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Ryan
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The Tattoo Story
:::Before:::
Photos
©
Darkstar
:::I had this
tattoo done by Pinky Yun in San Jose the day after Darkstar's
dad died in August 1995. It' a little owl on a branch with a crescent
moon. I like to think of him as a wise spirit looking over my
shoulder. The colors and shading are still nice, but the white
in his eyes swelled horribly for a year and then disappeared,
leaving scars.
It makes him look like his eyes are bloodshot.
:::After:::
Photos
©
Darkstar
:::On March
20th, 2005 I had this little guy touched up by Aaron at Skinsignea
Tattoo in Eureka, CA.
Aaron breathed new life into this piece.
Photos
©
Darkstar
:::This
design was put on my ankle the same day Darkstar got her "Pinky
Special" redone. I would eventually like to incorporate this into
the body of a black tribal dragon with this piece as its back
and part of the tail.
:::While Darkstar
was under the needle at Avatar
Tattoo in Jerome, AZ, she and I began discussing my Tribal
Design. I'd asked her to draw me a Dragon for years, but she hadn't
given it much thought other than to jot down one or two ideas
many years back. She convinced me to have them look at the existing
design, and Rick and Cody were willing to give it a go. Rick was
still working on Darkstar, and was booked for many days so, he
asked Cody to Trace my existing design and start to work on some
ideas for it. He came up with a couple of cool ideas, and then
Rick went over after he finished Darkstar's Bluebird and finessed
the design into it's final incarnation. We all agreed that was
the way to go and Cody began setting up to work on me. One problem,
they'd run out of needles and had to make more. As it was getting
late in the day, we agreed to come back in the morning and start
fresh.
:::We returned to
Jerome on March 15th, 2004 and Cody was ready for me. As we had
time to ponder the design overnight, Darkstar suggested that I
consider having the tongue, chest, back scales, and tail filled
in in red, to add some contrast. After some consideration, I agreed
and asked Cody to go ahead and do that. There must have been some
miscommunication, because the back scales ended up black, but,
after seeing it that way, Darkstar and I both agree it's probably
for the best because it looks good that way. The Tattoo took 1
and 1/2 hours and we were out of the shop before noon with the
rest of the day to go and play.
:::A day or so after
the Tattoo was done, I started to get a really nasty rash surrounding
the Tattoo.. we believe it was a combination of Razor Burn and
the a reaction to the Noxema that they'd instructed us to put
on our Tattoos. Darkstar had already switched to using Lubriderm
during the Day and Noxema at Night, because the Noxema was far
too drying for her. She, she switched me off the Noxema and began
carefully treating the tattooed area with Lubriderm and the swollen
rash with Balmex, careful not to touch the Tattoo with it because
we weren't sure what it would do. Even after nearly 2 weeks you
can still see some discoloration caused by the rash in the pictures
above.
:::After only a couple of days, it became apparent that this Tattoo
will need a lot of touch-up. Some of the shading and lines are
uneven and/or incorrect. Ultimately, you can tell that there just
wasn't enough ink put into the skin in many places. But, overall,
I love the design and that's what counts!
Photos
©
Darkstar
:::On March 17th,
2005 I met Aaron at Skinsignea
Tattoo in Eureka, CA. After watching the wonderful job he
did on Darkstar's Dragonflies, he proceeded to bring my Freak
Power Tribute to the late, great Dr. Hunter S. Thompson to Life.
This Tattoo turned out great.
:::After slaving
away on both Darkstar and myself for nearly 5 hours, Aaron opted
to take a much needed break and made an appointment with me to
return on the morning of March 20th, 2005 to have my Dragon Tattoo
redone. He spent over a half an hour with a fine life sharpie
pen redefining the lines of the tattoo and then set to work.
It looks amazing.
(Pictures to come)
The Piercing Story
Photos
©
Darkstar
::: In
January of 2004 I went to Plan B Piercing in Eureka and first
piercing by Jayson. My tongue bled like Gene Simmons at a KISS
Concert, and Darkstar nearly passed out at the sight, but it healed
quickly and has proven to be lots of fun.
:::
On March 17th 2005,
I returned to Plan B Piercing in Eureka and discussed Ear Piercings
with Jayson. As I've never had my ears pierced, and didn't want
to start "small" he agreed to pierce my ears with an
8g needle. The piercings were flawless and nearly painless and,
thanks to Darkstar's extensive aftercare routines, they are healing
very quickly.
Photos
©
Darkstar
::: In
May of 2005, a friend of mine did a Madison Piercing for me. It
was taking a very long time to heal (above picture was after 25
days). It seemed to be rejecting and migrating quite a bit, but
slowed down and began healing quite nicely when we switched in
a curved barbell (seen it frog picture above). Everything was
going swimingly until some time in late summer when I lost the
jewelry while in the river. The piercing had gotten pulled on
and while Darkstar was able to get another piece of jewelry back
in it right away, between the "rip" and the river water,
the migration began to get rapid (and uneven) and I abandoned
the piercing in the fall. I don't regret having it done, and now
have a very interesting scar to remind me of my journey that year.
Photos
©
Darkstar
::: In
August of 2005, I went back to Jayson for a septum piercing. It
was an intense piercing, though the clamp was the worst part.
It healed quickly and the only complication has been getting the
jewelry humorously stuck in the "tabs" or aluminum cans
while drinking from them.
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BACK
or HOME
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I would love to hear your
tattoo and piercing stories
and see your pictures.
Just contact me if you'd like
to be included in:
DARKSTAR'S BODY ART GALLERY.
I will link all images and info back to your site!
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Graphic Designs & Photos
..unless otherwise noted..
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2007
, Darkstar. All Rights Reserved.
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