Oil & Ink

Chapter 20: The Blue Jar Tattoo Competition

They parked and walked back into the shop, getting back to their station. It was about a quarter until 7, so they couldn't begin quite yet. Charlie had finalized his drawing back in Wander and had already shown it to Sara so he could make any necessary tweaks.

It was a pretty decent-sized tattoo, which needed a good amount of space. She agreed to let him put it on her thigh, right on the front. It was going to be colorful and vivid. Although Sara had no clue what other artists here were going to work on, she had a good feeling about this tattoo.

Kat was at her booth, standing and waiting like most of the other artists. At about two minutes until 7, the woman who'd checked them in stood in the middle of the shop with a microphone.

"Ladies and gentleman!" she said. "Welcome to the 8th annual Blue Jar Tattoo Competition!"

Everyone in the room cheered and clapped.

"We are so excited to have artists from across the country here with us," she continued. "I know we've got some detailed designs coming, and I don't want to take up anymore of your time. So, who's ready to get this competition started?"

The room erupted once more.

"Let the tattooing begin in 3...2...1... go!" she said as everyone cheered one final time and immediately the room looked like Santa's workshop with all of the elves busying themselves before the big day.

Charlie clapped his hands together and looked at Sara. "You ready?" he asked.

She made her hands into fists but was smiling. "I am!"

He'd already set up his table with a sanitary sheet, so he directed her to the table.

"Sit here," he said. "Don't lie back just yet."

He'd already finalized his sketch but wanted to clear it with Sara exactly where he planned to put it on her leg. He pulled out the transfer sheet.

"I want to show you where this will be best," he said. She was wearing cutoff jean shorts, so her leg skin was exposed. He placed the transfer sheet on her thigh, right above the knee. The entire tattoo was a little taller than a foot. The edges of the tattoo faded away into the skin, which would look as if they formed to her thigh muscle.

"It would end here," he said, touching about an inch above her knee. "And it would start here."

Sara looked down at her leg. It was difficult to imagine what the finished product was going to look like, but she knew Charlie was going to do a good job.

"I'm good with this," she said.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yup!" she said.

"Okay," he said. "Go ahead and lay back."

He put on gloves and a mask and got his razor. He lathered her leg and started shaving it and wiped down the entire area to ensure everything was sanitized.

He put the transfer sheet on to lay down the foundation. His machine was already plugged in and he'd laid out his ink pods.

"I'm going in with the black lines first," he said. "We'll see how far that gets us tonight."

Sara nodded. Charlie wheeled his stool closer to Sara's face and started the machine so she wouldn't jump at the sound of it.

"I'm going to tattoo, then wipe, tattoo, then wipe," he said. "Relax. Stay as still as you can, but if you need a break, just tell me."

"Okay," Sara said.

He wheeled back down to her leg and restarted the machine, going in with the first lines.