I finally got my tattoo in March of 2008. It took me a long time to decide first of all what it was that I wanted but through the years I always went back to the same types of images. I wanted to find a place that was safe for me to do it and as it turns out one of my best gal pals happened to have a family member that had a shop.
By the time I went with Yvonne to get hers worked on I already knew what I wanted but needed to have Stefanie put it together. I decided that I wanted it on my back because it was the easiest place for me to hide it. At the end of the day I had an office job so I just wanted to make sure it was covered most of the time. As cliche as it sounds, the tattoo had more sentimental value than most people will care or ever understand.
So I sent Stefanie a lot of inspiration images and decided on the day that I would do it. I had initially intended it to be no more than four inches across my back. Not too big. When I got to the shop I saw what she had drawn and I realized that it was perfect. It was exactly what I wanted but a lot larger. I considered this for a second and felt that anything smaller would have done the artwork injustice. It would have lost a lot of the details and that's what made it beautiful.
It turned out to be about nine inches wide and about seven inches tall. In all it took six hours and she did it in one sitting knowing that I didn't want to have to go through the pain twice for the same thing. Initially I was okay but the last hour I thought I was going to pass out. I really did. I didn't cry and I thought I was going to be crying the whole time.
I've had a lot of people comment on it and ask questions about why I got it and why I chose a skull. So here's the story. The piece represents a Day of the Dead Altar. This holiday is celebrated throughout Mexico on November 2nd. It is a way for people to pay tribute to those family and friends that have died and to celebrate the lives that they lived.
For me it's a tribute to my parents and serves as a reminder of the impact they had on my life even if it was for a short period of time. The butterfly Stefanie added on her own. It's appropriate because it has been my nickname since I was in college and truly represents me. I wanted to stay away from the traditional sugar skulls that you see out there because I think that those are now overdone and people don't really understand what they mean. I did however want my skull to have some of the sugar skull designs on it which Stefanie added as well.
Overall I am happy with the results and do not miss all the shirts that got ink or blood on them during the healing process! Oh and if you ever want one you should go to Sin Miedo Tattoo in Long Beach. Stef & Big Dub are the best!
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