A Little Bit of Discipline

The update is that it can be a little difficult trying to teach yourself something if you’re not willing to follow up with a little bit of discipline.  To institute some discipline into this excursion I have decided to spend at least one hour on Sat. and Sun totally dedicated to the art of tattoo.  I find that I have the most time/flexibility on these two days.  So far it is going pretty well, for the first couple of sessions I have been primarily reading on how to set up the gun, keep it running and various techniques.  I believe that the last time I wrote I mentioned a helpful sight but neglected to give the name of the site so here it is http://tattoo-designs-blog.com/category/setting-machines.  This site is also a blog and what I find most helpful are the diagrams that are provided. (By the way for anyone who is interested in tattooing just know that the kit that you order will not come with any instructions.  You will have to be willing to figure it out on your own and to do a little research).  It is also beneficial to have some sort of goal in mind that you would like to achieve during your self-teaching sessions. For example for the past few sessions my goals have been to learn machine set up, tuning, and lining.


I am finding that the first thing to really get down pact is control of the tattoo machine.  If you have ever painted before, think of it as brush or stroke control or if you draw, line control and expression.  It’s very interesting as I continue to delve into different parts of artistic expression; I find that each one is about lines and the expression of that line regardless of the medium used. In the same way our lives are linear and our choice are the expression of that line whether it curves, bends, or remains straight; is soft, bold or graduated.  Sorry didn’t mean to get all poetic, but that just occurred to me as I was writing; therefore I will leave you with this one question to think on during the week.  At this very moment what does the canvas of your life look like?  For all those interested in sharing what your canvas is or what you hope for it to be StoryCorps  is in Atlanta and will be here until Oct. 2010.  I am providing the link for information on making booth reservations.  For those who don’t know what StoryCorps is, simply put it is a project that allows ordinary people to come in and tell your story whether it is about your experience as a cancer survivor or  you want to how you found your significant other; its up to you.  Follow this link for more information http://www.storycorps.org/record-your-story/locations.