Getting and giving tattoos: a serious business

By Aden Cruz

EDMONTON – When Atomic Zombie first opened its doors about four years ago, they were the 28^th tattoo shop to call Edmonton home. There are now over 60 shops in the city practicing this art form that’s increasing in popularity.

Scott Campbell, co-owner of Atomic Zombie said that tattoos can serve many different purposes for people.

“They can be very liberating, they can provide closure for people, they can provide healing, they can be a very powerful thing,” said Campbell. “To be a part of something like that is really, really cool.”

Making the right decisions

Though the technologies around the practice of tattooing has evolved and improved, it’s still just as important for people seeking a tattoo to consider their choices very carefully in order to get the best results and avoid regrets down the road.

“I’ve seen the results of when people aren’t happy with their tattoo work, [it] can be quite devastating,” said Campbell.

He said because a tattoo is something that won’t go away very easily, if it winds up being something that wasn’t thought through or wasn’t executed the way the person wanted it, it can cause a lot of grief when not approached with a lot of careful planning.

“It’s a good idea to again think things through a lot before going and committing,” said Campbell.

Choose the right artist

Atomic Zombie has about 10 full time artists that operate at their shop and every artist has their own unique style.

Campbell said that it’s key for people to choose the right artist to do their tattoo.

“That’s one of the things about tattooing, especially about custom tattooing, is everybody’s style is different,” said Campbell. “When people are looking for a tattoo it’s good for them to do a lot of ground work first, a lot of research and try to find an artist who’s style matches what they want their end results to be.”

He says that styles vary from cartoon like artwork, to traditional and old school, to newer approaches and more.

Scope out the facility

It’s also a good idea to do some research about the facility you’re thinking of getting your tattoo from.

“If you’re going to a shop and you don’t feel comfortable then maybe it’s not the best place to be,” said Campbell.

He advises that people go to the shops they’re interested in and take a look around and talk to people there to get a sense of what the shop is really like.

“It’s a really good idea…for people to do a lot of research before they go out and get a tattoo. It’s a pretty serious thing.”

Most shops now have websites online that showcase portfolios of their artists.

When mistakes happen

Campbell said that they usually see quite a number of people who are seeking to change their tattoo in some way.

Sometimes people end up less than happy with a tattoo they’ve gotten at some point in their life. Like tattoos that people acquired when they were much younger and now they feel it no longer represents them.

“But there are a lot of options when it comes to that kind of thing,” said Campbell.

Cover-up tattoo

A cover-up tattoo is a tattoo that’s custom designed to go over top of an existing piece to disguise or completely hide it.

“We do a lot of cover-up work here,” said Campbell.

Campbell said cover-up tattoos tend to be bigger than the original tattoo and they take more careful planning because there really is only one chance to cover something up with a new tattoo.

“They should be well planned for sure,” said Campbell.

Laser tattoo removal

“Laser tattoo removal has come a long ways,” said Campbell. “It’s gotten a lot better and it’s usually…a good option for prepping a tattoo for a cover up.”

A rewarding and challenging field

Campbell, who’s been a tattoo artist for about nine years, said that being a tattoo artist can be very rewarding.

“It’s a very cool thing for us,” said Campbell. “It’s very gratifying as an art form, to be able to finish a tattoo and watch someone’s face light up.”

He says that it’s a good way for an artist to make a living though it can be hard to get into and can sometimes be quite challenging.

“It’s not quite that easy, there’s a pretty steep learning curve,” said Campbell. “There’s a lot to learn, there’s a whole technical aspect to it that is a little bit different than most other art forms.”

Campbell said that there is also the whole safety aspect to tattooing which is completely outside the realm of drawing.

There are a lot of careful procedures and extra precautions that they do to prevent cross-contamination.

“Even something as simple as mopping the floor or changing the garbage, in a tattoo shop you have to learn the procedure for doing that because a lot of times gloves are involved. The stuff that you’re touching is considered to be contaminated,” said Campbell.

“We go through a lot of gloves, a lot of consumable safety type of materials. Every bit of our equipment is generally covered with a disposable plastic barrier between the client and the equipment it self.”

Atomic Zombie tattoo gallery is located at 1121 124 Street Edmonton.

Some of what Scott Campbell had to say about the art of tattooing.