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Tattoo Art

By Jack Cantey

Fort Wayne Reader

2006-08-04

“The things he could do with black ink and shading on flesh were quasi-magical. He was an engraver, like William Blake. He was a sculptor, he was a Bernini…”

— Sarah Hall, The Electric Michelangelo

An engraver. A sculptor. An illustrator and graphic designer. A primal painter. A successful tattooist must be all of these rolled into one: an artist and a craftsman who works in the medium of ink upon the permanent canvas of the skin.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the line between traditional visual arts and the art of the tattoo has grown murkier as tattooists’ techniques and styles have grown more sophisticated in the past 30 years. During the last decade, exhibits of tattoo art have originated in major art centers across the country and tattoo art exhibits and events have been covered by The New York Times and other mainstream publications. Online sites such as needled.com are now dedicated solely to the aesthetics and artistry of the tattoo.

Veteran tattooists and visual artists Chad Mishler and Jeff Stumpp first met as fine art students at Saint Francis University. As a teenager, Mishler had done some “scraping,” as homemade tattooing is often called. By the time he met Stumpp in school, he had begun an apprenticeship with an old-school tattooist.

“I was working with a biker-type tattooist,” Mishler said. “The deal we had worked out was that, in exchange for him showing me how to tattoo with real equipment, I would show him how to draw.”

Stumpp’s introduction to the tattoo world came via a less direct route. “I got into tattoos in a weird way,” Stumpp explained. “It was a leap of faith and sheer, dumb luck. I had a wife who was seven months pregnant, it was winter in Cleveland, no job, and I found myself in a tattoo shop. An old guy said I could learn to tattoo, come and hang out all I wanted, so I tried it. It took me a few months before I decided it was for me and I never looked back. That was nine years ago.”

Mishler and Stumpp are now partners in Device Tattoo & Gallery (7716 Lima Road), a recently-opened tattoo studio and art gallery.

Nick Fabini of Tip Top Tattoos (3212 Crescent Avenue) has spent most of his life around cultures which embraced the art of tattoos far before the mainstream did in the 1990s.

“I was an artist first…I always drew,” Fabini said. “I was also involved with motorcross and BMX as a kid, and guys that were involved with that had tattoos. When I was in high school, I was taught by Nick Manco and his brother at Studio 13. That opened the door for me to get started.”

Although it is difficult to find the time and energy after long days of drawing and tattooing, Fabini, Mishler, and Stumpp have all continued their personal work as visual artists. Fabini works with oil and watercolor, and two mixed media skateboards of his were recently exhibited as part of “Sk8park” at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Mishler focuses on pastel and acrylic works, while Stumpp has been devoting his time to watercolors influenced by traditional “flash” tattoo art. All three believe that, while working with skin has no pure parallel in the visual arts, creating watercolors comes closest to the experience.

“It’s just the way you technically perform it,” Mishler said. “The way you do lines, the way you only get one shot at it. Some of the physical properties of that medium are very similar to tattoo.”

Stumpp added, “You start with that black ink with a nib or a brush and it’s a one-shot deal, and if you mess it up you’ve got to figure out how to make it work for you.”

But despite these similarities, any tattooist will tell you that working with skin is unique. As Mishler put it, his canvas doesn’t say “ouch” when he’s painting. Nor does a canvas get nervous and start wiggling.

“It’s difficult,” Fabini explained. “Everyone’s different, so you don’t really know what to expect. It depends also on the area of the body. Some people bleed more, some people bleed less. And they’re moving. There’s a lot of variables there.”

Stumpp believes that, in comparison with traditional painting media, tattooing is incredibly fluid: “Most grounds you don’t have to manipulate. Once you prep it, you can concentrate on the tools and the paint. Usually, with tattooing, you have to manipulate the ground at the same time you’re going through the process.”

Device and Tip Top are among a growing number of tattoo studios which are integrating fine art galleries into their waiting rooms and working spaces. “The gallery makes sense,” Stumpp said. “We’re artists.”

Mishler added: “I think a lot of people understand that tattooists can draw, but I don’t think we’re taken completely seriously in the art world. We want to provide an environment where we can put our own artwork, which shows the public that we do more than tattoos, that we’re artists. We have to show them that we’re capable of more.”

There are significant advantages to exhibiting amongst the hum of electric needles for both emerging and established artists. Commissions are much lower than in mainstream galleries and a wider market is able to view an artist’s works over the course of two or three months.

“We have a very diverse crowd that comes through here,” Fabini said. “There’s a huge chunk of the younger community that doesn’t go to galleries, but would appreciate the work. We also have people who will come in that don’t want a tattoo but will just check out the artwork.”

Device will be hosting a grand opening and art show on Saturday, October 14, from 8pm to midnight. Currently on display in their comfy and ultra-vintage front room are paintings by Dwayne Ferren. Fabini says that Tip Top is tentatively planning an art event later this year featuring an exhibit of self-portrait works.