A Drop Of Tanya

Name: Tanya

Age: 30

Tell me about yourself: I work in the financial services industry for our insurance division. It's a job, and pays well (so I can get tattoos!) I feel like this is some dating website survey. I love long walks on the beach, my friends and family are super important to me, I love going to all the amazing restaurants has to offer. I consider myself a bit of a foodie. I'm inspired by people's compassion, loyalty and support. My friends accept me for who I am and still love me, even though sometimes I might not always do the right thing. I have a cat, he’s a crazy, special little guy. Seriously I don’t think he’s normal, but I love him anyway and he is my companion. Even when the little guy wakes me up in the middle of the night trying to start a fight with me.

How many tattoos do you have:
6

Age when you got your first tattoo:
18

Do you have a favourite tattoo
Not one favourite, they all have meaning to me

Any more tattoos planned?
Yes my back, no idea what I want, I keep changing my mind, I'm looking for an amazing artist that will just draw something for me, I’d like it to have some meaning but mainly I'm looking for a really feminine piece that suits my body and incorporates the other tattoos I have on my back already. Sounds easier than it actually is...struggling to find someone to collaborate with

Favourite style of tattooing?
I like them all, honestly. They each have their history and background and I find it all fascinating.


Have you ever felt judged, prejudiced against because of your tattoos?
A few guys have turned their noses up, but I don’t really care what other people think.


What is your tattoo story?
The arrow, aka my star sign (Sagittarius) was my first, I thought about it for SSSOOOO long, I honestly agonised over it, it's placement, it's meaning. EVERYTHING! I went and got it done at Highline Tattoo’s (St Kilda Junction) by this big gruff looking biker dude who was the sweetest person you ever met. A girlfriend of mine from high school came with me and I thought I was so cool and tough. At the time, I never thought I would get any more, and if I could do it again, I probably wouldn’t get the same thing. My family hated it, and my grandmother would have disowned me if she ever knew.


The female symbol was my next one, in my head I wanted the curvature of the tattoo to match the arrow, but it didn’t turn out that way. I went back to Highline Tattoo and the same guy to get it, this time my boyfriend came with me. The tattoo was to symbolise the women in my life and how much they mean to me.

The hearts on my wrist are for my grandmother who has passed away, her maiden name was Heart and she was born on the 4^th July so that's why there is four. This tattoo also didn’t turn out like the drawing I had, I kinda wish he had told me it was too small for the detail my drawing had, but now I like that it's not perfect. I love the location and the tattoo as a whole, every time I look at it, I laugh because my Grandmother would HATE it and the rebel in me finds it amusing to dedicate a tattoo to her.

The writing I got a few years ago, I got it backwards because it's a tattoo for me and not anyone else. Basically it's all the things I stand for, believe and are me.

The kisses on my shoulder, or as I so devastatingly realised after I got it done, Four X....FAIL!!! I have only had this a little while and was completely last minute and not thought out (clearly) I’ll probably get this covered or incorporated into my big back piece I plan on getting done. But it was meant to be from my favourite Jeff Buckley song, Lover, you should have come over. My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder, originally it was going to be one, higher up on my neck, but the chick didn’t want to do it so high, and I'm grateful for her guidance, but somehow it morphed into four of them. It has started my love affair with colour tattoos.

The writing on my foot; "begin with a single step", or as I lovingly refer to it "gin with sing e step". I love the location, it's a pity it's already fucked, I only got this in December last year for my 30^th so it's only 5mths old. I’ll be getting it touched up when I get my back done, and probably try and get it a bit higher so it doesn’t fade so quick (or at all). This one hurt like hell, plus I have a thing about people touching my feet, so it was a massive psychological battle for me to let this guy hold down my foot and then tattoo it...i got a nickname out of this one...Ole One Shoe, because afterwards we went to get a cider at a pub around the corner and I couldn’t put my shoe on, so I walked around the streets of Perth and into this pub with one shoe on and no one cared. God I love Perth!

Fingers, Feet and Fading Ink

While the likes of Lily Allen, Lindsay Lohan and Rhianna sporting finger tattoos, it is unsurprising that tattooing on fingers has risen in popularity. What is largely unrecognised, though is that to have a tattoo on skin which is highly utilised and sensitive like on the fingers and sides of the feet can often be a better as an idea than in reality.

The skin on the fingers is much thinner than in other areas and is prone to sweating and the frequency in which the fingers are used, scrubbed, washed etc. means that the healing process tends to be different and often trickier than in more commonly tattooed spots. As a result of this the clarity and appearance of a design placed in one of these spots can be somewhat less than if the same design were placed in a more conventional position.


For these reasons it is not uncommon for tattooists to avoid or pass completely on doing a tattoo in these areas, particularly on the sides of the fingers. A friend whose finger tattoo is pictured below has been told, while trying to find a tattoo artist to touch up her fading ink that had she come to them with the idea they wouldn't have tried to talk her out of the idea as the ink fades much more quickly and requires constant touch ups.

It should be noted though that there are plenty of artists who will happily tattoo your fingers or feet and do it well. Each artist has their own guidelines and specialties, as a customer it is your responsibility to do your research and understand that not all tattoos are the same and recognise that there are some difficulties that can be involved with getting a tattooed in certain areas. You must heed your tattooist's aftercare instructions and be prepared to schedule touch up appointments down the road to keep the tattoo looking the way that you want it to.

This article isn't meant to steer you away from getting tattooed on your finger or foot as myself and a number of friends also have tattoos in one of these areas or the other, only to make you aware that these areas are different to more traditionally tattooed spots and require more maintenance than others.

That being said, I love my little lion, even if his feet are falling out. I will continue to have him touched up whenever he's feeling too faint.

Note: All three of these designs were tattooed at the same time, in December 2010.