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2005 06 11 - holy crap, this hurt a lot

i'd always wanted a tattoo, but could never decide what to get. a couple years ago, however, inspiration struck and i began working on an idea. maybe it was because i was living in vancouver at the time, i'm not sure. anyway, my recent (june 2005) 30th birthday prompted me to actually complete the design, and after two years of pondering, i was sure that i would be happy with it at least to the grave. a furious design phase fueled by the proximity of said birthday has resulted in the following, now prominently displayed on my lower left leg (most of the leg, too)!

as the native people in the pacific northwest (and other places) used totem poles to tell stories and keep family chronologies, my design was intended to tell a history of some of the important games that influenced me and my family as i grew up.

sorry about the blurriness of some of the pics... it was a borrowed digital camera and we didn't understand the settings. :)

• my original design not the final by any means, but a draft.
• doing the outline transfer via mimeograph! just like doing homework back in elementary school.
• dan on the right, working on the outline. me on the left, working on the pain.
• this hurts just a little.
• the outlining is all done now.
• finished with the black ink now. pong hurt a lot, being near the anklebone.
• blinky's getting his red on as the coloring gets done.
• finished with my adventure on the sunset strip. happy 30th birthday to me!
• the morning after, with a flash
• the morning after, no flash bulb.
• the morning after, outside on the porch.

Prix is the parlor i went to. dan has some mad skillz, yo.

Mad props also go to my wife, sara, who was very very supportive during the process. :)

total time spent: couple days to finalize the design, and once i was in the chair, about an hour and some to do the outline. 2.5 hours or so for color, and so a little more than 3.5 hours in the chair altogether. marathon! :D

got a question? ( tetujin at gmail )