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Tattooists are the rockstars of the art world, using needles as paintbrushes to transform the human body into a canvas. For some tattooing is a work-hard, play-hard lifestyle; for others it’s a way to do what they love to support their families. The good ones never stop striving to perfect their trade and develop an edge in an extremely competitive industry. Four East Dallas artists give us a glimpse into the tattoo community in our neighborhood.

Twenty-four years ago Adrian Evans took his sketchbook into Tiggers in Deep Ellum. He was hired on the spot and began tattooing that night with no professional experience. Later he bought Elm Street Tattoo along with East Dallas tattoo artist Oliver Peck. After selling his part, he opened Liberty Tattoo on Henderson and ran it until it closed. He bounced around some shops in North Dallas for a while before settling at Death and Glory on Lower Greenville, which is where he has worked for eight years.

How have you seen the industry evolve over the years?

I’ve seen a lot of trends. People are doing this heavy, clunky style, which has taken it back to early, early 1900s. So it has gotten a lot more immature in that sense, but if done properly it still looks good. Another trend I see a lot is the color realism.

As a whole, the amount of reference and information that people have at their fingertips nowadays with the Internet helps people learn a lot faster and develop style a lot quicker. When we were up-andcoming, it took us 10 years to get where these kids are getting in five years. The overall talent and art of the industry has gotten a lot more refined, and there are a lot more teachers, and we didn’t have that. Especially in Dallas, we didn’t really have any people who were willing to teach us until the mid-90s. That’s when everything kind of started to evolve.

It seems like people look at tattoos as more artistic now. Do you think that’s true?

Yeah that’s a huge part of how the industry has changed. Before it was bikers and gang members. It was a taboo thing. Now it’s much more accepted with TV shows and everything. So I think the acceptability, even in the workplace, has changed. You see corporate people with visible tattoos all the time now, which was just unheard of back then.

Do you see tattooing as more an art or a craft?

I think it’s a balance of both. It can be mechanical, but you’re also creating. So sometimes you don’t feel like you have much input, and other times you feel like there are no mechanics at all and it’s all creativity.

Do you remember the first tattoo you got?

The first professional tattoo? My first non-professional tattoo was a girl’s name that I hand-tattooed onto my arm. I think I was in sixth grade. It was on this arm (the left forearm), and it didn’t work out. My first professional tattoo was a silly little sun that I got when I was 14.

What do you think are the most common tattoos?

Script is really popular right now, and the sacred geometry stuff - infinity signs, triangles, circles, etc.

Are there any high-profile people you’ve tattooed that might surprise people?

I tattooed the assistant DA of a small town near Austin. You’d never know she has tattoos and she has an almost full body suit now. I also know a lawyer who you’d never know he has a tattoo when he’s in his suit, but he has tattoos all down his back and chest and legs. advertise call 214.560.4203

Do all tattoos have to mean something?

Not at all. Some people just get things that look good, that they like. Some people like to decorate themselves like they decorate their walls. Not everything you put on your walls has to mean something. A lot of people try to put too much meaning into things.

What’s the most unusual tattoo you’ve done for someone at Death and Glory?

Not really anything here. Most of the crowd we get here is a lot different than the crowd we used to get in Deep Ellum. It’s not that drunk, party crowd. It’s more professional.

Are there any experiences that stand out as remarkably rewarding?

I’ve covered up scars for breast cancer, and that was … I think they’re so brave, first of all. With all the pressure in society about how you look, especially in Dallas because it’s so pretentious. I can’t imagine going through that as a woman, so to give something to someone so that they can actually be proud to wear a bathing suit, that was huge. I’ve done it for ovarian cancer scars as well. It’s pretty uplifting to know that you’ve helped someone out like that.

I did one on a woman that was Japanese flowers, and I did another that was filigree — a sort of Victorian design. I did nipples on a woman as well. For a couple of them it was their first tattoos. They got them because they were tired of seeing scars. They wanted to look at something that was pretty. It was for themselves.

Milan Mone is a newbie in the tattoo industry. Originally from Oklahoma — the last state to legalize tattooing — Mone left a secure marketing job to become a tattoo artist. She has been working as an apprentice for a year and a half under Gerald Garcia who owns Last Angels Tattoos on Lowest Greenville.

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Who are the most surprising people who get tattoos?

The business professionals who don’t just have little tattoos here or there but are actually covered. People who are making six-figures a year. I don’t get them, but the owner [Gerald Garcia] gets some big names. He’s tattooed a lot of athletes.

What was your first tattoo?