unveiling

Surprise!

I've wanted a tattoo of my namesake, Daphne, since I was 14.

After thinking about this image for so many years, and how I wanted it to appear on my body, I'd finally settled on a Neo Classical etching-like tattoo with color and fine line shading. One of the most important elements for the image was that Daphne needed to be in contrapposto -- I didn't want her to appear static, and I didn't want a symmetrical tattoo. The one thing I struggled with over the years was the placement. I knew I wanted it fairly large-scale, but I didn't like the idea of an asymmetrical tattoo on a flat surface of my body, so when the idea for a ribcage tattoo finally came to me, I knew I was finally ready to treat myself!

Last month I went to Saved in Brooklyn and met with Dan. Dan's a super nice guy, and loved the story, and got excited to collaborate with me. He drew up a sketch based on my requests and the images I provided, and added his own twists too. Yesterday I went in for my first session, to complete the outline of my tattoo! I had no idea what to expect, pain wise, since this was my first tattoo, though everyone who heard about the rib placement told me I was in for some hurtin'. Surprisingly though, I felt fine! Actually, I almost fell asleep at one point, I went into a completely relaxed state. Not gonna lie, though, the lines over my kidney, hip bone and a few on the ribs kinda sucked. I'll go back for another two sessions -- one for the shading and one for the color.

I cannot express how happy I am with my decision to finally get this done! I've wanted it for so long, and it really felt right for me at this point.