New Thing # 29 – Get some body art

Ouch. I could feel that. OW. Yes, I was definitely feeling that. “My mum didn’t flinch at all when I was tattooing her.” In the list of things I never thought I’d hear, this one was right up there. All I knew was that for the second time in a month, I was half naked and vulnerable in the hands of a pretty young woman. Under any other circumstances I’d be delighted…

I’d decided to get some “body art” as early on as the second week of this project. I knew that to get a proper tattoo connected to 52NT would galvanise the idea and underlying philosophy of the whole project, and leave me with a constant reminder to keep trying new things throughout my life. Plus it would look wicked cool and annoy my mum.

I decided early on that the 52 New Things logo was an excellent bit of fontal artwork (I just made up the word fontal) and something I’d be proud to have adorning my body. Location wise, I wasn’t keen on the upper arms because I have the muscle definition of a leek and I didn’t like the idea of my calf muscle because I’m not a football hooligan. In the past I’d always been against having a tattoo on your back because you can’t appreciate it yourself unless you look in the mirror but the idea had grown on me over time until it became the most natural place.

And so, 29 weeks into the journey, I found myself in South Wimbledon’s Collector’s Ink with my mate Pete who was also getting his first piece of body art. It was like a male bonding thing. Or something. Kerry was the lucky lady with task of transferring my on-a-whim logo from an ephemeral digital idea to something that was inked onto my skin. She had lots of tattoos which set me at ease and established some trust between us, until she started showing me the one’s she done on herself. That just didn’t seem right…

Kerry's line drawing and the carbon copy on my back

Having been talked through the process by Kerry and shown the carbon copy of the design, I took to the seat to have some body hair removed for the second time in a month. Kerry shaved my upper shoulder blade and applied the print, leaving a surprisingly clear outline of the logo on my back, ready to be tattooed over. I was getting a little bit nervous by this point, a few second thoughts started creeping into my head but, before I could say anything, I felt the first scratch.

Having a tattoo needle applied to your body is a bizarre sensation. It is a little bit like someone dragging a compass back and forth across the surface of your skin. The pain builds but is not intolerable, more just very annoying. Just when you think you are going to have to flinch away, the needle is lifted, the excess ink wiped away and as quickly as it started, the pain then goes again. After a few minutes, you actually get used to it and even start enjoying the rush of it a little bit. Or maybe that was just me.

Doing the outline of the letters

As Kerry proceeded to go over the outline of the transfer, I tried to sense what letters she was doing at a particular time. Unfortunately, Kerry decided to put me at ease by telling me about her tongue and nipple piercings so now my mind was filled with adrenalin, pain and nipples. It was like Croydon on a Friday night. But sure enough it made the whole process fly by and soon enough she’d finished the outline.

Filling in the lettering

Now came the tricky part. Given the way the logo is filled in, getting the scratchy, lined look was going to be a challenge. Kerry, to her credit, rose magnificently to the job and swapped down to a finer needle to recreate the effect by moving the gun (yes, a tattoo implement is called a gun. Amazing) in short sharp sideways movements across the empty lettering. Almost immune to the pain now and with my mind swimming with strange tattooed nipple thoughts, it seemed to be over very quickly. And now came the moment when I’d have to view the finished result.

All done. Beautiful.

Beautiful. That’s the only word to describe it. Kerry had done a beautiful job and recreated the logo almost exactly. Any lingering doubts I had vanished as I saw the finished design. Sure, it was sore and stingy and had a fairly horrible film of blood over it but it was real and it was mine. The adrenalin kicked in and I could feel a smile spreading across my face. 52 New Things was no longer a side project. It was a life project.

Thanks to Kerry, Darren and the whole team at Collector’s Ink who sorted me out with an amazing tattoo for a very reasonable price. I urge you all to visit them for all your tattooing needs.

Me and very talented Kerry.