Back It Up: Tittsworth Tattoo Timeline

Here are some flicks detailing the progress of my back tattoo.  The end of these photos marks approximately 60 hours in a little over 3 months (including a 3 week break for an Asian tour).  I was sitting on average for 5-6 hours but up to 7-8 per session and going twice a week at times.

All work is done by Matt Rinks, owner of Ghost Town Tattoo.  In his 20+ years of tattooing, Matt says he has never seen anyone with the dedication and follow-thru to progress this fast.  We were doing in  a month what he says most people accomplish in a year.  At first, the shop thought I was into pain, but quite the opposite… I couldn’t wait to get it over with.

When he cut the first line across my back, my eyes slammed wide open and every inch of me dreaded what I had started.  For somebody that has battled addiction and obesity, I have no problem saying this ranks up there as one of the most demanding things I have been through.  Some days I was able to roll thru 6 hours, gut full of 5 Guys, singing R. Kelly with the boys at the shop.  Other days I wrapped myself around a space heater, painfully trying to focus on anything but the buzzing… feeling like 8 of the toughest hours had passed, only to realize we barely even started.

Glowing stretch-marks, hotel bath tubs sprayed with blood and slimy layers of skin, packing for tour with saran / medical tape & aquaphor, cross-continental flights covered in plastic, friends and strangers helping me to lube and cover my tender flesh, countless shirts and bed sheets ruined, nights and flights spent tossing and turning with plastic wrap making my skin sweaty and uncomfortable… It’s been quite a process, but we’re just a session or two from finishing and I couldn’t be happier.  Stay tuned for the final product and hope you enjoy the pictures…

To give you an idea for what some of these sections took (in hours)

4 skeleton outline
5 female / wheat bar outline
3 samurai tramp stamp outline
7 grid
2 floor under tree blackening
4 black behind skeleton
6 shading skeleton, ribs, grid
4 filling in wheat bars
4 female’s first colors, pinks orange
5 initial blues on samurais
4 blue banners
4 tweaks on homegirl (1st round of patterns)
5 patterns and coloring on samurai