Jake’s getting this crazy-ass sleeve. Not my sort of thing, but he loves it! As usual, Paul’s done an amazing job so far.

Finally had some tattoo done. The house has been poking holes in my bank account so every time I go to look for tattoo money, there’s never anything. Had some filling and inner-arm outlining done; the mask scares Charlotte, but my inner-upper-arm is rarely on show, so tough.

One more sitting left and we’ll be done I think [hope].

I get the impression that Paul is really enjoying this. I’m so pleased with how it’s coming on. We’re 4 hours in now – still got the inside of my upper arm, then detail and shading. I am not looking forward to the inside arm – hopefully if I get my pain appetite up, I’ll be alright.

Yes, my arm is an odd colour. It hurts.

I’ve wanted to get a sleeve for ages, but the question was what. I had a few ideas in mind, but after Charlotte started visiting Paulys Tattoo in Southampton, I fell in love with a type of tribal tattoo that I hadn’t really seen before. I basically associated tribal with any kind of pikey-looking crap and it didn’t appeal. Paul is something of a specialist in this area, and all the patterns and designs on his arm and wall made me decide that this was where I wanted to go with my left sleeve (I’m going to go for a more new-skool, bright coloured, floral thing for my right sleeve – yes, I’m already planning it!).

Being the talented guy Paul is, I had no trouble just telling him to do whatever he wanted, so he freehanded some ideas onto my arm this morning, then started jabbing away at me. Incidentally, this is one of the very few occasions where it’s ok for another guy who isn’t your boyfriend to shave you.

He’s about two thirds done on the line work (about a fifth overall) and I fucking love it. The way he’s incorporated by bass clef and the ideas for detail and my upper arm are just what I wanted. If you’re looking for something similar, definitely check him out – he’s an amazing artist, and a really good bloke.

EAT THE PAIN!

I can confirm that elbow-bisecting line work FUCKING hurts. I ate a considerable amount of the pain for this.

(Expertly taken by Charlotte, who can barely lift my camera!)

Now that the redness has chilled out a little, a photo of the new detail and shading of Charlotte’s new tattoo. I’m super jealous of it. It’s so good.

The inherent multicolour of the subject forced me to convert this to black and white. I also like the idea that black and white tattoos require tonnes of different shades of grey ink.

It’s fun in my world.

Charlotte just started this tattoo today. I’m so jealous. Courtesy of Maris @ Pauly’s Tattoo, Southampton

No trouble, really. Just a crappy play on words.

I really wanted to go out and explore but apparently my back had different idea. I can barely stand, let alone explore so here’s a picture of Charlotte’s tattoo. I wish mine had healed as quickly as hers!

Today, we got tattooed. It was pretty cool. Charlotte has an incredibly low threshold for pain and she got hers on her ribs, but she was such a pro. Everyone was impressed. Now she’s making excuses not to do things. Typical.
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