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TEMECULA: Tattoo artists swimming in the mainstream
TV shows 'Miami Ink,' 'L.A. Ink' bringing in first-timers and 'soccer moms'
By AARON CLAVERIE - Staff Writer | ∞
Mike Ferguson, owner of the 1st Amendment tattoo parlors, inks a tattoo on Murrieta resident Rick Martin recently. Ferguson has parlors in Temecula and Murrieta. (Photo by Steve Thornton - staff photographer) 
Mike Ferguson, owner of the 1st Amendment tattoo parlors, inks a tattoo on Murrieta resident Rick Martin recently. Ferguson has parlors in Temecula and Murrieta. (Photo by Steve Thornton - staff photographer) 
Mike Ferguson, owner of the 1st Amendment tattoo parlors, applies a tattoo to customer Rick Martin of Murrieta in his Temecula shop. (Photo by Steve Thornton - staff photographer) 
1st Amendment owner Mike Ferguson is also working on a television show about the tattoo trade. (Photo by Steve Thornton - staff photographer) TEMECULA ---- Mike Ferguson got into tattooing because it was subversive.
Devils leer from the walls of his Jefferson Avenue studio. Heavy metal spits from the speakers.
He's got a Maori-inspired design that covers his chin and red streaks in his jet-black hair.
So why, when he looks up from a work in progress, does he see a "soccer mom" at his door?
Blame Kat Von D.
Kat Von D is the handle used by Katherine Von Drachenberg, a Mexican-born woman of Argentine and German heritage who stars in The Learning Channel show "L.A. Ink," a spin-off of "Miami Ink."
Recently, Kat has been stirring up a tremendous amount of publicity, tattooing more than 400 people in 24 hours in December to set a world record and appearing at tattoo conventions. She also has a big MySpace presence.
During one of the conventions, there was an eight-hour wait to get her autograph.
Some of the recent buzz has been ginned up to help promote the release of "L.A. Ink's" first season on DVD, which went on sale last week.
'The norm caught up'
While tattooing has become more acceptable in many quarters, Kat's popularity is helping to smudge the line that used to separate the tattoo world from the mainstream.
"There is no demographic any more," said Ferguson, the 36-year-old owner of recently expanded 1st Amendment Tattoo, one of two tattoo shops he runs in Southwest County. "The norm caught up with me."
Twenty years ago when Ferguson got into tattooing, it wasn't because it was popular, he said.
"It was kind of dangerous, you know what I'm saying?" he said during an interview at his studio. "It was more along the lines of bikers, military. You had to go to rough areas of town to get a tattoo. ... You had to go to a select area, seedier areas.
"It's not like that any more. Look ---- we're next to Jazzercise. We're across the street from Wal-Mart in my other shop (in Murrieta).
"It's everyone now. My dentist just got tattooed."
'Ink' too indelible
Ferguson, who labels himself a "soccer dad," said a lot of the new customers, the people turned on by watching the "Ink" shows, think that a tattoo studio is just a bunch of reality TV drama and parties.
He called the shows a "huge negative point."
"Everybody is watching it, and they think it's all this drama, but it's not. ... It's a crazy amount of hard work. It's not just coming in and going out and partying," he said.
Ferguson, holding court in front of his shop during a break, was just getting warmed up.
"It's every day we've got a 40-year-old person coming in wanting to learn how to tattoo. Every day, we get middle-age soccer moms coming in here wanting to learn how to tattoo.
"An apprenticeship runs two years; you've got to give up two years of your life. This is not something you go to school to do. And an apprentice works 15 hours a day like I do. It's not for everyone.
"But I get people saying 'I saw it on TV,' saw Kat Von D was doing it."
First-timers
Based on her online portfolio and biography, Kat Von D specializes in portraits ---- detailed, realistic representations of faces.
That's also one of the specialties of Greg Griffin, the owner of Body Graphics on Temecula's Old Town Front Street.
"There's nothing tougher," he said. "You're done for the rest of the day. It drains you, takes everything you got."
Because that type of tattoo is so intricate and detailed, Griffin, during a recent phone interview, said he has become very good at reading people.
"I don't second-guess the customer. I understand what they want. Drawing sketches and getting their input helps me start seeing inside their heads," he said.
Griffin, who has been working professionally for 18 years, said the recent surge of interest in tattooing came before Kat arrived on the scene.
"It was when 'Miami Ink' started," in 2006, he said.
The day after an episode, without fail, Griffin said, he could expect to see more people in his shop.
Most of the new customers, the first-timers, were dipping their toes in the swirling tattoo waters, getting a small or medium-sized tattoo, Griffin said.
The added business is nice, but Griffin said the increase in popularity has meant a corresponding increase in competition from local studios and home-based tattoo artists. A few years ago, there were three main studios in the area. Now there are eight, he said.
While there are some legitimate home-based artists who don't want to pay the overhead of a storefront, Griffin said there are also a lot of "wannabes" who didn't want to pay their dues in an apprenticeship.
Milton Chavez, a Menifee resident, worked as an apprentice for Ferguson before becoming a full-time tattoo artist.
'We're not rock stars'
Being an apprentice isn't glamorous, but Chavez said there are a lot of benefits.
"It has definitely taken care of me more than any other job I've had," he said.
Talking about some of the misconceptions people have, Chavez said, "We're not rock stars. That's one of the misconceptions, that it's easy ---- we just draw on people."
A tattoo artist talks to a customer and develops a relationship. The initial design that the customer requests is refined until both the artist and the customer are sure that it's right, he said.
During a recent visit to Ferguson's studio, Chavez was working on combining two sketches for a tattoo design that will be made into a stencil. Another apprentice, Eli Murray, 21, of Wildomar, was rolling T-shirts that will be sent out to 1st Amendment customers.
Being an apprentice sometimes means grunt work, but Murray said he's learned more than he would have learned in college.
"You learn the business. What to do. What not to do. How to handle money," he said.
One of Ferguson's clients, Rick Martin of Murrieta, came to Ferguson's shop recently to get a left arm "sleeve," an interconnected series of tattoos that covers an entire arm.
That type of tattooing is one of Ferguson's specialties. He said he frequently works with bold and vibrant colors and dark, thicker lines, which are typically the types of designs used in sleeves.
Martin said his wife recommended Ferguson because she was very happy with a tattoo he inked last year.
Martin initially had Ferguson put a saucer-sized tattoo on his right arm.
During that session, Martin developed a level of trust with Ferguson that led him to collaborate with the artist on the much more expansive sleeve tattoo.
Now, Martin said, "It's a personal relationship."
Ferguson also wears a sleeve, but he's in the process of getting it removed, which he says is 100 times more painful than getting a tattoo.
Once it is completely gone, Ferguson said, he plans to start over with modern inks and different designs.
If he has the design picked out already, it didn't come up during the interview.
But, it's safe to assume, it won't be a portrait of Kat Von D.
Contact Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or e-mail aclaverie@californian.com. Comment at www.californian.com.
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No way wrote on Jul 26, 2008 9:22 PM:I wouldn't get a tat in any shop in Temecula. Those guys, except for Mike and maybe another one or two, are amateurs. You're better off going to a bigger city and finding real artists. The "home based" artists are better and cheaper. If you're dumb enough to get a tat around here, make sure you get what YOU want, not what THEY want to put on. Believe me, that's what they do here.
D wrote on Jul 27, 2008 11:39 AM:1st off to correct the paper Milton isn't a apprentice at 1st amendment.. He is a tattoo artist there.. Maybe the people who wrote this need to get their story right. As for not getting tattooed in temecula. Take note there are good artist in our area and other small areas.. You don't have to live in a big city to get nice work done.. That is lame to even make a comment like that.
Gringo wrote on Jul 27, 2008 9:49 PM:I hear young girls saying more and more now they can't find guys their age without tattoos, and are now finding it more appealing when they do for that reason.
Tattoos are and will always be lame. Look at me everyone! Look how cool I am! Gimme a break. Are you so vane that you need permanent artwork stained into your skin so that someone will hopfully approach you and tell you how cool they think your tattoo is? Look at my tribal armband, it used to be barbed wire but I had it changed when the barbed wire fad faded. If you're thinking of getting a tattoo just remember Josh Hamiltons words of regret
"He's wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and the 26 tattoos he acquired during his years bingeing on booze and drugs are exposed. Satan's face gazes out from the crook of his left elbow, blue flames shoot down both his forearms; he now regrets getting every one of them"
Elderly tatoos wrote on Jul 28, 2008 7:36 AM:I'm a nurse and have seen many gentlemen in their 70's and 80's with tatoos. They look TERRIBLE! I had one patient who had a big eagle on his chest. Now, I'm sure it looked pretty cool when he was a young, buffed soldier in WWII, but it was all wrinkled and pitiful looking
Concerned One wrote on Jul 28, 2008 8:17 AM:I saw this in the paper yesterday and it made me sick. This is not art, it is disgusting, and the suckers who ink up will find out soon enough. Good luck with that. Regards, C-1.
Tattoo Owner wrote on Jul 28, 2008 8:48 AM:I have two tattoos and I don't regret either of them. One is visible, the other is not and they both represent specific & major events in my life.
They have nothing to do with vanity or the need to get attention (I do just fine on my own). I also don't care what anyone thinks of them. Comments are not requested or required (although they are appreciated when they are sincere).
I also have to say that if you are one of those who would discount someone simply because they have tattoos then go right ahead. You're not going to offend me. Anyone that narrow minded & pre-judgmental is probably not someone worth knowing anyway.
AWAX wrote on Jul 28, 2008 8:59 AM:Geez, look at all the closed minded opinions on this subject! Personally, when I'm in my 70's-80's, I'm not gonna care if my half sleeve tattoo looks like Jabba the Hut! And I certainly won't care what some stuck up, too good for the world people think about it. Tattoo's I will agree, alot of us have one that we got when we were 18 or so and yeah can look pretty awful, but at the same time, it has meaning. As you get older, life experiences happen, a death, a triumph, a birth of a child. There is nothing wrong with people who would like to wear that in pride on their body as a permanent display of a story in your life that you hold dearly. I don't get tattoos to be a tough guy or a rock star. I think they are an amazing display of art work and a constant reminder of the accomplishments and experiences I have had in life. Please think before you judge. -AWAX
Gringo wrote on Jul 28, 2008 10:02 AM:Mike looks very intelligent in the picture. Come to think of it, tattoos have always been equated with having a high level of itellect. Right?
To Gringo wrote on Jul 28, 2008 11:14 AM:I fail to see the correlation between tattoos and intelligence. In fact, the ignorance of that suggestion alone is very telling of what bring (as well as don't bring) to the community tab56le.
AWAX wrote on Jul 28, 2008 11:24 AM:"GRINGO", yeah buddy, I'm an uneducated, drug user and alcohol abuser. I'm sure you blame people with tattoos for the rise in home forclosures too. If we can only be a little more perfect like you. If you have kids, I can't wait to see them show up with their first tattoo. Too bad you can't see through someones physical appearance.
Mildred wrote on Jul 28, 2008 11:50 AM:That tats are put on for reasons of vanity by people who think they are 'some kinda cool.'
To elderly tattoos wrote on Jul 28, 2008 12:59 PM:Everything looks wrinked and pitiful when you're in your 70's and 80's so what difference does a tattoo make. I don't think he's trying to impress you in hopes of getting a date... As for all the closed minded commenters, are you really that judgemental or are you simply justifying your own fears. The fear of the needle, the fear of the pain, the fear to be your own person and not care what other people (just like yourself) think of you? What is it really? I think it's more the ladder...
To Gringo wrote on Jul 28, 2008 1:30 PM:SPELLING CORRECTIONS TO MY EARLIER POST:
I fail to see the correlation between tattoos and intelligence. In fact, the ignorance of that suggestion alone is very telling of what you bring (as well as what you don't bring) to the community table.
I'm sorry, but my uneducated fingers were too busy running my own business to double check it before I submitted it.
Dude wrote on Jul 28, 2008 4:40 PM:Tatoos, not for me, But this is America and I will fight for YOUR right to have one or five or ...
A Non-Tatted wrote on Jul 28, 2008 5:18 PM:The article failed to mention the cost of a Tattoo, some of the folks you see are wearing a "nice" car on their sleeve, literally. Some people wear $300.00 jeans ,diamonds and now "tats", it's actually a status symbol. These young adults save large sums to afford "THEIR" personal art piece. I applaud them.
hey To elderly tattoos wrote on Jul 28, 2008 5:37 PM:Have you been outside recently? Do you ever talk to people, like, outside of your bubble? Everyone has tattoos these days, guy. The most God-awful little scribbling will end up on every 18+ brat these days. Mustache tattoos across the index finger? HOW ORIGINAL. Look at how many young girls have nautical star tattoos on their hips? Most of them don't know anything of the history of the Nautical Star.
There is a paradoz here. I'm not against the art and history of tattoos, my fiance is a tattoo artist and a piercer at an upscale tattoo shop in San Diego. But get this, I never got any tattoos in my 25 years of life because it has become a uniform for the "I just turned 18!!" apathetic post-high school crowd. Indeed, I hear about the history of tattoo culture, and it's so sad to see tattooing in this state of affairs. But yeah, I really hate to break it to you, but these days it's more edgy and uncommon to have bare skin.
g wrote on Jul 28, 2008 6:31 PM:..yeah...if someone had a birth mark on their face people would be teasing them and calling them names...some loco has tat's all over his face and it's considered cool....people are nuts!
To g wrote on Jul 28, 2008 7:30 PM:"..yeah...if someone had a birth mark on their face people would be teasing them and calling them names...some loco has tat's all over his face and it's considered cool....people are nuts!"
Not if they're a decent human being they wouldn't. Maybe you're speaking from experience?
To hey To elderly tattoos wrote on Jul 28, 2008 7:33 PM:I agree with what you're saying about the "I'm new to 18 so let's get the most cliche tattoo available" crowd. Let's face it, all know what they call a tattoo on the small of any girls back.
I was about 30 when I got my first one and 35 when I got my second. Personally, I'm ready for my third ... but it is something that everyone must consider carefully for themselves and for the right reasons. But it's nothing that should denigrate a persons value in and of itself as some of these other posters have suggested.
tat this wrote on Jul 28, 2008 9:07 PM:I AM A MODEL AND AM VERY WEALTHY AND EDUCATED. I RUN MY OWN BUSINESS. OH CRAP I HAVE A SLEEVE (WHOLE ARM COVERED IN INK) SO I HOPE YOU DONT JUDGE ME BECAUSE IF YOU ARE CHOKING I MIGHT BE THE ONE TO SAVE YOUR LIFE. DONT BE RUDE OR NARROW MINDED. YOU DONT KNOW WHOSE HELP YOU MIGHT NEED.
Heather wrote on Jul 28, 2008 11:14 PM:I've never heard anyone who didn't get a tattoo say they regret it. However, I've heard plenty of people with them say they do.
Judging.... wrote on Jul 29, 2008 7:28 AM:Thou shalt not do it. Look, if tattoos are not for you, don't get one. If you don't want your kids getting any, counsel them and hope for the best once they leave your home. I served 21 years in the Marine Corps and ride a Harley-Davidson. Guess how many tats I have. Zero. Talk about reverse stereo-typing. I've occasionally thought about getting one great tattoo that really meant something to me, but, as of yet, haven't found that one. I still may get this very elaborate Marine themed tattoo that I designed, but just haven't gone for it yet. I've had a great career, have children, traveled, but yet have found nothing that I want tattooed on my body forever. Is that odd? No, it's just me. Leave the people alone that have decided to get tats--for whatever reason. The ink doesn't rub off, so none of it will get on any of you who think it's ridiculous. To each his own and don't judge.
Uli wrote on Jul 29, 2008 8:50 AM:hey, everyone has the right to do to their body whatever they want, that is what makes this country great.I think it's funny how the people with tats act and think they are so open minded and enlightned "don't judge people by their looks" but guess what, you people judge people all the time and you don't know it.When it concerns your child you judge people. Example=who you want your kids hanging around with.Your kids tell you their friends are cool but you've seen them and you have a "gut feeling" they are up to no good so you tell your child they shouldn't hang around with those"friends". A good parent does this. you people that have tats are really defensive about this, and it says alot. Young people make alot of bad decisions but that is how we learn. It's just sad when their mistakes are stuck on them for life.
Unemployed tattood guy wrote on Jul 29, 2008 10:29 AM:An inch of skin on the back of Jeremy Griffy's neck is keeping him out of the Coast Guard.
That area displays the uppermost part of a large, intricate tattoo that Griffy, 22, got on his back three years ago. Because the black ink spills out past the collar of the Coast Guard uniform, it violates a new policy that bars recruits who have tattoos that are visible or that cover more than 25 percent of a limb. Not until such a tattoo is removed can an applicant join the Coast Guard.
More and more young people are limiting there occupational choices by choosing to decorate their bodies with permenant ink. Tattoos hamper that second call back interview.
Gringo wrote on Jul 29, 2008 1:07 PM:Re:tat this
But why haven't you learned not to type in all caps?
To Gringo wrote on Jul 29, 2008 2:00 PM:Gee ... that's the best you could come up with? So much for intellect.
Gringo wrote on Jul 29, 2008 2:28 PM:Re:I've never claimed to be a genius, but I'm smart enough to know know that first impressions are lasting impressions. And to the tatted, you are judged by your appearance weather you like it or not, it's human nature.
To Unemployed wrote on Jul 29, 2008 2:33 PM:Every choice has consequences. You're just apparently learning the consequences of the tattoo choice.
Now you have other choices to make. You could choose another line of work. You could choose to have the tattoo removed. You could also choose to simply cover the tattoo with a covering make-up if it would allow you fit within your preferred employers policies.
Regardless of your choice, it is certain that it will lead to more consequences and more choices.
to gingo wrote on Jul 29, 2008 4:09 PM:we are not trying to question your itellect, weather you like it or not.
Stacey wrote on Jul 29, 2008 7:22 PM:Re: Gringo 2:28 PM
Whether you claim to be a genius or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that you (A) suggested that someone was less intellligent simply because he has a tattoo and then (B) is pushed to admit that you're not the sharpest pencil in the box either.
For you to judge someone as inferior (tattoo wearer or otherwise) suggests that you consider yourself superior to that someone.
You need to realize that you are no better or worse than anyone else.
I stand by an earlier poster who said that someone who would discount someone based solely on a tattoo is more than likely someone not worth knowing. Your pre-judging narrow mindedness can do nothing but drain oxygen out of whatever room you're standing in.
To Stacey wrote on Jul 30, 2008 9:35 AM:You act so enlightened.What gringo is saying is that the decision to ink your body is where the question of decision making ,good or bad, is based and the future outcome of that decision.My son got his tatoo as soon as he turned 18 and he is now 26 and he regrets getting it because of where his mind was at the time is not where his mind is now, but it was his choice and I respect his decision, both of them. He is now getting it removed.He feels he was to young to make such a life affecting decision and he knows alot of people who looked up to tattoo artists, but felt they(the artists) wanted them to get tattoos more than the customer really wanted them.
to stacey wrote on Jul 30, 2008 9:41 AM:you judge people too! when you go to a public place and you talk to guys or girls you don't talk to all of them . you judge them instantly and only talk to the ones you want to, so don't act like you are so open minded and high and mighty because "Your pre-judging narrow mindedness" comes thru every time you are in public. Being smart and educated is not the question with people that have tattoos it the decision making that is in question. Even very smart people make bad decisions.
Stacey wrote on Jul 30, 2008 5:02 PM:First of all ... it was Gringo that brought up the whole tattoos/intelligence thing when he said "Mike looks very intelligent in the picture. Come to think of it, tattoos have always been equated with having a high level of itellect. Right?" I didn't get the correlation when he said it and I still don't get it now, but whatever.
Second ... I wouldn't consider myself enlightened. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever met anyone I would consider enlightened. I just don't dismiss people on something so simple as appearance. Sure you make certain assessments based on your own experiences, who doesn't? It's what you do with those assessments that makes you either stand out or shut in. I've known a lot of different kinds of people from a lot of different walks of life and there are some really good experiences that I would have totally missed out on if I would have just said "I won't talk to him because he has a tattoo" or "I won't talk to her because she wears her skirt to short" or whatever the situation might be. There's nothing wrong with using your experiences to mold your future interactions, but there is something very wrong when you use them to dismiss people so blindly without so much as a word.
Re: 9:35 ... I can understand how your son feels. I wanted a tattoo real bad when I was younger, but I didn't do it because I knew probably wouldn't like when I was older. Instead, I thought it out and didn't get my first one until I was about 30. The 2nd one came at about 35. They can both be covered if I want them to be and I don't regret either of them.
Re: 9:41 ... nothing high and mighty here. We're all human and we all have our faults, problems, bad decisions, etc. Narrow minded I've also never been. I take everyone at face value ... always have. That's just how I was raised. I'll talk to anyone until they give me a reason not to want to anymore. It's only after you know (or have at least met) someone that you have any kind of information to 'judge'. If you choose to ignore someone based solely on your pre-conceptions than it is ultimately you that will miss out in life. I figure life's too short to have that much baggage. Live, let live and have as many (hopefully positive) experiences as you can before you die.
Tattoos wrote on Aug 3, 2008 2:11 AM:No need in arguing people . Just go to Life Sentence Tattoo in Temecula . Youll meet some of the ILLEST cats alive . It looks dope to see old people with someones art on there body . It represents something or has a story behind it or meaning . I wonder if HATERS have something to say about gas prices now-a-days . If it bothers you that bad that someones expressing themself, go exchange eyeballs with a blind person .
GO BEARS !
PEACE .
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