Career Corner:

Tattoo artists share skills on skin

Christina Knowles

For the first time, I entered a room filled with needles, blood and rubber gloves without a feeling of anxiety coming over me. I was not getting my annual flu shot, but visiting a local tattoo artist at Big Brain, located on 11^th and Jackson in the Old Market.

Becoming a tattoo artist seems easy enough, no formal schooling or degree required, but those who excel in the field find themselves faced with other challenges, outside of textbooks and lectures; that of capturing the artistic design of their clients and then replicating the image on a trusting client permanently. To many tattoo artists, their clients are their own walking artwork. Because the majority of tattoo artist are self-employed, general business skills are important.

Contemplating permanently injecting color into your epidermis? Chris Blinston at Big Brain is your guy. He recently was named the 2003 Color Artist of the Year, which is a worldwide award. Blinston has always been an artist but wanted to express his art on a different medium.

“[I realized I wanted to be a professional tattoo artist] when I came to the realization that I could express my art on people’s skin,” said Blinston.

Blinston was trained by a friend in Florida, where he tattooed a picture of wings on the back of Robert Van Winkle, more commonly known as Vanilla Ice.

Due to Blinston’s growing popularity, he sees anywhere from two to six clients a day and appointments need to be made 2 months in advance. Blinston said the most common places for females to tattoo themselves are on the lower back and males on the arm.

Besides wings on Vanilla Ice’s back, Blinston has done many unique tattoos.

“The most unique tattoo I’ve ever done is a huge lobster with hot sauce with tamales,” said Blinston.

Blinston considers himself fortunate to express himself through tattooing.

“My favorite thing about my job is that I have the freedom to express myself on someone new every day,” said Brian.

Before tattooing your boyfriend’s name on a furtive part of your body, understanding the health risks involved in essential.

“It is important to choose your tattoo shop wisely. Make sure they use single use needles and sterilize their equipment in an autoclave, which is a machine that uses germicide to clean all surfaces,” said Blinston.

The knowledge of preventing the spread of disease is also key in being a successful a practicing tattoo artist.

“I’ve heard many horror stories about clients getting infections and diseases from their tattoo,” said Blinston.

According to Monster Career Advice, the executive director of Alliance of Professional Tattooists estimates there are more than 10,000 in the United States. It is an extremely competitive field that’s drawn many people in recent years. Many artists try the field but choose to leave it within five years.

“Tattooing is a difficult business to stay involved in. The opportunity to contract the disease is huge. Tattooing is a huge skill to learn, it takes five to six years to master,” said Blinston.

Although you will not find “tattoo artist” as a pursuable major while choosing a collegiate path, the innate artistic qualities required are a true gift, meant to be shared with others.

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