This woman had cancer and both breasts were removed and reformed with implants. The problem was that during the operation they even remove the nipples! She came in asking about having the nipples tattooed on, she had seen it done in photos at her doctor's office but the work was VERY BASIC - not much more than a pink circle. Since her niece was a client at the Funhouse, she asked her about us and if we could do the job. She came down to consult and I told her that on the day of the appointment, to bring in pictures of what she'd like. Size and shape are crucial!!
A few weeks went by and the day of the appointment had arrived. I got to the shop early and started to set up the privacy area. She arrived on time and I asked "Are you ready?" and then told her the usual "this is going to be f*cking great!" She was a little nervous, and understandably so! When she took her shirt off it was as if she was sexless... what I mean to say was that she didn't seem to feel any modesty or embarrassment, she was totally expressionless. There was no effort to cover up or hesitation to show herself in front of a stranger. It wasn't as if she was an exhibitionist, more like she had no nipples to identify her as a woman so she didn't feel like a woman, and didn't feel that it was offensive to expose herself to anyone. She layed down and I drew the nipples on with a pen, centering them exactly where she liked them to be and started to work.
Her sister was there for support and as the first one was finished, I noticed the look on her sister's face. I finished the first one and gave her a quick look and moved on to the second one. In total, I think the job took 1.5 hours. When I finished, I asked her to go to the stand up mirror and check herself out. She got up, NOT COVERING HERSELF UP in any way (as she was used to this), and when she saw herself in the mirror, her hands immediately and instinctively raised up to cover herself! What she saw was not the sexless torso that the cancer had left her with... she had tears in her eyes!!
Tattoos are great. They do alot for people... wether it's a portrait of a friend...
or these fairies like on Tammy's arm, from her favorite book...
Anything is possible you'll know when you find it and you know where to go when you do!
Drew Wednesday night, cleaned up Thursday morning...I had sketch and a line copy ready to go...
We stared Thursday around 11am. The stencil and drawing on went to skin extremely fast for a client who I had never met. A few hours later, we had it all outlined...
Friday he was back the same time, 11am, and we coloured for about 3 hrs.
Super fun tattoo, AMAZING client. Mike was overseas when he emailed me about getting tattooed, so with the exception of the few emails we had exchanged, we had never actually met until the morning of his appointment. I had no tracing for size, he didn't even ask to see the drawing. He showed up 15 mins early both days, only took breaks when I needed to refill pigment or paper towels, and sat still like a rock. He was the perfect client, no distractions, no interference at anytime, full cooperation at all times.
