Hayley vs. Gareth

Tattoo

So, in the first of my series of posts about my fun time in London over Easter I thought I’d start with talking about when I got my tattoo done, and since Brian asked (good commenting buddy) I will deliver!

I had wanted a tattoo for years and had spent time debating over that time figuring out what I wanted to get and where about on my body I wanted one.

Finally I decided on a design, at college in the chapel they have like a sheet type thing (there’s probably some fancy word for it) with like designs on it and one of them they had had a Celtic symbol for the Trinity on it and when I saw it I thought I’d like that as a tattoo, so I went on the old interweb and got a fairly crappy looking version of it, then I passed it onto my graphic design student friend Kate Feaver (name checked!) and she tarted it up for me according to my requests and put a red outline round the black.

So, with my design sorted, I decided that I would get my tattoo when I was seeing my main man Mark Walley in London for my alternative placement. I decided to get it done at the same place as my mate Mark had his tat done, which is a place called ‘Diamond Jacks’ in Soho. I had popped in to book my tat and then went back the next day to have it done. It was pretty funny, they said to get there when they opened at 12 but I didn’t know that for them opening at 12 meant actually about quarter past, so I had fifteen minutes to kill in Soho whilst I waited for them to open. Either side of the tattoo place where sex shops and over the road of the little side road it was on was an ‘adult video store’ and so surprisingly enough, I decided to go to the Somerfield three or four doors down to wander round there for fifteen minutes!

So, when Diamond Jack’s actually opened I went in to have my tattoo done! A guy called Gino did my tattoo, he was quite a big guy from somewhere in South America I think but I don’t know, probably actually from Peckham! The tattoo itself took a monster two and a quarter hours to do! and they don’t hurt as much as some say they do (well I didn’t think so or my own didn’t), it was very strange feeling and don’t get me wrong it did hurt a bit but not drastically so, was mostly painful when he would go over the bone-iest bit of my shoulder and the more underside of the arm, where its a bit more flabby (lol) and it would occasionally cain if I started to get comfortable and relax in that it wasn’t hurting much, then I think adrenaline would wear off and it would hurt…stupid relaxing!

When Gino had done all of it, he then cleaned it up a bit and then put cling film over my tattoo that I needed to keep on for a day (mmm sexy!) and then underneath the cling film below the tattoo he put a little strip of like kitchen towel and when I asked him what it was for, he was like “that’s for the blood” mmm yummy!

Now, after two and a bit weeks of having my tattoo, its pretty much fully healed I think, I went through the lovely scabby stage and even if I do say so myself I think it looks pretty good!

Oh and for those who want to have a look at it, here is a photo I took on the iMac they had at my alternative placement…

4 Comments to Tattoo

1. 

   beaut. better than an iMac
the real Phil Brown on April 14th, 2008
2. 

   Love it mate can’t wait to see it in real to get the full effect. so how do you almost go to hillsong? did you just do the christian pogo outside!! if anyone is offended im sorry i really do like christians!!
Brian J French on April 14th, 2008
3. 

   Why have you flipped the photo? (or done something to it which makes it go opposite like ing?)
Paul on April 14th, 2008
4. 

   its just the way the old imac took it, i’m sure theres some way i could have changed it but dont know how!

   for all who care…the tattoo is on my right arm not left
Gareth on April 14th, 2008

Leave a comment