Erotic Ink Pt. 4: The Climax

This fourth and final instalment of Erotic Ink takes you into the back room of the tattoo studio, clothes off, with the artist’s hands on your body, breath on your skin, the buzz, the pain, and the final afterglow. While it sounds all sexy, the majority of those who took my Tattoos and Sex Survey said that getting off was the last thing on their minds.

But it’s those dirty minds, the many who get aroused while being needled -- and even the few who achieved full orgasm -- who we’re gonna focus our affections on today.

We’ll hear of fantasies played out between client and artist, and rock star tattooist Paul Booth shares some salacious stories, which include a lot of writhing and a pair of vibrating panties.

But first let’s get to Questions 6 & 7 of the survey on whether hotness plays a role in choosing an artist:

Has the sexual attractiveness of a tattoo artist ever played a role in deciding whether to get work from that artist?

• Definitely 4.4%
• Somewhat 12.6%
• Not at all 83.0%

Like I mentioned in Part 1 of Erotic Ink, a lot of responses were of the “what-a-dumb-ass-question” variety, but I’ve been to enough tattoo conventions and overheard enough ladies room conversations about wanting to get work from a certain hot piece of ass that I felt rather justified in asking. And considering that almost 20% said it was a factor, I still feel no shame.

Yes, the art and skill is central to choosing a tattoo artist but, especially for those getting big work, being in close quarters to someone hellafine can be better than Oxycotin in making the time fly by.

Before I go further, in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I’m fucking my tattoo artist pretty regularly, which is pretty good considering we’ve been married for a while. When I went to the NYC Tattoo Convention over seven years ago, I knew I wanted work from Dan because of his specialty in blackwork and hard-to-tattoo areas likes hands, feet, and faces (I got work on my hand). Yet, I gotta admit, I was on the fence about such a visible tattoo until I got to the booth and actually saw him. It is here I’ll use the horrid pun I’ve been dying to write since Part 1: At that moment, I knew I wanted him to poke me. [I’ll wait for the cringe to fade from your face before continuing. Ready?]

But I got lucky. I’ve never regretted that loin-based decision, but there are others who have, like 27-year-old Richard from England:

"I'm embarrassed to admit this, but when I was once given the choice of two tattoo artists who could tattoo me, I chose the attractive apprentice female over the experienced male. The woman who tattooed me was a very talented artist but she was an inexperienced tattooist and I paid the price: she tattooed too deep on me and I'm currently looking into my cover-up/repair options. I won't make that mistake again. It's one thing to get on a bus and choose to sit next to the hot girl rather than the fat guy, but a tattoo is for life."

Even if it wasn’t a factor in choosing an artist, the intimacy of tattooing can create attraction between artist and client particularly during long sessions. In Question 7, I asked:

If the sexual attractiveness of your tattoo artist was not a factor in your initial decision, have you ever become attracted to your artist during or after getting a tattoo from him or her?

• Definitely 11.2%
• Somewhat 18.6%
• Not at all 70.2%

Here the numbers do change, although probably not that significantly because, as the anecdotes suggest, many straight men are getting tattooed by other men, and many straight women prefer to be tattooed by other women.

But for breeders and gays alike, attraction can spark in the tattoo chair, as emphasized by responses like “I have secretly fantasized about the female artist that tattooed me” and “Oh yes, there's something insanely hot about having a man that close without a sexual climax; it's like a 3 hour long tease!”

Even the fabulous Margaret Cho weighed in for Suicide Girls in her survey responses:

“It’s just a sexy experience, having someone who is drawing on you. They are in your personal space. They are opening up your body and putting something in. That is hot!”

What about the tattoo artists themselves? How do they concentrate on creating art when faced with all that flesh all day?

I talked to the legendary Paul Booth about it. He admitted that he isn’t a priest (really?) and can’t stifle his libido, but before he gave me the good stuff, he prefaced it all with this caveat:

“Professionalism is key. I may be attracted to a client but I’m not the sleaze ball who makes her get undressed for something on her ankle. I’m just not gonna be that guy (although I hear stories all the time how I am that guy, but I know I’m not so I don’t care). The tattooer has to remember that you have a serious obligation. Not just the art, but the relationship, the trust factor... You have to think of the emotional aspect of this job. The client has a need to trust you. The tattooer can’t take advantage of that need.”

And consensual flirting and attraction?

“Every girlfriend I ever had, I tattooed,” Paul said. “It certainly beats meeting a woman in a bar. Here you really get to know them and then you can decide. You can really evaluate the situation whether the person is worth your time. There’s no better place than the tattoo chair to discover these things.”

What Paul’s talking about is the emotional relationship, but let’s not neglect pure, good ol’ arousal; hence, Question 8:

Have you ever become sexually aroused while getting tattooed?

• Definitely 10.4%
• Somewhat 18.2%
• Not at all 71.4%

Alright, I know most of y’all are just concentrating on not moving, never mind getting tingly. There were actually a number of responses that said the tattoo pain is more meditative than sexual, but for those who have gotten excited, the pain itself is part of the pleasure. [Festishists just love my surveys!] Essentially, they said it’s an endorphin rush to arousal.

Beyond the fetish aspect, there are different ways people process the pain that leads to them getting hot, as 54-year-old Soraya explains:

“For me, the pain is arousing too. It is strange. I don't enjoy the pain, but I enjoy withstanding and enduring the pain, and I think that also arouses me. All of that is very powerful for me, and for me is only a small step removed from sex. Yes, I get aroused -- not to the level of orgasm (although very close once!) -- but I get wet, and I am ready for sex when I am finished with the session. My husband and I have our best sex after I have finished a tattoo session.”

For men, that power over the pain factor, and general badassness, played out.

Don, a gay man from Toronto said, “The only time I've felt sexually aroused was when I was getting my knuckles tattooed. They were my first permanently visible ink, and I think the exhibitionist and retired bad boy in me got off on joining the ‘fucked for life’ club.”

A straight 41-year-old male Brit added, “I don't think it's the pain/pleasure thing. It could be that I'm surrounded by half-naked ladies getting tattooed. Who knows? But I think it does make me feel very masculine. I like to have a lot of sex after an inking session.”

Which brings us to the climax of this four-part Erotic Ink tattoo fuck fest:

Question 9: Have you ever been brought to orgasm while getting tattooed?

When I began to collect the data here, only 8 out of the 546 people who answered this question said “Yes.” Since this column began, 619 people have completed the survey and the number of people has gone up to 11, but that still keeps the proportion of people getting off during tattooing under 2%.

Yet, the tales of those people are really good. First, let’s start with another story from Paul Booth:

“I have a client that came in on a long, two-day tattoo weekend. She suffered through the first day and came in the second day wearing vibrating panties and a remote control. The whole time I tattooed her, she sat there with the remote control going up and down, up and down, and I was confused as whether she was in pain or whether she was coming. It was so strange because I’m tattooing this woman and it’s like we’re having sex. She has a ‘movie past’ and is pretty open about these things -- and I’m always up for bizarre new things -- so when she asked me if I minded I said, ‘Why would I mind? Sounds like fun.’ So I’m dealing with my own sadistic tendencies of hurting this girl and listening to her whimper (but that’s my own personal thing) and on top of that, she’s getting herself off the whole time, enjoying herself and using it as a tool to get through the pain. It was really a strange experience because it was like I was such a part of this girl getting off -- but all day long.”

Paul says that he’s considering selling vibrating panties with the Last Rites logo. I have dibs on the first batch once he does.

Granted, crazy shit is always happening at Last Rites, but it’s not limited to the NYC tattoo dungeon.

Soraya (yes, we loooove Soraya), shared her Midwest tattoo tryst:

“Well, not really a total orgasm, but once I had a mini ‘shudder’ that was pretty darn close. I think it was more the result of an orchestrated scene. I had arranged a late night tattoo session with my artist who was agreeable to a special request, and didn't tell my husband. I set up the evening for he and I to go out for an expensive early dinner dressed to the nines, and then go to a smokey jazz club. Then, he thought we were going home, but when we walked past the tattoo studio I just grabbed his hand and went into the door. When we got to the top of the stairs, we went in, and I greeted the artist and just said, 'OK, Let's go.' It had already been a very sexy evening with a lot of teasing talk, and I intended for the tattoo experience to cap it off. I guess the whole thing almost put me over the edge.”

I have to admit that working on the column put me over the edge many a time. While attempting to finish this damn article I took many a cold shower and many a walk around the block .

I’m almost there.

Just let me leave you with a little pillow talk a la the tenth and final question, which asked people to share their tattoo sex experiences beyond the survey. Here are just a few of my faves:

Alex Guest of the UK’s Skin Deep and Tattoo Master magazine summed up the attraction to tattoos perfectly:

“I think tattoos can be construed as something of a peacock display for some people. Mostly there is some back story to most tattoos and they are more meaningful, but those tattoos with significance, beauty, good placement and good execution are far more attractive than the perfect figure.”

Noting how tattoos play a role in the gay community, Don of Toronto says:

“There is a small subculture in the gay community that seems fascinated with heavy tattooing for some reason . . . hyper masculinity and 'butch drag' perhaps, (hardcoretattooedgaymen.com, for example), and an even smaller subculture into the idea of ‘forced’ heavy tattooing as part of a BDSM relationship. I think for myself it is more about general self-expression than sexual self-expression, though there is clearly a component of sexual self-expression in my desire to get tattooed.”

Ms. Zoe, also of England, talks about how she plans on using tattoos to lure men to her bed:

“I am a very highly sexed person so any form of sexual gratification excites me. My next tattoo is going to be a snake wrapping round my leg from my knee up to my anus, with the snake tongue licking my anus. I feel that this will be the ultimate high in terms of sexual gratification, i.e., being tattooed in the nether region. Also I will be able to talk about this tattoo in graphic detail, which I know will turn guys on and I’m sure my artist is just going to love doing it.”

From the tattoo artist perspective on the survey, 32-year-old Patrick of Wisconsin weighs in:

“I'm a tattoo artist with a considerable amount of tattoos. Often times I will meet women and get offers of dates, sex, and so on. My friends like to call it ‘inducing the response.’ The response being ‘Gee, fucking that guy would really piss of my father, who should have hugged me more.’ It doesn't help that I work and live in a college town, so there are all sorts of ‘female rebelling’ going on. So if getting a tattoo isn't rebellion enough, screwing the tattoo artist is even worse. [Just as a note, I don't take advantage of such offers much, and every girlfriends’ father I have ever met liked me.]”

As my own final note, I better stop working and get back to pleasing my tattooist. Hope you had fun reading Erotic Ink. My heartfelt thanks to all who took the time to answer the survey. I kiss you.

Now I’ll return to Needled.com for my regular tattoo blogging.

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/news/culture/23329/Erotic-Ink-Pt.-4-The-Climax/