Man, a few years back, I just got this itch. You know, that feeling like you need some new ink. I had a couple of pieces already, but nothing really connected to one of my big loves – card games. I’ve been messing with cards since I was a kid, from poker nights with buddies to just doing magic tricks for my nieces and nephews. So, a deck card tattoo, that just clicked.
The first thing was figuring out what kind of card. I mean, you can’t just go with any old card, right? I tossed around ideas. A simple ace of spades, super classic, super clean. Or maybe something more complex, like a full royal flush spread out, or even just a pair of eights, because that’s what I always get stuck with. I settled on something in between – a couple of specific face cards that had personal meaning for me, one for my dad, one for my grandpa. They both loved a good card game.
Then came the real head-scratcher: where the heck to put it? This was the tough part, because a card, especially a couple of them, needs a spot that makes sense. I spent weeks just looking at my body in the mirror, flexing, imagining where these cards would sit. My artist, Dave, he’s a good dude, always chills with me for a bit before any work starts, just talking ideas.
We started throwing out options. Here’s what we chewed on:
- Forearm: This was a no-brainer for visibility. Everyone sees your forearm. You roll up your sleeve, boom, there it is. Great for showing off, easy to glance at yourself. But I already had something there, and I didn’t want it to feel too cramped. Plus, for two cards, it might have felt a bit squished if I wanted them to really pop.
- Upper Arm/Bicep: A classic spot. Good muscle to work with, less prone to stretching over time unless you get super buff really fast. You can easily hide it with a t-shirt or show it off in a tank. For a single card, perfect. For my two, it felt a little too singular. I wanted them to feel connected, almost in motion.
- Shoulder Blade/Back: Oh, man, a huge canvas. You could do a whole hand of cards fanning out there. The artist could really go wild. The downside? You never see it yourself unless you’re doing some serious mirror gymnastics. Plus, for something so personal, I kinda wanted to be able to just look at it whenever I wanted.
- Chest/Pec: Close to the heart, very personal. You can keep it to yourself or show it off at the beach. It’s a flat area, good for detail. For my two cards, almost like a pair in a game, this felt pretty meaningful. Dave said it would be a bit spicy to get done, right over the bone, but totally doable.
- Ribs: Talk about spicy! Everyone says the ribs are brutal. But they offer a nice long stretch, perfect for maybe a sequence of cards. I saw a guy once with a whole run of cards going down his side, looked awesome. But I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to pain, so I mentally crossed that one off pretty quick.
- Calf/Shin: Good for a vertical design, or a couple of cards stacked. It’s pretty visible in shorts, easy to hide in pants. Decent pain tolerance there, too. But for me, the connection wasn’t there. It didn’t feel as personal as a chest piece would.
- Hand/Fingers: Bold. Very, very bold. Super visible, obviously. Tiny cards on fingers look cool, but they fade fast and can be hard to get just right. A bigger card on the back of the hand? That’s a statement. Too much for me at that time, I wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment to public display.
The Decision and The Ink
After all that back and forth, talking with Dave, looking at pictures, and just feeling it out, I kept coming back to the chest. It just felt right. The idea of these cards, representing my family, right there over my heart, felt powerful. Dave sketched out a few designs, showing how the two face cards could be slightly angled, almost overlapping, like they were just dealt. We decided on the left pec, a bit over the heart, with the cards facing slightly outwards.
The whole process was actually pretty chill. Dave laid out the stencil, and we adjusted it a couple of times. A little higher, a little more to the left. Once we got it perfect, he started. Yeah, it stung, especially when he got closer to the collarbone and sternum, felt like a constant scratching. We chatted, listened to some music, took a couple of short breaks. It was about a three-hour session, felt longer sometimes, but honestly, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought the ribs would be!
When it was all done, and I finally saw it in the mirror, healed up and everything, man, I was stoked. The placement was perfect. It wasn’t too flashy, but it was there, a solid piece that meant something to me. It sits just right, peeking out sometimes from a loose shirt, or totally covered when I need it to be. Every time I see it, I think of those old card games, the laughter, the stories. Definitely made the right call on that one.
