The all-new “Inkin Shreveport Tattoo Festival” takes place on Sept. 22-23 at the Shreveport Convention Center.

Artists to show off bodies of work

Some of the world’s best artists are coming to Shreveport.

But you won’t see their work on canvas.

Instead, you will see their work on skin. Your skin, if you would like.

Some 200 tattoo artists from around the country – including two from Russia – are expected to take part in the Inkin Shreveport Tattoo Festival. The event will be Sept. 22-24 at the Shreveport Convention Center.

“Amazing” is how Inkin Productions president Aaron Antonucci described the artists’ talents. “You look at their art, and it’s absolutely beautiful. Most of them have their own hidden talents and their own gems, or their own styles. They are there to show off and show people what they can do. It’s rare when you don’t see anything but miraculous work that comes out of these things.”

Antonucci said there will be some local artists showing off their work. However, the main attraction is that there will be so many artists from outside our area.

“That really is the main draw – there are so many types of art (people) can get done in one place. It gives them a buffet which they can pick.”

And make no mistake – the people who do the work are artists.

“Back in the day, we would just call them tattooists. But nowadays, they are artists. They don’t do just tattooing. They do sculpting and painting. Painting is a big one. They do all different types of artwork. There are so many different mediums of art that they do. These guys aren’t doing just a picture off the wall. They are creating these pieces. Most of them are all original works that they create for each customer, then put it on them to create an actual piece of artwork.”

And how a tattoo artist “paints” their picture is as varied as the result.

“There are a lot of different styles of tattooing.

There’s old school tradition al tattooing. There’s Japanese. There’s black and gray. There’s color. There are so many different categories of tattooing. Each artist will specialize in different categories or different styles of tattooing. It gives people a wide variety to find the artist that can do the style they’re looking to get done.”

Just when you thought you had seen every kind of tattoo, there comes along something different.

“The thing that has become really popular lately are photo-realistic portraits, whether be of their family, movie stars or rock stars. They’re popular in both black and gray, and full color. Some of the stuff these guys put out now, it looks like it’s a portrait on paper. It’s sometimes better than the portrait itself. It’s just amazing.”

Tattoos have evolved over the years.

While there are still some limitations, there aren’t many. But just because you want a certain tattoo doesn’t always mean you can get it. That’s where an artist’s experience comes in.

“Sometimes the customer will come to us with something that might look good on paper but won’t translate good on skin. Or they will come to us with something that may seem pretty unrealistic as far as being tattooable. So, it’s our job to sit down with them and come to some sort of medium to get them what they want, but in a more tattooable way, or an even better way than what they were wanting.”

Used to be, the public might tend to frown upon someone with a visible tattoo. However, times have changed.

“(Tattoos are) definitely growing rapidly. It’s become much more of a household thing. Since the (tattoo) TV shows, it’s become more popular. More people are interested in it. They see it as an art and not just some old trend. People are covering their entire body to express art and express themselves. They may want to remember somebody or an event that happened. It’s gotten so popular that it’s become more acceptable in the workplaces, in schools – it’s become more acceptable worldwide. People are not so afraid to get tattooed now, and it’s just growing quickly.”

The upcoming tattoo festival will be more than an opportunity to get a tattoo.

“We will have live music. We will have circus-style side shows and comedy. We will have bounce houses and a fun zone area for the kids. There will be face painting. We have plenty of vendors selling stuff people might be interested in, including jewelry and leather.”

To learn more about Inkin Shreveport, you may visit www.inkinproductions.com.

With over 200 tattoo artists from around the world, festival-goers will have access to many different styles and categories not usually available to our area as well as live music, side shows, vendors, comedy and a fun zone area for kids.