Monkey on my Back

I don't even do drugs, and I've got a monkey on my back. Got my back tattoo yesterday. Bigger than I had expected, but when Ram (the artist) gets excited, I get excited. It's always this way. I go in for a consult, we talk about what I want, I go home with a picture in my head, come back months later, he shows me what he's drawn, it's different than what I was imagining, and I go, "Okay!"

I had admired this picture of a monkey that was hanging in Ram's space. I looked at it for years, and finally said, "I want that monkey tattooed on me." Didn't know where it would go; I talked about my back, my shoulder blade, and my calf. At my consult, he said, "Let's make it a sick back piece!" and I said, "Okay!" It's also significant because I was born in the year of the monkey, 1968. I've always loved monkeys. And it's Japanese. It all fits.

The picture I had in my head was more tree, smaller monkey. When he showed me how he'd blown up the picture 180%, I was taken aback at first (no pun intended), but his enthusiasm is infectious. I said sure. It's not done yet, this is just the outline. There will be more shading, and cherry blossoms to follow next month.

Everyone wants to know what he's reaching for. I can get creative and say, "My arse? A silver dollar pancake? My soul?" But the real answer is the reflection of the moon. Should be more obvious with shading.

It's amazing how mental getting a tattoo is. You really have to be "in the zone". I was not in the zone yesterday, and it affected me. I was still thinking about how big the monkey was, and how I was very exposed, with nothing on except my pants, and some personal stuff, and it hurt more because I wasn't relaxed. Ram also said that with the back, there's so much space to cover, every new spot feels different so it's hard to zone. He helped me relax, and by the end of it, I was in the zone. Oh well. Got it done in two hours, which is amazing, considering what he produced. I love it. I have friends lined up to wash my back and put Neosporin on it while it heals. That's a true friend.

Stay tuned for developments in the coming months.