It started one evening in 2014, while I decided I wanted to reignite my love for art. I took out one of my many sketchbooks and put pencil to paper. Lo and behold, I was cursed with artists block. I scribbled for a bit and then thought maybe if I drew something I always did, something would come to me. So without much thought I drew this:
A teeny little bauhinia because I'm a Hong Kong kid and proud to be.
When I looked at the simple line work I thought to myself that if I was to ever get a tattoo then that would be it. It would be a little tribute to my favourite city and home. Anyway, I took a picture of it and kept it on my phone for the next two years. Every now and again, I'd look back at my little doodle and fall more and more in love with it.
Moving on to my graduation day, I found myself speaking to one of my teachers, who we all knew had a gorgeous peacock tattoo on his ankle. Buzzed on champagne, I asked him when he got his tattoo and if he regretted it. To my surprise, he said he had gotten in quite recently and it was the best decision he'd ever made. Then he told me if I was thinking about it to just go for it. And so the seed was planted.
Flash forward to 2016, it's about a week before my 19th birthday and I'm about to have dinner in town with my housemates. While attempting to find the Canterbury Wetherspoons, we came across The Belly Bar, a piercing and tattoo parlour. The next thing I know, we're all standing in The Belly Bar waiting for my tattoo appointment to be made. Four days later, I'm lying on the bed getting inked! Squeezing one of my housemate's hand whilst the other one snapchatted the whole ordeal, it only took 15 minutes, then it was done.
Looking back on it, I wouldn't change a thing. I'd known for a long time that I wanted to get a tattoo. Especially one that meant something to me, which mine definitely does. My advice for any of you thinking about getting your first tattoo is to find or draw yourself a design and keep it on you at all times. Look at it every now and again for at least 6 months and if you still love it every time you see it, then go for it!