Got my 2nd tat!

Tonight was my big night for tattoo #2 at Sleeve to the Needle! I had an appointment with Tony, a very cool guest artist from California. I've been thinking of some type of crane design for a zillion years (or so it seems) and a few weeks ago when Diana was in town I found a sketch in a book that I really liked that helped shaped the direction and kick-start the whole process. I kept messing with it and messing with it and finally settled on a final design.

The crane is a symbol of happiness and eternal youth and I figured it was a perfect symbol to get at this point in my life. Right now I'm totally happy with where I am and the things I've accomplished and couldn't be happier! Maybe the crane will give me a little luck in finding a cool guy to share life with, but that's a whole 'nother issue!

For now I just had the outline done but will likely go ahead and make a second appointment sometime in the near future to fill it in. I'll just work with an artist to figure something out. Making it all black is a little too intense but I played with Photoshop and it definitely pops much more with some fill.

I don't remember my last tattoo hurting quite as much as this one. It wasn't bad, but there were certainly some moments where I got a nice little zing. Towards the end it started feeling a little ticklish in a strange way. I can't really explain the feeling of getting tattoed. It did make me reconsider the one I'm planning for my lower abdominal area...ouch!

Anyway, here's the final result and I love it! Second appointment pending...