Watch a series of videos (shorts) with Rob Packard getting a turtle diagram tattoo on his arm in Atlantic City at Boardwalk Ink.
Tattoo timing and preparation
Boardwalk Ink was busy on Saturday when Tifany was getting her tattoo, but on Sunday, there were very few customers. The end of September is the beginning of the “off-season” for Atlantic City, and most of the boardwalk was closed on Monday. Therefore, Sunday afternoon turned out to be the ideal time for a tattoo. We started around 2:30 p.m., when the previous tattoo was completed. So I had plenty of time to sleep in, have breakfast, and drink an iced caramel coffee at Rita’s. We expected the session to last about 3 hours, and the timing worked out perfectly to go out for dinner once the tattoo was completed.
Selecting a tattoo artist
There are other tattoo parlors in Atlantic City, and the artists at Boardwalk Ink are not the only ones. In this case, I watched Tifany get her tattoo of a seagull. Jordan was very fast, her tattoo came out great, and she had no complaints. You should always watch the tattoo artist at work if you are trying to select a new artist, but it really helps to know the person they are tattooing. Just in case you were wondering, there are applicable regulations, and an agreement was signed.
Taking a break…
Jordan and I both needed to take breaks because our muscles were starting to cramp. The bright blue ink is from the stencil that Jordan used. As he created outlines, he was adding ink over the stencils. The stencil can be removed with rubbing alcohol.
The outlining of the text of the turtle diagram tattoo is complete.
The longest part of the process was the outlining of the lettering and the turtle. Once that was completed, the turtle was filled in with color, and the letters were highlighted to provide some depth.
The turtle diagram tattoo is done.
Jordan (@brutalnoodles) finished the tattoo around 6:00 p.m. ET. The arm was wrapped to keep it clean, and the wrap came off on Wednesday morning. It looks great and healed beautifully.
Proper video of the final turtle diagram tattoo
Always ask the tattoo artist to do a video of the tattoo when you are done. They do this all the time, and Jordan did an awesome job on the slow-motion video close-up. I’m not able to get the exact angle of shots on my own arm.
Was it worth the pain and permanent image on my arm?
Absolutely. We have been in love with the image of this particular turtle for several years, and we wanted to incorporate it into our turtle diagrams. The resulting image was exactly what we wanted, and we have already used it in several training materials we are creating for our lead auditor course that is launching in December. I expect this turtle diagram will be used hundreds of times over the years, and I have no reason to regret getting it tattooed (it’s my fourth).
Regarding the pain, Jordan did a great job of minimizing it. My fingers falling asleep and tingling was the most painful part, but getting tattooed generally seems to bother me less than most people. In fact, I fell asleep during one tattoo session at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
