Tattoo

I have, at the moment, one tattoo: on the outside top of my left arm, roughly over the medial deltoid. The symbol is a pseudo-Egyptian design from the Tintin book Cigars of the Pharaoh, consisting of a circle with a wavy line through it and two dots, one inside, one out. The version on my skin has an outline and drop shadow in black, and a colour fill that is red at the top blending to orange at the bottom.

This photo was taken about three years ago -- just after the tattoo was done, which is why it's all scabby and sore-looking:

I originally planned it to be quite a bit smaller, but the tattooist (Duncan X at Into You -- looks like he isn't there any more, though) was having none of that. "Trust me," he said, "you're going to love your tattoo and you'll want it to be big." And he was right. True, there are many more striking -- and sexier -- tattoos around, but this one is mine and I'm very happy with it.

And yes, it fucking hurt.

Anyway, for some reason today I found myself wanting another. The idea floats to the surface of my mind every now and then, but I haven't really been able to settle on a design I'd be happy to live with permanently. My original idea (which actually came to me while I was under the needle the first time; perhaps I was delirious from the pain) was something based on the Spy vs Spy strip by Antonio Prohias in Mad magazine. Having dug up a lot of reference material for that since then, I'm pretty sure it's not what I want, though I come back to it from time to time. Still, I most likely will end up going for something at least vaguely comic-strip related.

As I said, I was thinking about it today, and it really felt like time to start being a bit more serious, like I've waited long enough.

Today was very hot and sunny, astonishingly so by English standards. I don't know how reliable the "outside temperature" sensor in Ian's car is, but on the motorway this afternoon it registered 37.5°C -- the news reports a high of 35.9°C. We drove to the coast with the top down, so I spent a lot of time in the sun, and burnt a little bit despite sunscreen and hat. Nothing serious.

On the way back, though, I happened to run my hand over my shoulder and was slightly alarmed to find that I could feel the shape of my tattoo against the skin. Not all of it, as it turned out -- just the orange parts, which were swollen and tender. The black and the red were fine, as was the surrounding uninked skin.

Very odd. I can't tell whether the skin there is just sunburnt -- it seems a bit unlikely, but perhaps the colour absorbs/reflects/transmits light in such a way as to make the skin more susceptible to burning -- or whether it is inflamed for some other reason -- maybe the orange pigment breaks down under strong UV, leaving a toxic residue that causes irritation? Either way, it's not as if this was the first time the tattoo has been exposed to the sun, even fierce tropical rays.

It seems a bit better now, though still tangibly inflamed. Obviously I'll be keeping an eye on it over the next few days. In any case, I refuse to take it as any kind of sign: it hasn't put me off getting another :)
Posted by matt at August 6, 2003 07:39 PM