When my Mother was diagnosed with Cancer this year I headed into Tattoo Extreme in Queanbeyan and asked for a feather tattoo with a pink ribbon on my right wrist. At the time I was really surprised to get in and see someone so quickly, but I reconciled that concern with the fact that what I was getting wasn’t that difficult.
When I got to the store I was sure that the girl who’d been given the task of tattooing me was once their receptionist. They assured me she’d been tattooing for two years and was capable. I’d had work done there before and was really happy with it, so I saw no reason to doubt them.
We talked design and she showed me what she’d drawn up. I really liked the design, and despite my apprehension at her skill level when ahead with it. Halfway through it became evident that her and I weren’t on the same page.
Her technique was shocking. I’ve never bleed so much or felt like someone was dragging needles through my skin. Her mixing of inks was horrible with my whites ending up looking like a pinkie brown colour. What was supposed to be a pink ribbon ended up looking like a pink and white stripped ribbon. The point of my feathers stem was more like a deep hole. It was horrible.
I hoped against all hope that it would heal and come good. Funnily enough as it healed it got worse. I ended up scarring across the middle of the design. It also become evident that the “artist” has colored outside the lines. A pre-schooler can keep it between the lines!
I can’t even begin to explain how upset I was. To make it worse it’s position on my wrist was so prominent that every time I did anything I was forced to look at it. It made me so very unhappy and I covered it every chance I had.
HUBBY and I spoke about it and decided that I should try and find someone to cover it up. I will never return to Tattoo Extreme in Queanbeyan.
I rang and booked an appointment with Tattoo Culture in Tuggeranong. When I went in there for my pre-appointment I spoke with Rachel. She was BRILLIANT! Put my mind at ease that it could be covered and that they would do their best to make sure I was happy with it. She was really lovely and polite. She introduced me to Luke who would be doing the work. I left there with such a smile on my face and a song in my heart.
Originally Luke and I had spoken about turning the feather into something that looked more like a feather. Even trying to make it look more like a peacock feather. When I turned up to my appointment and we sat down to do the work it became evident that he wouldn’t be able to make it look like it should. He explained his concerns and we talked about options. We decided to leave it and come back in a week after he’d had a chance to do a design to cover it. I had suggested a sparrow, but as the week progressed I became more concerned about ending up with something that looked like I’d served time.
When my appointment came I turned up armed with a lot of other designs and ideas and Luke patiently talked me through them all. He even spent some time doing a mock-up of another koi on my arm. The design of the sparrow sat on the bench and as I looked at it I became curious about what it would look like on my skin. So he humoured me and put the outline on my wrist. It was love at first sight. Despite spending an hour talking other designs I gave him the go ahead to do the sparrow.
He was AMAZING! Calm, confident and gently. He just hadn’t warned me how much going over already tattooed skin would hurt. Mother Trucker! I’ve not experienced anything like this pain! We sat for two hours and got a majority of the design done.
That was back in July. Yesterday I went in and had him finish it up – which is why there’s some scabbing in these shots. Much of the color on the body had faded and the old design was coming through, so Luke recolored with darker versions of the ink the areas we’d already done. He also added color to the ribbon and touched up some of the line work. Now she’s done and she’s beautiful – just like my Mum!
I’m so very happy with it. I love the little details, like the point on her beak, the colour of her eye and the graffiti feel to the tail. I said to HUBBY when I got the original work done that it would be my last, but after having Luke work his magic I’m so tempted to get more work done. Only this time he wouldn’t be held back by somebody else’s work, he could do something spectacular.
I’m also thinking that if I ever get 1,000 unique visitors to this site in one day I’ll get Luke to tattoo me a gnome to commemorate… I could do with a little gnome companion!
13 Comments
looks great, gnome!
thanks
do you think Design*Sponge will show it as a before and after?
totally worth a shot!
(love the new e-reply, btw!)
LOL – maybe…
is it the email that you get to say you have a reply that you’re talking about?
that’s the one.
(I can’t seem to click ‘reply’ to your latest comment though.)
It was a setting thing – I fixed it now
yay, you!
(anyway, must run… discussing politics)
hmm… we seem to have reached the limit – let me see if that’s a setting thing…
I have had similar experiences with tattoo Xtreme. The workmanship has been poor and the staff rude and obnoxious. Don’t go there.
I need a cover up as soon as this heals..and idk how exactly im going to do this cause its a five inch peacock feather on my arm…that looks more like a fish skelaton and colorless..i just want a coverup now…luckily the peacock feather is brown..myabee i can do a black cover up..? like dragon then hints of red? can anyone help? offer ideas?
Hi Sarah,
I know how much it sucks to have work done and not love it. My advice would be to wait for it to heal completely (there’s nothing they can do until it does) and then meet with a couple of artists and get their opinions on what you can do to cover it up. It’s not as bad as you think it is. I’ve been really surprised at how well they were able to cover mine and now I’m the only one that can see where it used to be.
Just try and remain calm about it and pick an artist that you’re really confident about (so ask to see other cover up work, get second opinions and talk to past clients). I know it sucks but it will be so worth it when you get the cover up that you want.
Let me know how you go. Good luck!
when my sister passed away suddenly, i got a few tattoos. one of them was the phrase lighter than air on my hip. as the artist did my first tattoo, a small infinity symbol, i thought there wouldnt be a problem. i wasn’t an avid tattoo fan, just a girl who wanted 3 specific tattoos to remember her sister. the guy turned out to be a novice and he smudged the words very badly, and i had to deal with how i hated how my body looked on top of depression and grief.
i asked around and ended up going to a guy who did most of my friends tats and he is really good and has a long waiting list. after months of waiting for my appointment i was pretty sure it made sense to do a feather behind the words as it is somewhat in line with the theme. the feather is light and wispy and i felt calm for awhile cause the smudged ink isnt obvious anymore but once in awhile i go through phrases where i am uncomfortable with it. perhaps it is because it is irregular in shape and doesnt look like a feather until up close where you can see how detailed it is. and also because the placement on my lower hip makes it look a bit like pubic hair. i don’t know what to cover it with now and who to go to cause hes the only guy i trust not to smudge things but yet i dont know how to tell him i dont like it anymore
I just stumbled across this post and thought I would add to it.
I’ve had 5 of my 7 tattoo’s done by Luke at Tattoo Culture, several big pieces on my back. He’s amazing. I got drunk in Vegas and got a stupid tattoo on my foot, absolutely hated it. He fixed it up and now its perfect, I can’t stop showing it off.
I’ve had him do a big angel across my back, along with a feather that goes up my back and across my ribs, some lyrics on my ribs all wrapped around a symbol for strenght. He’s made them all work really well together. He’s very talented, I usually go in with a picture or two and say ‘I want something like this but not so much this, but maybe something like this’. How he decifiers what I’m talking about and turns it into something better than I ever imagined I have no idea. The guys a genius.
About to book in with him again to get a big thigh piece done and to get him to add to another piece on the small of my back to blend it in with his other work. As it was my first tattoo and it doesn’t really fit in with everything but I trust that he will work his magic and make it look as great as all the others.
Luke is definitely worth the 4-6 month. I wouldn’t go anywhere else for a tattoo. Even if I move interstate I think I will still come back to get him to do my work.