Inkeeper’s Tattoo Chosen as 2022 “Best of the Best” Winner!

Meet Canton Tattoo Artistis Zac Adams - winner of the Best of The Best 2022 Tattoo Parlor Category

Cover photo by The Repository/Scott Heckel

The following is an exerpt from the Canton Repository. You can read the full story here. 

Zac Adams serves as managing member of The Inkeeper’s Tattoo Parlor in Canton.

He works with his girlfriend Lauren, and he has a 2-year-old daughter named Willow Jean. The family has a couple of snakes, a few dogs and five cats.

Adams graduated from Massillon’s Washington High School in 2006. He learned tattooing from different people around Massillon and developed a friendship with the artist who did his second tattoo.

“I became a permanent fixture in his apartment,” he said. “From store runs to making stencils and cleaning equipment, I was always around. From there, I found a real shop called Underground in Canton owned by Frank Ullman. He took me on as an apprentice for a short while showing me the ways of a professional. I quickly learned the huge difference between house tattooing and professional tattooing and decided right then I would pursue the legit route.”

It wasn’t long before his path led him to Sharp Images in Orrville, where he started seeing more of an artistic side of tattooing. He started to build up some clientele and ended up doing the first of many conventions.

“Arin [Hicks] had a great way of connecting with people and securing lifelong clients and loyal customers; something I try to emulate to this day,” Adams said.

He then moved to California and later North Carolina. In Holly Ridge, North Carolina, he started work at Atomic Wave and was introduced to Joe Wensil who was immersed in the history of tattooing. Wensil had transformed an old gas station outside of Camp Lejuene into a working tattoo museum.

Adams said there were signed photos of the founders of modern tattooing: Bowery Stan Moskowitz, Paul Rogers and Norman Keith Collins (a.k.a. Sailor Jerry) were just a few.

“Joe taught me the importance of working long days and staying late to make sure you didn’t ever let a paying customer leave without getting tattooed,” he said.

“I started taking on a lot more clientele and expanding my portfolio and meeting some killer artists around the city of Wilmington.”

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Tattoo Cover Up – When The Thrill Is Gone

COVER UPS

The Thrill is Gone. Getting rid of the mistake.

We often make impulsive decisions when it comes to getting tattooed, even though they aren’t going away once the impulse moment is gone.  The stained skin serves as a reminder as well as badge of honor to anyone who wears it. It can be a wonderful experience lasting years, invoking self-esteem and newfound beauty, the ultimate form of self-expression. The talk of the party and the envy of everyone in the room.

However, a poorly done tattoo or one we regret can have the exact opposite effect. You may have had the best intentions with that tribal on your lower back but somehow it lost its appeal.  The constant reminder on your skin of that night at the county fair is enough to make the infinity symbol on your wrist crawl. You’ve had enough of the comments from friends, and you’re sick of hiding it under your mesh tube-top at family reunions.  So, what do you do once the damage has been done?

You’ve got three options in this situation. One, to just live with it and move on.  Two; you can go get the very expensive and painful procedure known as “Laser Removal”, or three; you can get it covered up with another tattoo.

Live with it.

The first option is self-explanatory. You shrug off the bad experience or botched tattoo and move on let it go. Sometimes it’s just better to cut ties and accept it for what it is. No harm in that. And if this is you, than more power to you. After being in the business for 15 years ive seen plenty of people turn down the option to cover it and tell me they’d rather leave it. A sort of attachment to the memory holds it dear to them. And that’s awesome because this is all about Wearing Your Story, not someone else’s.

Laser Removal.

The second and most expensive/painful route is Laser Removal. This is a fairly old remedy for this problem but recent advancements in tech have brought it up to speed. When you are sick of the tattoo but don’t want another piece over it, this Is a great alternative for you. The cost is outweighed by the result for most and being much less invasive than in previous years; a great option for looking for the least amount of pain.

That being said, ive also seen many clients come in after having this procedure done and the tattoo they wanted covered is not only still there, but the skin is scarred and raised from the laser treatment. Now this doesn’t happen to everyone, but more often than not, it will not “disappear” with one single session. Meaning you could be going back to the laser office multiple times spending thousands to achieve what you hope will be a clean slate.

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Cover It up.

Last but definitely not least there is my favorite option, Covering it up. Lay right over the eyesore with a completely new design entirely. This is by far the most difficult yet rewarding part of tattooing and isn’t to be taken lightly. Honing your craft and becoming great at fixing and covering mistakes can put any artist on the next level. Not many tattooers will even consider doing them, so this opens a world of opportunities others turn down.

Focus.

Every case is different, but the method remains the same. Getting hung up on the shape or the size of the piece being covered will lead you to make decisions you wouldn’t normally make in a non-coverup situation. Your focus should stay on the piece you are doing; not the tattoo you are covering.  Now, of course it is always key to have the right placement and size to make sure that the old tattoo is completely gone, but don’t limit yourself to what is already there.

I tend to work in a more realistic style, but whatever style you choose to go with, the key to everything is SATURATION. The line work needs to be incredibly smooth and bold if you are running lines. The weights and cuts need to be immaculate since this will be the foundation of the tattoo and one of the first major steps in making a great coverup. Bold holds. Don’t be afraid to pull some thick dick rails overtop of those old crusty ones. The more drastic the difference, the easier it will be in the end to cover. And remember line Weights matter. Make sure there are different thicknesses of your linework. The further forward something is in depth, the thicker the line should be. Things further away or set deeper in the tattoo should have smaller lines, if any at all.

If not using lines and going toward a more realistic approach, you’ll want to start at one edge and start building. Sculpting the structure of the piece slowly making sure to evenly saturate as you go. And creating edges from Treat it as if there is nothing underneath and you can retain the focus you’ll need to get through its entirety. Remember the goal is to saturate, saturate, saturate. Taking your time and staying patient and diligent in small areas and steadily moving forward is the only way to make this happen. Trust your process.

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Slow and Steady.

Take your time! Most cover ups take multiple sessions and many hours. Do not be fooled by Instagram posts that seem to be able to achieve the impossible in one small session. Believe me, it’s just that; Impossible. After 15 years of working with some of the most awful coverups I know from experience that great things take time to create, no matter what they are. Rushing through and trying to be quick will inevitably lead you to a bad result and sometimes another coverup. Spend time working a reworking the stencil until it fits perfectly; not just fits. Sometimes well thought out curves and dark spots will take care of half the battle for you, so let the old tattoo guide but not limit you.

Color Choice.

Look at your color palette objectively and with purpose. Take extra thought in blending and deep tones and shades, not just blacking out entire sections. There are ways to make a deep purple and Blue intensify your black and cover even better. Understanding that a banana yellow will not cover a thick black tribal line but surrounding that yellow with oranges or tans or complimentary colors will. Light colors cannot stand alone. You will 100% have the old tattoo bleed through even before you are finished. Layer colors on top of one another, and join colors completely, leave no space. This is once again reiterating that saturation is king.

Sessions and layers.

Rule of thumb: Two passes will always be better than one. That first pass of baby blue may not have done the trick, but the second or third will; And not in just one session either. You don’t want to overwork a piece simply because the tattoo underneath is still visible. This is the main reason why patience is so crucial. Having a tattoo you want to cover up is one thing; leaving a life-long scar over it because you rushed and didn’t trust the process is another.

Planning out multiple sittings and letting the piece heal in between can produce amazing results. The layering of your colors on top and next to one another brings a whole new level of depth. And this works for every tattoo, not just coverups. The key is to work in slow steady circular motions building off the last pass until there are no visible needle marks. Steadily packing color instead of quickly shading will make it much easier to cover the old piece. Remember you must slow down to go faster.

Compromises and Expectations.

During the very first meeting with the client it’s important to be very blunt about what can and cannot cover their existing tattoo. You may not be the first person they’ve spoken to about covering it so be ready to answer questions frankly and honestly. The client will have to give the artist some creative freedom in order to do a proper job covering that travesty of a tattoo. If they want what they want and there’s no wiggle room; politely tell the client you aren’t going to be able to work with them and give 2-3 referrals to reputable shops close by that may be able to help them out better. Make sure they are good references because your name will travel with that client, and both the other artist and the client will remember this kind gesture.

Firing a problematic client that won’t budge on their idea or give any creative freedom to the artist will free your calendar up for the great clients that will. In the end, your name and reputation is on the line. Allowing a client to have 100% creative control will inevitably lead to a poor tattoo. I always say, “If the client isn’t careful, I actually might do the tattoo they wanted”. A lighthearted way of saying that the client isn’t always right. What sounds good in theory or looks good on paper or on Pinterest may not translate well to the skin. They must be willing to compromise, or you have to move past them and open your books for people who will.

There is no point in “attempting to cover something”. No reason to “try” anything just to appease a difficult person. Be stern but open and remember to always push the fact that you want the best result and you are only trying to guide them in the right direction. If they are a good client and you’ve earned their trust; they will let you do something that will not only cover it properly but look amazing as well.

Pricing.

Like I said earlier, you are likely not the first shop they have been to and you are not a commodity.  Do not cut your price to match the competition. This is not Walmart. Stand firm on whatever you feel is fair for the time and effort put into the piece. The larger the coverup, the more you need to compensate for how long it will take and how hard it will be. I used to shy away from saying the actual price for fear of the client recoiling in terror and shunning me away…Newsflash: It doesn’t happen. If they don’t like the price or cannot afford it that has no bearing on you and your charging methods. It means they will have to either save up or find another artist to do it cheaper. Rolex doesn’t make a low-priced option to appease everyone who can’t afford their standard. And their customers understand that.

If you are skilled at what you do and do things with the highest quality you possibly can, there is no limit to what you can charge for your services. Clients will wait months if not years to schedule with you, and they will pay whatever the price to have that old regret covered with a new infatuation. Do not take on every project, be selective in choosing what to give your time to. Always remember in order to charge a premium rate The demand must be greater than the supply, and the work must speak for itself.

Guarantee.

If you stand behind your work and care about the client, you’ll guarantee your tattoos for life. Charging a premium rate comes with an inherent price; people expect to get what they pay for. And what better way to secure a lifelong client and advertisement than to touch up the tattoo for life, ideally for free, to reiterate that you care more about making sure the client is happy than making a quick buck. The money charged for the tattoo itself should well take care of any maintenance over the years because you didn’t skimp on detail or cut corners when you initially did it. You are saturated and layered over multiple passes and sessions. The upkeep of a cover-up will be minor if you implement the steps above and do it right the first time.

Game Changer.

Always keep in mind that this may be just another tattoo for you, but to that person it is everything. I should clarify that ALL tattoos matter, but coverups are a whole other ballgame. Some have walked around for years with long sleeves to hide an embarrassing mistake. Some have been ridiculed and laughed at because of them, ashamed because of something they can’t control anymore. Seeing the look on someone’s face when you enthusiastically explain how you’re going to get rid of it, and that Yes, it is possible, and no it doesn’t need blacked out. This Is the complete opposite reaction they were given at the last 3 shops they went to and had basically given up. You can make all the difference in the world to them by applying these tried-and-true methods. Helping that person Wear the story THEY want to tell, and not be stuck with the skin they are in is incredibly humbling and empowering. Remember to not get overwhelmed, and always take time to approach each individual methodically.

Tattoo Needles versus Tattoo Cartridges – What’s the difference?

One thing has been constant since the inception of tattooing — you need something that can puncture the skin and deliver ink at the same time. That thing is the tattoo needle. Over the course of centuries, the technology of tattoo needles has evolved from primitive, sharpened bone spikes, to the modern surgical needles we use now. Recently, however, you may have started to see the term “cartridge” pop up in discussions regarding tattoo needles.

What are cartridges and how do they differ from needles?

Let’s talk about what the tattoo needle is first. It’s a simple piece of equipment; usually a long metal rod with a hook to connect to the tattoo machine on one end and an array of small needles adhered to the business end. The machine causes the entire needle to rapidly shift up and down. When this happens at full speed that’s what gives tattoo machines their trademark hum and what also allows the tattoo artist to penetrate the skin and create amazing works for permanent art.

The needle itself is just one piece of the overall tattoo machine. For traditional machines, the 4 main components are the front and back coils (these are the parts that make the needle move), the needle, the grip, and the tip. The grip is what your tattoo artist holds onto and the tip is what confines the needle tip so your artist can draw straight lines and smooth shading.

Where cartridges come into play is that they combine the tip and the needle into one manufactured piece as opposed to two separate pieces. This is helpful for a few reasons. First and foremost, it means the tip and the needle type can be designed to work together perfectly. The last thing you want is for your needle to be contained within an incompatible tip – this would wreak havoc on the tattoo process. Needing several types of needles and tips often meant your artists also needed several machines ready to go. That just creates more mess, wastes time, etc – you get the point.

A needle and tip combo mean you can use one machine, swap between cartridges as needed, reduce waste, and most importantly, get the best possible artistic results. This is why you’ll see most of us here at the Inkeeper’s working with Cheyenne brand tattoo cartridges and Pen-style tattoo machines. It’s more natural, it gives better results, and you get a better tattoo!

If you want to learn more about Cheyenne Tattoo Cartridges and Pen Machines, you can check out our shop at https://bloodoathtradingcompany.com

Rest easy and we’ll see you soon.

~The Inkeeper

Relieve The Pain – Tattoos Don’t Have To Hurt As Much

If you have tattoos chances are that at some point in your life someone wanted to brag to you about their tattoos and how it didn’t even hurt when they got ’em. Nice try bruh, we know the truth — tattoos hurt. But that’s part of the rite of passage, the ritual.

Or at least, it was. There are some cool products out there on the market now that are over the counter and cut down that initial pain dramatically. The big one right now is Hush who creates an anesthetic gel and foam; both of which are designed to cut down the pain of getting tattooed.

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Movin’ On Up – To The Top Of The Tattoo Rankings!

MOVING' ON UP

TO THE TOP OF THE TATTOO RANKINGS

Let’s just get something clear real quick – we’re not braggers; we completely believe in letting our work speak for itself. However, when we get recognized for the work we’ve done, we have no problem sharing the news and this is pretty big.

Our own Zac Adams is currently ranked in the top 300 tattoo artists in the whole damn world. Considering some major cities alone will have 300+ tatters in them, it’s pretty amazing to be ranked at 268 in the whole mother effing world!

Don’t believe us? Just check it out here. Not saying we told ya so, but…

So, if you want to get tatt’d by literally one of the best in the world, here’s your chance. 

 

The Inkeeper’s Tattoo Parlor
2701 Cleveland Ave NW
Canton, OH 44709
(234) 214-8857

Here We Go!

Here We Go!

WELCOME TO THE INKEEPER'S

It’s so crazy to be able to invite you gals and guys to the shop, and now, the new website. It’s been just over a year or so from when we started here and it’s grown so much since then. We’ve met some bad-ass people and created some equally bad-ass tattoos. We’ve grown our team to include the most talented artists in Ohio. We get nervous that you won’t believe us when we say that, so then we set out to win a bunch of awards to prove our point and we succeed there too. I know this is starting to sound like we’re bragging, but honestly we’re just stoked. As artists all we want to do is create, and with tattoos you can’t do that without a willing canvas (psst, that’s you!). That’s why we’re thrilled you all have been visiting us non-stop!

So, what’s in store for the future? Well, we’re streaming! You can watch us work daily on twitch.tv/inkeeper! You can interact with us, ask questions, tell stories, or just listen in as we demonstrate our lack of personal filters.

We got new merch coming down the road. We know everyone under the sun is trying to hock their own goods on you, but we’re more interested in creating things you like, rather than just trying to brand you with our logo, ya know? Keep an eye out and don’t be afraid to tell us what you’d love to see on a shirt, a hat or whatever.

One thing we really want to mention is that one of our artists, Lauren Renee, is one of the leading Cosmetic Tattoo Artists in the country! Go check out her page here to get an idea of what she does, but if you’re looking for cosmetic, or reconstructive tattoos, please give her a call – she’s absolutely amazing. 

That’s it for now – but we have a lot of stuff, like give-aways, coming up so stay tuned. 

PEACE!