If someone would have told me a few years ago that I’d have both arms covered in tattoos I would have told them they were crazy. After all, I’m the nerdy writer-type. As it turns out the old-saying, Tattoos Are Addictive is true...at least in my case. I got my first piece done in the summer of 2016 at age forty-five and was right back to the drawing board shortly after deciding what kind of art I wanted on the other arm.

A few months ago I got my second tattoo. It’s a Buddhist mandala with the flower of life pattern running behind it. During my first sitting, amazingly talented tattoo artist Greg “Grease” Lehman spent four hours straight just doing the line work. I’m not going to lie, it hurt like h@ll. This one hurt much more than the first one I got the year before. Greg said there was more pain this time because of the complexity of the line work.

I spent the next three months or so walking around feeling like a page out of an adult coloring book because the mandala wasn’t shaded or colored. After some thought and a little searching on the internet for color/shading patterns I finally decided how I wanted to finish this one off. I sent Greg a few example images over email and then we scheduled a one hour session.

Let the "fun" begin

Greg started with a grey ink to shade the alternating layers of the mandala. This took about thirty minutes from start to finish.

Then he changed needles and begin a different kind of shading, comprised of small black dots.

After another half an hour the dot shading was finished and a splash of bright blue was added in the center.

A close-up of the finished product.

A more professional picture taken from Greg's camera.

Now, the piece feels complete to me and I couldn't be more happy with it.

I have to decide what I want next, there's still a lot of blank canvas. After my first tattoo, I always told myself that I'd get a full sleeve done when I was able to quit my corporate day job and write full time. I'm thrilled to report that this goal was reached last week so it's time to start brainstorming.

After seeing what's involved in the process, I have an immense appreciation for the art of tattooing. I can't imagine the amount of confidence and focus it would take to work in a medium where a mistake literally can't be erased.

If you're thinking about getting one yourself my advice is to:

1. really contemplate what you want done and make sure it has a deep meaning for you; and
2. make sure the artist you choose has good ratings online and some years of experience.

Oh, and be careful, it IS addictive.

(All photos are original.)

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