It is not my week.
I finally went in for the appointment to get the tattoo for which I’d been waiting and saving for almost a year. I had spoken with the artist (really good artist at really top tattoo place, this is not something I had done in the parking lot of the White Plains mall) about the design–a snail, with a few different kinds of ferns, on the right calf. I made a few points in the initial consultation.
1) I wanted it to look as detailed and naturalistically rendered as possible. We discussed, and looked at, some botanical engravings to get an idea of the style.
2) I did not want a thickly-black-outlined cartoonish thing, but something more realistic, if possible.
3) I was very specific about the colors I wanted. Natural. No weird colors for effect. Green, lots of different shades of green, brown snail. Again, realistic.
3) I gave her the go-ahead to make the composition of the drawing whatever she thought would look nice, and said I didn’t want to micromanage that part of the process.
Well.
I have just spent $400 on a tattoo that I’m not at all happy with.
It’s the color, really. I mean, pretty much everything I specified above was completely ignored, and I can’t navigate social situations well enough to stop a process like that once it gets going. The drawing is quite nice, although the snail is more than a bit cartoon-y and the ferns look pretty generic. There are some dark, broad, leaves in there for no real reason at all.
But the colors. O. M. F. G. There is no green in this thing. No green. A sort of bluish-blackish-green, in parts. Some parts of the leaves are kind of… orange? The whole thing is shaded through with tons of black, which I had made the point of saying I really did not want. The snail? There’s… pink? in it? It really does not stand out at all against the background, although I can see the pink was an attempt at getting it to do so.
I have spent 48 hours telling myself it’s all right. It isn’t. It really isn’t.
So, for the readers, some really serious questions.
Can I have this retouched in some way? Can they go over some of these bizarre colors with some green? White? Something?
If so, when? How soon?
Most important, if I’m having this color-corrected in as much as such a thing is possible, what do I want to be doing differently during the healing process? The entire new-tattoo-care regimen is designed to avoid fading. If I want to fade this as much as possible, so that I can eventually get the colors fixed, what do I want to be doing? Sun? Soaking it?
Thoughts?
Any and all advice welcome. Pics to be added to this post soon, for those who like to look at train wrecks.
July 5, 2008 at 12:51 am
I suppose one might always resort to skin grafts…
Sorry, hon. I promise that I am now making an appropriately somber face and thinking vile thoughts at the ink jockey who marred such pretty skin.
July 5, 2008 at 8:55 am
When I got my tattoo they told me it would scab over and not to pick at or even touch the scab as until it heals that scab IS your tattoo and bits can chip off. And you can have tattoos altered - I know someone who had a rose with her husbands name tattooed on her shoulder. They then split up and she had it “covered” with another rose without the name. I don’t know how long it was in between though. I’d let the tattooist know you’re not happy though.
July 5, 2008 at 9:58 am
Well, the pretty skin was made to be marred, and it’s a nice tattoo as these things go. I just need to see what can be done.
July 5, 2008 at 10:33 am
Well, I knew a guy who got his wet and removed the scab while it was new and it was very faded compared to the other side where that didn’t happen. It was accidental for him. I expect trying to make it happen would fade it even more.
When I got my tattoo a tiny piece of the scab tore when I took off the dressing and it’s lighter than the rest of the tattoo.
Good luck!
July 5, 2008 at 11:27 am
Thanks. I’m not sure how to let her know. I mean, we’d had the conversation about the colors, and when I got there I asked her again about it, and she seemed to get what I meant. Then a good part of the way through I was able to see what was going on and had no way to express it. The annoying thing is, she had a bunch of botanical references on the table next to us, and it was all light and dark green, and I actually said “Oh, this is a nice color, are you doing this light green?” and she said “Yes, a yellow-green.” However, she then made that particular part light orange, without a hint of green. I have actually asked people about this, thinking I might be colorblind. No such luck.
How should I tell her? Should I call? Email? I was planning to just drop it with her, and have the color thing done by someone else.
I also plan to start soaking the shit out of this tattoo, but I’m very very nervous about that.
July 5, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I would go to the shop and have them take a look. I would explain that you are unhappy and ask them what to do and when they can remedy the situation. My guess is that a solid artist can “save” it. In the future, don’t let them start until you love the colors and design. They should show you before they take a gun to your arm.
July 6, 2008 at 12:52 am
first off, i’m so glad to see you around! hope you remember me from the SN forum at MDC. i loved your posts there!
that tattoo experience sounds horrible! i know you can get them retouched but i think you have to wait a while. totally see the sketch first! i can kind of identify with the communication problem. i can’t imagine what it would be like with a tattoo but i know i’ve had several horrible haircuts because i have no idea how to stop the process once it gets going. maybe if you wrote them a letter or email and then went in? you’re so very good at written communication.
July 6, 2008 at 12:53 am
and i think it’s a good idea to just go to someone else.
July 7, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Pictures!! Please disclose.
So what about the snail? Is it a particular species you chose from a book? What’s special about the/this snail? Do tell if you can.
Does the snail have personal significance to you? Is it at all related to your illness or feelings about how MS may have changed the way you relate to the world? Or did the snail affinity start before the MS? Or do you just happen to like snails?
I’m just curious. I love all kinds of creatures and have had affinities with different ones for since childhood.
I know what you mean about not being able to speak up and change the direction of a bad situation once it’s begun its course. I’ve had so many bad hairdos because of the cat who takes my tongue and runs to the corner with it.
Hope you’re doing ok, Hala.
Ok, ok, gotta go give the kid some soy icecream now….
July 10, 2008 at 10:09 am
Okay, I told you this in person, but the tattoo is beautiful. It really looks like an old botanical print. When it gets greened up a little I think you’ll be really happy with it.
July 10, 2008 at 4:48 pm
If you’re not happy with it, I would go back to her and have her correct what she can. Her first priority, as an artist, is for your to be happy with the work. If the snail has pink in it and you don’t like it, she can go over it with a darker color or just do black/brown. If you’re not comfortable going back to her, I would wait until it heals and then go to another shop and another artist and ask their opinion on how to fix it. I suspect that they’ll have you do laser removal if you want to keep the basic design, but hate the colors. Once the laser removal is done (which is going to be pricey since you’re trying to remove color), you can have new colors put in. The colors that you actually like.
Sorry for your bad experience and I hope everything works out!
July 12, 2008 at 12:19 am
ah ha! that’s why you were researching snails. i know it’s weird. i have such a strange memory for odd details. i remember you posting about researching snails and i thought neat. who knew all that about snails. why would anyone up and decide to research them though. mystery solved. i’m still curious to see the tattoo.
July 13, 2008 at 11:21 am
Actually the snail tattoo was a result of being really into snails, not the cause.
The tattoo is growing on me. The drawing is really lovely. I’m going to have the color touched up, though.
July 22, 2008 at 12:57 pm
You’re really going to need to give the tattoo a couple of weeks for all the healing to take place before you get the real picture. Once it’s all healed and you’re still not happy with the colour touch ups shouldn’t be a problem as long as it’s to darken the tattoo, although colour matching can be tricky sometimes. Last resort? there are other cheaper ways to remove a tattoo try Rejuvi3mm, its an ink extraction method that is far less intrusive than laser.
Best of luck
Liz