Friday, October 14, 2011
I got inked at Republic Tattoo!
Friday, October 14, 2011Aside from my obvious interest with make-up, many of you may not know my love for tattoos. I haven't been sharing much about myself so ...
Aside from my obvious interest with make-up, many of you may not know my love for tattoos. I haven't been sharing much about myself so let this be the first. :)
For my 5th tattoo, I decided to get a rose. A rose because I wasn't able to experience a debut with all the lights, formal gowns, 18 candles and 18 roses. As we all know, 18 roses are given by 18 important guys in a girl's 18 years of existence. Debut or no debut, roses are traditionally given by men as a symbol of love and affection. But these roses never really last. They tend to fade right away.
I went to San Juan, decided. I was gonna be getting a rose tattoo on my forearm! There was only one problem...... my boyfriend. Haha.
He's not against tattoos or whatever, in fact, he has lots of them. He wasn't against me having a big rose on my forearm either but rather the though of me having it this early really made him indecisive.. He warned me about future clients who'd be interested in getting me as their models might lose their interest or change their minds once they see my tattoo. He stressed the fact that my 'roles' would be limited, my opportunities might lessen and that I might be a less versatile model. Maybe in a few years.... I saw his point and agreed.
The artist came in the shop and when we were deciding where to put the rose, no other spot really seemed to fit. It was either too big for that spot, too small for that spot, awkward, imbalanced because of my previous tattoos. Haha. So I ended up convincing him that my forearm was the perfect spot.
I kept bugging him and he kept telling me the same thing.... What changed his mind was when I told him that, I will only play the roles in where I can be myself. If clients don't like me because of my tattoos, then fine. It was a 'take it or leave it' kind of speech and he bought it. He was all for it. :)
My artist, Ding Fernandez, Vice President of PhilTag (Philippine Tattoo Artists Guild) was one of the most humble artists I've ever met. He helped me look for a design perfect for my arm. I wanted a realistic looking rose and we did a pretty good job finding the perfect reference picture for my rose :)
Last week, I celebrated my 21st Birthday! As a birthday gift to myself, I decided to get a new tattoo in celebration of my youth and at the same time, my legality. Co-incidentally, a few weeks before my birthday, Neil of Awesome.ph contacted me regarding their newest deal featuring Republic Tattoo. He asked me if I could partner with them and try out the deal myself. Republic has established a name in the tattoo industry in the Philippines as well as their artists who are also highly regarded figures, so taking this deal was a real pleasure.
As an artist, tattooing is one of the many forms of art that I appreciate so much. I fell in love not only with it's beauty, but with it's process as well. It's power of permanency is just so deep and amazing.. I've gotten so in love with it that the first tattoo I got gave birth and multiplied by four in a span of 2 years. Ever since my first one, my tattoos have became an important part of my life.
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| Photo by: Klara Fernandez (L) and Ramil Lantican (R) |
For my 5th tattoo, I decided to get a rose. A rose because I wasn't able to experience a debut with all the lights, formal gowns, 18 candles and 18 roses. As we all know, 18 roses are given by 18 important guys in a girl's 18 years of existence. Debut or no debut, roses are traditionally given by men as a symbol of love and affection. But these roses never really last. They tend to fade right away.
Now that I'm 21, I wanted to give this rose to myself as a constant reminder that at the end of the day, women must learn to love themselves first, before loving others. This shall give me a semblance of independence. This shall also make me remember the day I turned 21; a day I could always look back to and think that "growing old is inevitable but growing up is your choice." I want to be forever young. :) All these are reminders that shall last for a lifetime.
I went to San Juan, decided. I was gonna be getting a rose tattoo on my forearm! There was only one problem...... my boyfriend. Haha.
He's not against tattoos or whatever, in fact, he has lots of them. He wasn't against me having a big rose on my forearm either but rather the though of me having it this early really made him indecisive.. He warned me about future clients who'd be interested in getting me as their models might lose their interest or change their minds once they see my tattoo. He stressed the fact that my 'roles' would be limited, my opportunities might lessen and that I might be a less versatile model. Maybe in a few years.... I saw his point and agreed.
The artist came in the shop and when we were deciding where to put the rose, no other spot really seemed to fit. It was either too big for that spot, too small for that spot, awkward, imbalanced because of my previous tattoos. Haha. So I ended up convincing him that my forearm was the perfect spot.
I kept bugging him and he kept telling me the same thing.... What changed his mind was when I told him that, I will only play the roles in where I can be myself. If clients don't like me because of my tattoos, then fine. It was a 'take it or leave it' kind of speech and he bought it. He was all for it. :)
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| Prepping my arm for the stencil |
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| the stencil :) |
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| When he started lining, I already knew through experience that it would be the most painful stage... Yes, it did hurt! |
After the outline, everything went smooth... I started to enjoy it. I missed the feeling! Haha. I was really comfortable with the Republic crew.. We had conversations and some laughs. I actually forgot I was being tattooed. :)
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| It's coming to life! |
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| Tolerable but still painful. Haha. My anticipation eased the pain. |
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| After 2 hours my rose has finally come to life! |
The result actually exceeded my expectations. Ding did a really great job! :)
I'm more than happy with the result! I love it. This perfect rose is now with me forever :)
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| I'm a huge fan of black and grey tattoos.. I chose not to put any color in my rose :) |
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| with Ding Fernandez. |
I believe that a great tattoo artist should be humble. His work should speak for itself.
Thank you so much, Ding! You don't know how happy I am :)
To those who are interested, Republic is located at 2/F Promenade Building, #198 Wilson Street, San Juan City. Republic is an awesome chill-out place! You'll never get bored as a customer or even if you are just accompanying a friend.. Republic has a lounge where you could just relax, watch TV and hang. They have free wi-fi, tons of art magazines and books plus they also serve drinks! Not to mention the beautiful artwork which really serves as the centerpiece of the shop. And last but not the least, the most important thing.. When you go to Republic, the tattoo service you would be paying for is QUALITY. No more, no less. :)
The good news? Awesome.ph will be featuring a deal on Republic's Tattoo valued at P2,000 for 50% off at P1,000! Be sure to check that out once the deal is on! :)
For more information you may visit Republic Tattoo's official website here and don't forget to check out also their page on facebook: Republic Tattoo
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| This was taken 2 days after I got the tattoo. No scabbing yet. I don't need to accessorize anymore, I got my tattoo :) |
I would like to thank Niel and Jeff of Awesome.ph and Paul of Republic Tattoo :) I definitely had an awesome experience with Republic Tattoo :) Also, I would like to thank my boyfriend for documenting the whole experience and for being the most supportive boyfriend ever :)
This is currently the longest post I've ever blogged. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it! :) Hit me up and comment down below :) Thanks! :) -dianejanica
