NEWS — Las Vegas

Tattoo cover ups are a great solution to an old problem. These days, I hear people saying they aren’t worried about their tattoo choices because they can just get them removed if they decide they don’t like it. Keep in mind, tattoo removal can be a very expensive, not to mention painful experience. The results of removal can sometimes be less than satisfactory as well.

Most tattoos can be covered up as long as the tattoo artist knows the process and has the experience necessary to get the job done correctly. If you can tell it’s a cover up, it probably wasn’t very well done.

Obviously, it’s harder for the artist to cover a tribal arm band than to cover up a name or your ex-wifes color portrait.

The popular water color style tattoos with no line work will be the easiest to cover because much of the color in these tattoos will go away with time anyway. The black ink tends to stay very well over time, so it is not easy to cover. This is where experience becomes very important.

It’s probably most common to cover name tattoos. I’ve been married for over 37 years and still have not put Becki’s name on me. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t care if I have her name on me or not. That’s good, because I don’t plan on it any time soon. I have been getting tattooed for over 25 years and haven’t had a touch up or a cover up done. Does this mean I make good decisions? I don’t know. I try. I feel that if you are going to go through the painful process, (yes, it hurts) I just want to add a new tattoo instead of dwelling on the past like so many folks do. If I don’t like a tattoo I have, I just surround it with more tattoos so you don’t notice it so much!

Covering a large tattoo without removal is possible, but more difficult than the smaller stuff. A good tattoo artist can educate the customer on what it takes to make that shit go away. The tribal and Celtic stuff has so much black it’s always a pain to hide. In most cases, it can be done.

I see these guys with their whole arm tattooed black and wonder why? What decisions were made that put them in that position? When the sun hits that much black ink, it’s very hot. Las Vegas summers are not conducive to this type of tattoo. Just my humble opinion. Maybe they just got really cheap tattoos from amateur hacks and had no other choice than to do solid black. Who knows?

Think before you act. Tattooing should be fun. Don’t think too much or you’ll never decide what you want tattooed on you until you are no longer with us!

Chas. T. Spencer @21tat – Owner

www.studio21tattoo.com

Studio 21 Tattoo even does the popular tattoos daily! I’ve often pondered what causes tattoo trends. What makes people want to have the same tattoo that everybody else has? The most popular tattoos now are the infinity symbols. Nothing new about this symbol. It’s been around for an infinite number of years. I don’t know how long really. Google it!

More super popular tattoos would be the dandelion with birds flying out of it. The ladies just love this one! Many of them find their ideas for tattoos on Pinterest. Imagine wanting something original and clever and finding it on Pinterest.

Remember tattoo flash? If you don’t, I’ll give you a little info on the subject. You may have seen pictures of old tattoo shops with all these sheets of art on the wall. You just walked in and looked around at all these little tattoo pictures which usually had the price next to them. This was a brilliant idea. It made decisions easy for people who wanted a tattoo, but just couldn’t decide what they wanted. These flash sheets were usually prepared by an experienced tattoo artist who knew what was involved in the tattoo process. These guys knew how to design images that were easily applied to the skin and would last a very long time.

Fast forward to today. The customer walks in the studio with a “smart phone” in their hand, shows a very skilled artist a very bad picture of something they found on the internet. These are the same folks who would tell you they don’t want just any tattoo off the wall. This brings me back to Pinterest. This is the largest wall ever!

One thing I have learned over the years is, these trendy tattoos are the ones we cover up in a few years. Fortunately, the infinity symbol is going to be fairly easy to hide as soon as they figure out they have the same tattoo as everyone else in town.

What I am trying to say is, if you seek out the best tattoo artist in Las Vegas, try to let the artist help you come up with an image that is not so trendy. That way, you won’t be looking for a cover up tattoo in five years.

Chas. T. Spencer @21tat – Owner/ Artist, Studio 21 Tattoo

We had a blast last year at SEMA  and we’re already thinkin’ about how stoked we are to see whats new this year! Here’s some pics from when our buddy Big Meas came back out to Vegas to visit and laid down some seriosly wild script on our good buddy Brian Hendersons ROTIFORM Beetle. #TATTOOFIGHTCLUB #ROTIFORM #BIGMEAS

# STUDIO21TATTOO

Studio 21 Tattoo is a family owned business operated by the Spencer family of Las Vegas, Nevada since February of 2003. Charlie, Becki, Austin and Courtney Spencer are the family members responsible for all that transpires here at the studio. The Spencers have actually resided in Las Vegas since 1989. Not your average family, these guys have an interesting story to tell.

Leaving all family and friends behind, the family of four packed into a charcoal grey, brand spankin’ new 1989 Nissan Sentra to see what kind of trouble waited for them in the middle of the desert. Why, people asked? People thought we were crazy..maybe we were. The Spencers were leaving everything they knew along with remaining family members. All the memories, good and bad, and some of  the best BBQ and Blues music in the country .The  80’s were nearing an end and this quirky little crew was ready for something new. In 1989 the Spencer family packed up and took off from Houston, Texas to faboulous Las Vegas, Nevada. Heading out  west having no idea of what to expect, it couldnt have been more exciting, and just a little bit scary.

Fast forward to the year 2003. Charlie and Austin were really rollin’ with their tattoo careers in a community with a huge demand for tattoos and a serious shortage of talented artists. Charlie had begun getting tattooed in ’89 and decided there was a need for change in the Las Vegas tattoo scene. There seemed to be a shortage of customer service in the local industry. Back in those days, you walked into a tattoo parlor and nobody greeted you. It was always smoky and usually didn’t look very clean. That was normal back in those days.

It was decided that it was time to open a small, family tattoo studio. Charlie quit his day job, cashed in his 401k and found a 1300 square foot facility to convert into a place to kill it doing some awesome tattoos. The zoning laws at the time required locating in a less than desirable neighborhood. The first shop was located on Arville Rd. near the Orleans Casino in an industrial district. A great time was had by all at that location. That little place was where the Spencer family did what they do well enough to need to grow the business.

In February of 2006 the studio found a new 2600 square foot location at the corner of Flamingo and Jones, a great location 2.5  miles west of the Las Vegas Strip. The Spencer family decided to pull out all the stops on the new digs. An architect was hired to design the space. This is unheard of in the tattoo industry! It turned out to be a wise decision. Not only was this now the largest tattoo shop in the state of Nevada, but it was the coolest designed space for tattooing most people had seen. With six private booths and a comfortable lobby, this place turned out to be perfect. No regrets!!

The Spencer family continues to work hard at providing a clean, safe, comfortable environment for clients to enjoy their amazing tattoo experience. This is why folks from around the globe continue to return year after year to Studio 21 Tattoo for additional ink from their favorite artist in a super professional atmosphere.

Were lucky enough to have surrounded ourselves with some seriously talented artists and collectors of art of all kinds over the years and received some amazing gifts at times from people who blow our minds with talent. Casey Weldon is one of them. Austin Spencer, one of our artists and Co-Owner of Studio 21 Tattoo was fortunate enough to have Casey  as a friend  for over 10 years now. With Casey helping educate Austin with some priceless guidance in the acrylic painting medium and a lot of beer drinking, Austin accredited Casey to helping him really start to understand acrylic as a medium and certainly enjoyed the beer drinking! This headdress is a piece that Casey was nice enough to gift to the Studio for our 10 year anniversary. This headdress is not only fabricated out of actual tattoo equipment (tubes, ink caps, needles, and ink) along with succulents,  but its built to be able to actually wear! Its awesome. These are some shots of our other great friend and cactus lover Jinxi. You might know her  from her famous tattoo collector book series published by her very own Out of Step Books. Jinxi also RULES. If you ever get a chance, stop by the shop and check it out!

http://caseyweldon.com/

http://www.oosbooks.com/