Tattoo Talk Thursday: Level Up

It's been a while since I've done a Tattoo Talk Thursday! It's also been a while since I've been tattooed I've not been tattooed since April of last year, so the itch is there. And I'm starting to forget what it feels like to be tattooed! (Is that a good or bad thing?) In my early 20's I was getting them all the time, inking up most of my ideas from the most important, to the craziest. As I've gotten older, I've been a little bit more selective about the pieces I was getting. It's not because I had some sort of ephiphany. When I was younger I didn't ever think about running out of room. And I was pretty sure that I'd have offed myself before it became any sort of concern. But here we are! Looking forward to a new inking. But on a more positive note, I finally decided to take the plunge and tattoo one of my knees that I had an idea for. I've been messing around with the idea of tattooing my knees for a few years now. It wasn't a question of pain, but what would really look good. I went through 5-6 ideas or so before this one hit me in the middle of nowhere and it was pure perfection. I need to get a pixelated heart tattoo...but where would I get it done...? MY KNEE!I don't know what I'm going to get done on my other knee but I know that its something that I want to do. I wanted to do something a little out of my comfort zone with this one and blend colours like I hadn't before. I originally wanted to do a mint green and red, but then I figured what it would look like on my knee and I didn't think it would work that well for that area. I do want to get a tattoo with a minty green colour, so I think I'll save that for my next project. I wanted to do something with magenta tones because I don't really have any of that on me, not to mention it would look fuckin sick ad popping with some red...and teal! Icy blue, teals, reds and magentas. With the colour pallet and my design in hand, I approached Kevin about having him do another piece on me. He was down for the idea right away. He was excited to tackle a knee, especially a semi-pixilated piece. We decided to knock the knee out in two sessions. Not because of pain, but because of the swelling that can happen and he wanted to lessen the chance that I'd have fall out. (I'm pleased to say I only had a little bit, less than expected so I couldn't be happier. I'm booked in to get a touch up a month from now. I can't wait. Not only am I getting the touch up, he and I are going to be discussing a new big project that I have in mind for the autumn for my birthday! I'm working the actual day (surprise!) so it will have to be later that week and I don't mind. I'm excited. I love his work and I know he'll do an amazing job with it and will treat my design well.) With one go, we got the stencil on perfectly. I was nervous, I'm not going to lie I thought that it was going to be one of my hardest pieces to sit through. The outline wasn't bad. It stung, but it wasn't really painful...until we got to the second sitting when he started to shade in the top of my kneecap, right on top of the bone. For the love of the Queen and all her corgis, it was like scraping my knee across the fucking pavement! It was almost as bad as the lower part of my armpit that I got done ages back. I'm usually really good with tattoo pain, well all physical pain really. I think it's just because I don't really have control of ths pain. I mean, I do, I can tell him to stop, but it's not me inflicting it, so it's different for me. I sat still as I could, trying not to have an uncontrolable jerk kick him right in the stomach. The outline and dip part of my knee I sat fine for. I know I'm probably going to have the same thing when I have him do my right knee. When that will be, I'm not sure, but I think I'm probably going to have Kevin do it, he did such a bang up job on my left one. I love the way that Kevin blended the light and dark tones of the reds, blues and magentas. Some people really have an eye on flow and he does. I can't wait to post the touched up version! Though my favourite piece he's ever done is the Snorlax on my stomach. The black outline was the easiest part of the tattoo. Except one little area that felt like I was being shanked. (No offense to the prison population reading this work.) I might do another heart on the other knee but keep it hald filled? I don't know. I'm toying with ideas that will look bomb. I'm happy to announce that my latest project "Dark Tarot" will be available in June! It will be a 20pg colouring book featuring dark and gothic tarot designs that you can colour! Each page will have a little background on tarot and the inspiration behind the drawings featured. I can't wait to see where this project will take me. Be sure to be following my socials for all updates! Facebook: Soul Candy Twitter: darkdannydreams Instagram: darkdreamingdaniel TikTok: darkdreamingdaniel