. She genuinely seems (almost) as excited as I am to be doing this art for me, and that's because to her, tattooing is such a personal connection with the client. I'm entrusting her to permanently modify my body with her artwork — and I'm doing so because of her reputation, skills, and the beautiful work she's done for others. That's a MASSIVE level of trust for me (or anyone) to place into someone. On her side, she hears the story behind the art — the meaning. She is becoming a landmark in my life, and I'm coming to her to help me tell the story that will live on my body forever. I will always have a Hannah Aitchison on my arm, and knowing that she's doing art for me (or anyone) that contains such massive meaning and personal importance — that a big load of pressure for her to do her best for the client. Her vision and talent will bring the story to life forever. Add to that the fact that we'll be hanging together for around 6 hours, and you can't help be get to know the other person just a little bit as you pass the hours.

I'm also stoked to see if she'll let me have her original art, because that would just be totally cool to have hanging in my office! And I must admit that I'm curious as to her height for some reason, because she doesn't look like she's a whole lot shorter than me — unless everyone else is really small. We'll see.

Hotel reservations are made. Airline tickets are bought. The car is rented. Now comes the waiting for the day to arrive, and the inevitable passing of 6 some-odd hours simply known as "Earning the Right to Wear My Tattoo." My type of work is usually done in a couple of sessions due to the size, detail, and color — but Hannah says I'm I'm "stalwart," we can try and get as much done as we can both handle.

We'll see! woot!!

/Okay, I'm trying this after a full dose of Lunesta, so hopefully it all came out okay. zzZZzzZZzzZZzz

Posted at 2:35am CDT | Permalink | Comments (0)

What A Week

This post is to let everyone know I'm still around — but it's been a hellish week. We took my Dad to the MDACC Emergency Center Friday and didn't get home until Monday afternoon. He was doing great Sunday, but after getting a diuretic late that afternoon, he started feeling not as good. Monday came, and he was ready to leave, though still not feeling as well. Fast forward, and today — Wednesday — I'm back up here with him in the Emergency Center.

The Docs aren't totally certain what's going on, but a big portion of it — in my opinion — is stress related. I mean, how can you not feel panicked when you feel like you can't breathe? How can you not obsess over oxygen tanks, etc.? It would be hard to not be OCD with all the crap he's dealing with, and I think that the more he thinks about it all, the more he gets stressed. Stress increases heart rate, heart rate increase triggers faster breathing, low lung capacity and increased breathing makes you freak out.

We do know that they are going to change the medication he uses with his nebulizer. Albuterol just doesn't work for him, but the junk they use up here seems to work a little. Other than that, we just have to make sure he keeps getting plenty of fluids, etc.

••••••••

On a totally different note, and in an attempt to have some good news in this post, I have sent a deposit for my tattoo artwork to be done by Hannah Aitchison! She emailed me back and said she'd do the work, and we nailed-down a date at the end of this month. What's extra cool (to me, at least), is that she blocked out the entire day just for my artwork because she knows I'm flying in from Texas and I don't want to be gone long. How awesome is she for that?

She's going to tattoo the full family crest, too, which looks like this:

The background of torn mantling will be totally redone only as Hannah can do it, as will the shape of the banner and shield. I told her, essentially, to take the main elements then do her thing — that I want Hannah's Version. I cannot WAIT to see what she comes up with! I'm also going to see if she'll let me have the original art so that I can frame it and hang it in my office.

Hopefully, for more reasons that just this, my Dad will be better and it'll be okay for me to be gone to Los Angeles for a couple of days. If not, I'll just have to wait a while longer to get the work — but Dad's the priority, of course.

Posted at 11:47am CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tattoos and Dad

Since tattoos have been a topic of conversation around here lately, I may as well continue that thread by telling a quick story about something potentially really cool.

Back when I decided I wanted to get my Family Crest tattooed, I knew hands-down who I wanted to do the art — I just knew the chances of it happening were slim to none. That person was Hannah Aitchison. I sent her an email describing what I want and why I want it, and I sent similar messages to other top tattoo artists — but it was Hannah I always wanted to hear from. Long story short, I never heard back, and I figured that was because her web site says she's not taking new clients due to filming LA Ink. I got in touch with a couple of other artists, but nothing ever fell into place, so I was kind of left in limbo.

Fast forward to Monday night, and Hannah's daughter and (sometimes) assistant emailed me to tell me (after a couple of exchanges) "Typically, her wait is a few months, but right now, she has some limited availability in the near future that I might be able to squeeze you in for. I'd love to be able to help you out with getting something your dad could see."

How dadgum sweet is that?!? While I don't want to get my hopes up, the prospect of getting Hannah to tattoo something so personal under the circumstances I want this artwork done is just awesome. From the beginning, I wanted the best artist, and the one I liked the most — and now there's actually a literal chance I may actually get a Hannah Aitchison tattoo. SWEET! And again, for something that has the amount of importance to me as this, it would be so amazing to have such a great artist do the work.

So now I'm waiting to hear back from Holly and/or Hannah about if and when I'll be able to get an appointment. Cross your fingers for me!

••••••••

Speaking of Dad, we're on week two of his third round of chemo. It's still too soon to tell whether or not it's doing any good, but it's definitely making him massively tired and weak. Things don't look good, to be honest — but I'm still hopeful. God and Life have a way of turning things around when you least expect it, and I'm just not at the point of giving up hope. Yes, he feels like crap and feels like he's close to dying (to be brutally honest) — but we aren't there yet. There's still a very real possibility (and probability) that this new chemo will do the trick, and in so doing, his breathing could get better and the cancer will die.

Please keep him and our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Posted at 4:53pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (0)

Self-Portrait Tuesday

Me and thousands of other Flickr users participate in a group called Self Portrait Tuesday, and man, has it been a long time since I added anything. So, I took a quick shot, did some voodoo, and thought I'd share the pic here, too:

I heart the colors in this shot, myself.

Posted at 6:55pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

Coming Soon!

I've finalized the etched version of my io Super Distortion, and here it is in all its shiny glory:

I still have to update the listing over at RAILhead Effects, but I couldn't resist posting it here. =)

Posted at 10:52pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (3)

Deluxe Tattoo!

Oh. My. Whosits.

I have recently found out about Deluxe Tattoo, and more importantly, Tim Bierdron. This guy is jaw-drop amazing. I've been reading reviews on his work, and no one has any complaints, and no one has any qualms about referring him. I am in the process of emailing him the story behind my honor tattoo for my Dad to see if he may be able to get me in sometime in the (hopefully) somewhat near future. Neck and neck with Tim is Miles Maniaci, who I would also love to get work from. We'll see!

So what about High Voltage and Dennis Halbritter? They must not want the work, because they quit responding to email. You'd think that a potentially $1000+ tattoo would be some sort of impetus to get work, but I guess not.

The main thing, though, is that Tim's work beats the pants off anyone at High Voltage, hands down. But this is part of the process of finding an artist, no? You look and look, and doors close and close, and by the end, you find someone you really like — even though you thought you already found that person. Now, it'll be up to how long Tim thinks the wait will be, and whether or not he's taking on new clients. And, I think I'd rather do Chicago than L.A. anyway.

Stay tuned...!

Posted at 9:06am CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)