Those of you who follow me on Instagram or have seen me around in real life will already have seen this, but I'm going to share it anyway! A few weeks ago, I got a tattoo. Of a mermaid. Very large on my forearm. It was a massive step for me, going from barely inked, to very visibly inked just one week after taking the next step towards a health profession, but it was exciting all the same. I'd been wanting a large piece on my forearm for quite some time, and decided in December that any birthday money I got would be put towards one.
After a lot of searching, and careful consideration of tattoo ideas, I came across Merry's work - a tattoo artist from Rock of Ages in Lennox Head. I fell in love with her instagram instantly, and just knew that she was the one who would design my next tattoo. I decided that I especially loved the portrait-style tattoos she did of beautiful women, and so got in contact with her to ask that she draw me a mermaid face to be tattooed on my forearm. Four weeks after my initial email to her, there I was in the chair, getting tattooed!
Merry was very thorough in her emails, checking and double checking what I wanted, and sending me her sketches a few days before my booking to be approved. I had told her very little, really, and sent her only examples of her own work as a reference. I loved her style, and I trusted her to draw me something beautiful. What she came up with, incorporating the Deathly Hallows symbol into a ring rather than tattooing it on me separately, filling out the portrait with beautiful, coral-like fantasy flowers of her own imagining after my request not to have roses and adding a little pop of colour to her eyes, lips and cheeks, is better than I ever could have imagined!
I had the outline and shading all done in one session of almost four hours. I was getting a little restless by the end, but really, it went by quite quickly! Merry kept me relaxed and chatting the whole way through, using a little numbing spray every now and then while shading, as my arm was starting to swell a little and become a bit uncomfortable near the end. By the time she was shading the last flower, I could have sworn she was drawing on me with a pen, rather than a needle. I don't know whether I was just used to the sensation, or if the numbing spray was just working really well! While she worked, Merry told me that most women who get tattoos of women are getting a tattoo of their alter ego, which I rather liked the idea of. I love the ocean and love to read (especially Harry Potter), so the idea of this beauty being my alter ego sits okay with me! We also decided to call her Belle, for her beauty and because we are both massive Disney fans, but Ariel is much sillier than this wise mermaid!
Now that the tattoo is nicely healed, I can say that I am really, really impressed with the quality and detail of this tattoo. To me, this is a huge piece (especially on my skinny little arm!) but to Merry, it was quite small and she was worried she wouldn't be able to make her as detailed as the portraits she normally does on people's backs and thighs. Everyone I speak to, though, is greatly impressed!
Do you have any tattoos?
