It has taken almost 20 years, but this year, I finally took the plunge and got my first tattoo. Even though I considered the idea back as a teenager and was reasonably keen on getting something done, I just had no real conception of what I wanted. Now, this wasn’t due to a lack of exposure as some of my cousins have some amazing ink, and around this time, my brother was getting his own tattoos done. Their pieces range from references to cultural heritage, representations of grandparents, and some truly great artwork, but this didn’t seem to fit me. So it was an idea that I shelved at the time as I felt like to go to the extent of getting something perminate I had to feel like it was right.

After that, I think most people felt like I was probably a bit of a clean skin or didn’t really appreciate the art form. My only comments really were about pieces that looked a little random or sleeves that became a jumble of small individual tattoos as always seemed rather unplanned to me. Yet, as the silent and stoic person, I presented myself, exuding a little arrogance. I am sure the assumption fit for many.

Embarcing my identity

The decision to accept myself as a Trans women and come out has inexplicable lead to wealth of self discovery. It has led me to explore new parts of my identity but, more importantly, embrace the elements of myself that have always been there. Some of these, like my nerdy interest in anime and some of my musical tastes, were definitely kept a bit under wraps at time, in case it brought on a bit of criticism. In this, I started to find found the things that have always been a constant and that define my personality. This is where the idea started to form 2 years ago with a desire to represent myself and different elements of who I am.

New exposures

Of course, fresh inspiration also helps, and becoming more involved in the community definitely provided a spark. The tattoo game at T Generation Gym is the perfect example from the moment I joined it has been pretty clear most of crew look for dofferent ways to express themselves. So it isn’t a suprise that when it comes to the ink their is a huge mix.  Pop culture references like the Witch King of Angmar or the Enterprise or things that are a bit more gothic or symbols of pride there was definitely a new level of variety. On top of this, the different styles and use of colour and technique made it a pretty rich source of inspiration. It was no surprise that when it came time to get my ink done, I reached out to the aficionados at the gym to recommend an artist, which is how I found Hayley at Crucible Tattoo.

Designing my first tattoo

Anyone who has known me for any length of time would hardly be surprised that I went with a reference to Iron Maiden, afterall they have been my favourite band since I was 15. Now I am even passing it down to my son, we are both just hoping they come back to Australia one more time so he can see them live. However, in my mind a reference to Maiden had to ‘The Trooper’ which has been my favourite song since almost the first time I heard it. The song encapsulates exactly what I love about Maiden and really represents my identity on a much deeper level.

Based on the historical events of the Charge of the Light Brigade, the song demonstrates the bands’ storytelling as well as the regular themes of war, death, and glory. The fact that the song was inspired by a Tennyson poem and the video clip feature clips from 1936 movie staring Errol Flynn (I watched all his movies so many times as a kid) really just links perfectly with my wider passions. The of course, musically, ‘The Trooper’ shows the bands ability to engage in storytelling as well as license for some quality Bruce Dickenson wailing. Added to this the customery Maiden gallop of Harris baseline an it almost perfectly captures the idea of charge like few others. Only really ‘Run to the Hills’ is really in the same level.

Of course, the art is where it matters here since we are talking about a tattoo. To be honest, most of Maiden’s art is going to look pretty cool as every version of Eddie is just amazing. Yet the art for ‘The Trooper’ is especially iconic, and since the 1980s, it has still been used on merchandise and their beer label. The fact that it has Eddie in the iconic Red Coat of the British army amongst a battlefield also meant it perfectly captured the historical links I love about the song, so it was really a no-brainer. In converting it to a tattoo, however, I really wanted to emphasise Eddie and make that uniform pop, so I wanted a Grayscale background. In the final version this was the background was  simplified a little but still kept the swirling smoke and other elements to create the impression of a battlefield. 

Changing to Pride Flag

The major change was to lose the Union Jack as even though I have English heritage, I don’t have any real connection to the symbol. Additionally, I didn’t want it to really be about national pride in any way, as although I am a passionate Australian, this isn’t what I wanted in a tattoo. Changing it to the Trans Pride flag just made so much more sense as while the image of Eddie already represented so much of my identity, it was missing a key part. I also liked the idea that Pride was embedded with other elements of who I am and not some stand-alone piece or the focus of the whole tattoo. The balance was an important symbol here as much as using a flag that represents me.

More recently, after developing the concept, I like the idea of a Trooper fighting for Trans rights. In some way, this is how I see myself at times through this blog as I attempt to raise awareness and stand up against Anti Trans discrimination. At times, the struggle for trans rights might seem as equally hopeless as that caverly charge, but I like to think that even after taking a few hits, I keep going.

The result

I really am truly amazed at the end product as not only did the concept just work, but Hayley did a fantastic job. The impact of the red coat, the detail in Eddie’s features, and the warning look on the flag are just perfect. To be honest, I could not have imagined anything better. It is just perfect. I will definitely be going back for any future work. Added to this fact that Hayley was just so fantastic throughout the whole process as a first-timer, and we could steadily share a joke, which meant it was a great experience.

A little bonus

It was such a good experience that my second session also included a little bonus. This was by a very different proposition as it just jumped out at me from Hayley’s designs. A cute little feminine hellraiser with her cat. After a couple of little tweaks, it seems to just be a nice little representation of who I am, so with the first leap behind me, the second was not too much effort. That being said, getting one done on my ankle after already having about a 3 hour session to finish my other piece was a lot more painful. Thankfully, it was pretty quick, and I think it is a nice, cute addition, so there are definitely no complaints. There is definitely going to be a bit of a pause before anything more as the next one may need a bit of saving.