Alright so last month I was scrolling fight clips, right? Saw Dan Hooker’s arm tattoos looking clean but simple. Thought “Heck, I could do something like that.” Always wanted ink but hate fancy stuff. So I decided to get one – no overthinking, just go for it.
Finding The Damn Design
First thing: figure out what actually looked like Hooker’s pieces. This took forever. I wasted hours searching “Dan Hooker tattoo” online. Most photos sucked – blurry, bad angles, or zoomed way out. Finally found one decent shot of his forearm ink: simple lines, some geometric patterns, a small animal shape maybe? Didn’t look complex.
Sketching became my next mission. Grabbed pen and paper while sitting at my kitchen counter. Tried copying Hooker’s lines. Epic fail. My hands shook worse than when I double espresso. Shapes looked wonky. Eventually settled on just one tiny, angular bird silhouette – super basic linework, no shading. Copied it straight off a Google image result (not Hooker’s, but same vibe). Printed it small.
Walking Into The Shop
Found a local place with decent reviews, walked in smelling like antiseptic and anxiety. Artist guy looked at my crumpled paper bird printout: “Yeah, easy, 15 minutes.” He shrugged. Felt relieved. They made me sign a ton of papers warning about infections and regret. My hand shook signing. Kept thinking “What if it gets infected?” and “My mom’s gonna kill me.”
The Needle Part
Sat in the big chair. Armrest felt sticky. Artist wiped my forearm with cold alcohol. Laid the stencil – just a faint purple outline of the bird. Looked tiny and dumb for a second. Then machine buzzed to life. Loud. He dunked the needle in ink. First touch: like a cat scratch mixed with a bee sting. Not horrible, but weird. I kept breathing heavy. Focused hard on a stain on the ceiling tile.
- Needle buzz: Like an angry electric toothbrush.
- Vibration: Felt like my bones were humming.
- Pain level: Less than stubbing your toe, more than a paper cut.
Whole thing truly took 15 minutes. He wiped blood and ink away a few times. Felt hot. Then he slapped cling film over it. Done.
Aftermath & Healing
Regret hit immediately. Paid cash (too much cash), walked out. Arm felt sunburnt and swollen. Next 3 days sucked:
- Peeled off cling film after 3 hours. Ink looked cloudy under weird plasma goo.
- Washed it gently with unscented soap morning/night. Pat dry. Felt raw.
- Applied a thin layer of plain Vaseline like 3 times daily. Sticky mess.
- Itched LIKE MAD around day 4. Wanted to scratch it raw. Did NOT scratch.
- Flakes of skin and some ink came off around week 2. Panicked a bit – thought it was fading. Artist said chill.
After 4 weeks, settled fully. Lines aren’t 100% perfect up close – a tiny wobble here and there. But it looks like what I wanted: super minimal, simple linework, clearly a bird shape. Hooker-style? Close enough for me. Took zero creativity, just copying a simple idea. Would I do it again? Maybe. But I definitely understand why tattoos are addictive – the rush afterwards is real.