Step 4: Dealing with Pain

By now, it's possible your nerves are through the roof. You're nervous, anxious, and, if it's your first one, not really sure about what's going to happen. Just take with you a non-alcoholic beverage and a solid friend, whether or not this friend has tattoos is not a big deal. A solid friend is a solid friend, tattoos or not. This is someone who will do their best to keep you as calm as can be, and will sit with you the whole time. They won't get in the way of the artist, but they'll be there when you need it.

The artist will greet you and probably go straight to work. They'll ask if you're sure you want it in the placement you hopefully decided on during the consultation. The stencil can be wiped off and placed on again, but once they start with the tattoo machine, there's no changing it. Placement and size are really important. You want your tattoo to fit in the area that it will be in. If it's too big or too small it will look a little bit off and then, once you can't change it, it'll bother you. For example, like myself, let's say you get a knee tattoo.

You want a knee tattoo, and you want the head of an elephant. You want the head to be on your knee with the trunk coming down your shin. Your result should be the image to the right. Danielle Distefano traced the outline of my leg and a general area of where my knee cap was and it wound up being exactly that. Once fully drawn, it fit perfectly. If it had been too much smaller it would've looked really awkward and probably slightly misshapen. It would've looked like just a bad judgment call if it was any bigger.

I'm not saying that every back tattoo has to take up your whole back or every thigh tattoo has to cover your entire thigh, but it does need to be proportionate to what you're getting and where on your body it's going. The thigh tattoo I posted in the last post is a good example of proportionate thigh tattoos.

Once placement is one hundred percent positive, they'll shave you (FYI- it really hurts when they don't shave you. Your body fuzzies get caught in the machine and when it's healing the scabby pieces stick to your arm fuzzies- ouch!) and the stencil will go on. You'll look in the mirror and check to make sure everything looks right. If something is wrong, tell them now. Then you'll sit down and they'll get all of the ink and machine's ready and begin.

The first few minutes are the worst. But after those first couple of lines are done, it's not bad at all. Tattooing over the muscle was the least painful spot so far for me personally. Tattooing directly over the bone is an awful vibration that runs through your whole body. It's a very strange feeling but short lived. I blocked it out of my memory as soon as it was over. I don't recommend pain killers because they will just make you bleed more but to each his own. Holding someones hand seems to be a crowd favorite but my personal favorite is talking to the artist or the friend you're with. It takes your mind off the actual pain and usually can bring up some really interesting topics or stories. Talking and listening got me through three hours on my knee and the not painful but sensitive bicep.

If you are getting a larger tattoo and you start to get really cold and shake you probably want to take a short break and drink some water or eat a small snack. I don't know what's physically happening but basically this is when your body is saying, "What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is this crazy human doing to me?!" It isn't anything to panic about, but you also shouldn't ignore it. Take a little break, eat something small but substantial (crackers, cookies, french fries, etc.), and depending on how much longer you have to go, continue soldiering on. If you have a long way to go still, it may be time to stop.

The process is outline, black shading, and lastly color. Outline's use a different machine and I don't think is very painful but some people say that it is more painful than shading or color. To me, it feels like someone is drawing on me with a pen or pencil, unless it's over the bone. Black shading is the most painful to me. When they are putting the deep blacks in they have to go over one area usually a few times. It isn't extremely painful or usually take a long time. Color is never really an issue for me. By the time they get to color, you just can't feel it anymore. For me this is when the conversation is in full swing so I don't think about the pain.

Periodically throughout the tattoo the artist will stop and clean it with green soap. The soap is always cold and always feels good, although I've heard some people say it stings. I think it feels good and sends chills throughout my body. This wipes away excess ink and so the artist can step back and see what they're doing.

Afterwards