Stewed, Screwed, and Tattooed

Today was my first tattoo appointment for my "moving on" project. A lot of people have asked me why I'm doing this now (as in, why is this a priority). It's a psychological priority for me. It is a signifier that I'm moving on with my life, and I just need to do it. Today's appointment lasted less than two hours, since it was just the outline. I'll go back in a couple weeks for the shading. That may take more than one appointment depending on how it goes, since a lot of the area this tattoo covers is very 'mobile' (it's not a stable, flat area like an arm or a leg or a shoulder blade, so it takes a lot of manipulation and small steps to get it right). So here's photos from round 1:

Before

Here's the stencil

Here we are about an hour into the outlining.
The sides by the ribcage sucked big donkey nuts.

And here's the final outline

So what's the significance? Ravens are the Celtic bringers of death (which in Celtic terms is not death as we envision it, but a transformation. They signify an ending, but also new beginnings). The raven is standing on, and picking apart a dead, rose.