Inked!

Well, today was the day. If you've been checking out my blog this year you'll know that I started running a competition in January, once this fair blog had reached 500 followers. By the end of February, all entries were in (almost 40 of them) and it came time for me to announce the winner, in this blog post. The winning entry from Robert is repeated above.

I took the design along to Emily at Flesh Tattoo Company in Fallston, MD, last Saturday and left it in her more than capable hands.

This afternoon I went along for the actual inking. It's been a while since my last tattoo, so I wasn't exactly sure how it would feel until we got started. I mentioned to Emily that it felt just like last time, as if someone was rubbing a very sharp glass shard across my skin... for two hours!

Still, it was completely worth it. Emily did a bit of handprint research, and actually checked out this blog in the process : ) She was also pretty stoked that I'd run a competition like this. Anyway, her research led her to add her own artistic elements/style to the final rendering, which you can now see below!

Just above it is the first tattoo I got 11 years ago. At the moment, with the raised flesh of the healing skin, it feels like a burning, bloody hand has been slapped against my arm. Very Renegade Guard if you ask me ; )

As an aside, Emily's husband Ed owns the great indy store Games & Stuff in Glen Burnie, MD. I heartily endorse both businesses. One thing that made the whole inking experience more fun (and a bit surreal) was being able to chat with Emily about how Malifaux and exIllis were doing, and what they meant to the gaming community. Very cool. Thanks for the great ink!

Cheers

Dave