We spent about two hours together while Hu tattooed my arm, and during that time, she was gracious enough to talk about her career with me. (Tamala Malerk)

Lucy Hu first hit my radar while watching season 16 of “Ink Master,” where she wowed me with her adorable panda tattoo design. Roughly a year and a half later, I had the privilege of being tattooed by Lucy and getting an adorable tattoo of my own.

We spent about two hours together while Lucy tattooed my arm, and during that time, she was gracious enough to talk about her career with me.

Hu has been tattooing for over 20 years, and “Ink Master” is just a tiny blip on her multi-award winning and storied career. (Tamala Malerk)

Of course, as an “Ink Master” fan, I asked her about her time on the show. She stated that she enjoyed her time on the show, but it was never “the right time” to go. The famous reality show had been reaching out to Lucy since its first season back in 2011, but did not land her until the 16th season when a friend convinced her to “try something different.” However, Lucy has been tattooing for over 20 years, and “Ink Master” is just a tiny blip on her multi-award winning and storied career.

Before she was a tattoo artist, she was a fashion designer for a major firm in Hong Kong. I pretty much marveled at how, no matter what she does in life, she is destined to just be a cool person.

One of the most interesting things that Lucy talked about was mentorship. Not six feet away, Lucy’s own mentor was tattooing a client. It was apparent how much she respects her mentor, the legendary tattoo artist Jess Yen, aka HoriYen, and how his teaching methods have impacted her own mentoring. She laughed as she told the story of Yen’s strict methods, remembering how he would make all of his apprentices do push-ups if they made a mistake as small as dropping a pencil.

Over the course of her tattooing career, Lucy has had nine apprentices and currently has two under her tutelage. She talked about one of her apprentices who has moved all the way from Italy to study under her at her home studio in California.

The last time the spot on the writer’s arm will be blank. (Katie Wells)

With a multi-year waiting list, and a studio all the way in sunny California, I wondered why Lucy would travel on an 11-hour flight to Germany to tattoo. It turns out that within the tattoo industry, Gods of Ink is THE tattoo convention to be at, according to Lucy. She has been tattooing at the Gods of Ink convention since its inception.

Because of its invitation-only status, you know that you have truly “made it” in the tattoo industry if you are lucky enough to be one of the 400 artists from all over the world to secure a coveted invite to Gods of Ink.

I asked Lucy if she was competing in one of the weekend’s seven competitions which included best realism, best color, best of day and best overall. Over her long career, Lucy has won hundreds of competitions and chose not to compete this year. However, she stated that she might compete again in the future.

The two hours seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, wiped down my arm for the final time to reveal my latest tattoo: Pikachu eating an ice cream cone. It was perfect, exactly what I wanted. To say that it was an honor to speak with Lucy and get a tattoo from her just isn’t enough. To see more of Lucy Hu’s work, find her on Instagram @lucymytattoo.

The two hours seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, Lucy wiped down my arm for the final time to reveal my latest tattoo: Pikachu eating an ice cream cone.  (Lucy Hu)