(this is me working on a client, of course)
(and THIS is my partner and best friend, Nancy)
Within a month I had studied the mechanics of the needle, the sterilization procedures, and the techniques for color and shading. Nancy was my tattooist, then my teacher... She handed me the needle machine and I inked my first plot of skin, the tribal dragon/flame piece on my own left thigh. I am still very proud of that one, and since then I have done more work on myself, and have become a tattooist myself. Nancy Jones is now my partner in business, and we co-own IronWorks Tattoo in northern Virginia. All the work on my body was done by her, except my legs, which were generally both her and I working together... I owe all my tattooing exposure and experience to that one fateful visit to IronWorks. (And Nancy says "he came in one day, for a dragon, and he just never went home!") *grin*