I’ve been tattooing for a while now and I’ve seen it all, people falling asleep, people passing out, and everything in between. But every time I sit in the chair as the client, my stomach still doing backflips and I get those “first tattoo” jitters. I know exactly what the needle feels like, I know the process, and I know I’m going to love the result, yet I still find myself overthinking the pain or the long session ahead. Is this a common thing for pros, or am I just a bit of a wuss when the roles are reversed? [Image Context]: These are my legs so far! Lots of heavy blackwork and botanical details. I love the art, but man, those sessions near the ankles had me questioning everything. Would love to hear from other artists or heavily tattooed people, does the “pre-session anxiety” ever actually go away, or do you just get better at hiding it?
The more you know, the more there is for you to possibly worry about. Ignorance is bliss! Here’s a fun anecdote to calm your jitters.
Once upon a time I was trying to reassure my coworker who had an upcoming appointment. “I’m scared! I want to do it but I’m scared of the pain! It’s going to hurt!” she groaned.
I asked “where on your body are you getting the work?”
“On my stomach,” she said.
“Oh,” I said, “that’s a good place. It won’t hurt that much. You have a lot of fat on your stomach.”
She just frowned at me. One of the other cooks walked in and she shouted “He just called me fat!”
“The rhetorical ‘you!’” I tried to explain, to no avail. I never heard the end of that one from her.