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My chest tattoo experience: ferns, bird and bugs


Artist: Adam Trump at Ritual Tattoo, Guernsey

On Friday, I made a huge commitment. No, I didn't tie the knot with my very handsome boyfriend (that won't happen for quite some time, but maybe someday). I got a chest tattoo. I made the decision to become far more tattooed than my parents ever anticipated when I got my very first tattoo at seventeen. I am now (technical term coming up) pretty-reasonably-tattooed (okay, I was joking about the technical term). 



In this post I'll give a quick overview on how I came up with the concept, a description of the design process and talk about time/pain/difficulty-sitting. I hope you enjoy my thoughts, but just a quick note to politely ask that no-one copies my idea/design exactly. If this post has inspired you, I'm flattered, but please respect my tattoo artist's work and my individuality and find a design unique to you. Thank you in advance!

Anyway, on to the experience! 


Unfortunately (for some), there is no deep meaning to this tattoo. I, in fact, had a dream about the concept. I remember very little about the rest of the dream, but the ferns stuck in my head for months and I finally decided to take the plunge, with the bird and bugs as a welcome addition to fill out the piece and add to the nature theme. 

I should add here that I am having the piece coloured on the 3rd March, so it's not quite finished, but I thought I'd share what I have so far here. I'll update more when it's completed, of course. 

As for the experience with Adam at Ritual Tattoo, I must say it was excellent: very professional, yet friendly and Adam was a star in changing the design to fit my vision for the piece. Originally Adam had drawn up the piece with two birds rather than one and had included fewer insects, but he was happy to change to fit my specifications, which I really appreciated. Adam is incredibly talented and I would highly recommend his work. The tattoo studio is also beautifully decorated and so aesthetically pleasing (lots of cool nature-based stuff)! 


Moving on, as my seventeenth tattoo, I am aware of the pain involved, and this tattoo was far from painless. At first I had some issues with shaking, but as I became accustomed to the pain (and after Adam placed the heater about ten inches from my face), the shaking subsided and I sat relatively comfortably for five hours. Towards the end of the five hours, I struggled a smidge and was glad to have finished the line work, but I wasn't unbearably uncomfortable and could have probably sat for 30 minutes more if need had been. 

The sternum area was definitely the toughest, with the bugs near my armpit area coming a close second. The majority of the ferns were completely fine (read: definitely not painless but definitely bearable) and Adam even commented that it barely seemed like I was attached to the body he was tattooing (if that makes sense?) because I showed I was in pain very little. I do find I go quiet during tattoos, I must say. 

Overall, I'm so pleased with my decision to become a pretty-reasonably-tattooed-person! I couldn't be happier with the design and result. I hope you guys have enjoyed this overview of my experience and like the pics. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below, and also if you'd like to share your chest tattoo ideas/experiences, please do! I'd love to hear them! 

Here's to becoming an even-more-tattooed-person in the future! 

Over and out <3 


 Instagram: @jumper.dweller


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