Phoenix Tattoo

I looked for tattoo books for years before I was ready to get myself a tattoo. I knew I wanted something that incorporated a phoenix, but I had no idea how to go about it, so I watched how it showed up in the tattoo books.

The phoenix is a very important personal symbol for me. I battled cancer for many years before finally making a full recovery, and the idea of a mystical rebirth is very near and dear to my heart. But none of the phoenix tattoo designs in the books were quite what I wanted. None of them came near. They all were really very bright and colourful, with many different colours as if a phoenix were a peacock.

What I wanted was something very plain, and I finally found my phoenix tattoo. It was a picture of a phoenix done in very thin, graceful line drawing. It was gorgeous. It looked almost like a pencil drawing.

I wanted a phoenix, one of the most fantastic of fantastic creatures, done in that simple, realistic style.

I took the tattoo book in to a tattoo artist who I know and showed it to him. I explained that that was what I wanted, and he said that he could do it, and got to work sketching. When he was done, he had something perfect, more beautiful than any of the designs which I had looked for. I sat down right then, and he began to do that phoenix on my thigh.

Kevin D.

Comments:

I, too, thought about and searched for a phoenix to use as an inspiration for a tattoo for almost 10 years.

I looked in books, magazines, on the internet, I even went so far as going and sitting down with artists and trying to sketch something out, but I could never quite achieve that image I had in my head.

I fancy myself somewhat of an artist, and many would agree with me, so I decided to give it a try myself. Finally, after going through failed phoenix after failed phoenix, I had the perfect image. I had captured what I saw in my mind on paper and I was PSYCHED about it.

A very abstract design; graceful, dancing flames that merely hinted at the image of a rising bird. Beautiful. Perfect. I knew it was for me. I carried that design around with me for a year before finally settling on an artist. I had looked through his portfolio, actually talked to people he had worked on before, saw work he had done on himself, and watched him tattoo my boyfriend at the time before finally deciding to go with him. We discussed my design for a very long time.

I was adamant about wanting to keep the tattoo black and white, even though he was strongly stressing that flames look so much better in color. We discussed the thickness of the outline, the amount and depth of shading, the size, the positioning. He placed the design three times before he got it just where I wanted it and we finally got down to business....

The way I was sitting made it difficult to watch what he was doing, but I did, like a hawk, while he did the first bit of outlining. It was just like we discussed and I was thrilled! I finally relaxed and got caught up in a conversation with my boyfriend and while I did, the artist had increased the thickness of the outline because HE "thought it would look better that way." I was devastated. The gorgeous piece of art I had obsessed about for nearly a decade was RUINED.

I was so upset I sat there and cried, nearly sobbed, while he finished butchering my skin. What else could I do? He said he had "misunderstood" what we talked about, but I knew he was lying. There was no way. I made sure he knew exactly what I wanted before I even agreed to sit in his chair.

I honestly think he messed it up ON PURPOSE because I disagreed with him about what would look best. He said to make up for the misunderstanding, he would fill the flame in with color and make it look great and wouldn't charge any extra for the time or the work and, after a lot of convincing from him and my boyfriend, I agreed to let him color the flame.

He had promised to make it look natural and blend the colors together subtlely. Again, I think he sabotaged my tattoo on purpose. There is no subtle blending. There are three distinct levels of yellow, orange, and red. One color on top of the other, from light to dark, in horizontal bands or stripes. Let me reiterate that the work I saw in his portfolio, on his other customers, and on my boyfriend was phenomenal.

The mess on my arm looks like a very inexperienced artist's work. It looks like a joke. My beautiful, delicate flame bird was turned into a ghastly eyesore and I'm doomed to wear it for the rest of my life. It's been a few years and I've tried to accept it and adjust to it and I just can't. I still, to this day, cry sometimes when I glimpse it in the mirror or if someone asks me about it. I have other tattoos that I love and will always love, but I feel like the one I regret will always overshadow the ones I love.
March 12, 2007, 11:39 pm, Brandy