Seattle Tattoo Expo Highlights Artistic Diversity

What are the chances of impulsively getting an amazing random tattoo? 

The Seattle Center hosted Seattle’s annual tattoo expo showcasing over 200 artists across the world, some local to the Puget Sound, some from our Eastern Washington neighbors, and more from our neighbors on the other coast. Attendees viewed portfolio after portfolio within the long rows of talented tattoo studios.

The varieties of styles and inspirations were put on full display from the artists. Expansive geometric patterns stretched across bodies. Shadowed creatures from the occult appear to creep out of body parts. Flowers were stuck in the most perfect moment of bloom. The subjects were diverse. The event even had a competition with over 11 categories, including best-of categories. 

Attendees booked appointments with artists at the expo. Newbie tattoo-goers looking for their next tattoo or a fresh-skin first-timer experienced nothing short of needed inspiration and were busily finding their latest works of art. While artists weren’t in session with clients, attendees asked questions like: Would tattooing [body part] be particularly painful, how would a certain color appear on their skin, or how can we discern a concept yet to be illustrated? Soon after the expo started on Friday, artist books were filled up quickly; some studios even fully booked out through the weekend by the end of Friday.

Booths held a tattoo lottery for random flash tattoos where the attendees chose a slip of paper indicating which spontaneous tattoos to be inked into their bodies. The clients determined placements. Tattooists loved seeing people excited to find their next piece, and they were especially excited for clients who wanted big tattoos. A sizable canvas allows the artist to express the clients’ visions. Many intricate projects required a large size for more detail to their take on their clients’ vision. More gradual gradients required more space—more skin—which the artists enthusiastically utilized.

Work in progress tattoo from Susan Crofts of Mom’s Custom Tattoo / The Evergreen Echo

Tattoo artist Lola Ocian at Studio Nimbus, near the Space Needle, could tattoo anything and every concept a client could concoct. She showed particular inspiration and interest in some specific tattoos. While much tattoo art around the expo focused on a single or couple of subjects within the allocated space, Ocian takes a rather different approach. She sized her work based on the form and shape of the clients’ body. The geometric and gradient patterns span backs perfectly yoked across the shoulders. Many of her tattoos on her Instagram accentuate bicep muscles, the bouldering roundness of the shoulders, or attention to utilizing negative space around the elbow or knee crease. 

Wes Staley of Red Quill Tattoo has many large, vibrant patchworks on their online portfolio. They have a variety of previous experience illustrating flora, insects, skulls, and much more in between. Staley is looking to tattoo even more insects, like butterflies and beetles. Also, human forms like hands and heads were statured proudly like Caligarian statues, another interest of Staley’s. The color blending and use of gradients within each of the flower petals or the rays of the sun illustrates their many years of professional tattooing experience.

Some attendees found and got their tattoo on the spot. For others, gathering inspiration and starting a relationship with their tattoo artist was the first step to make their vision realized. Since some artists were booked through the weekend, attendees scheduled future appointments. Their next tattoo appointment could have been down the street on Pike, just over the Queen Anne hill, or maybe across the Pacific Ocean.

For a first timer to the expo or to tattoos, the experience could be a lot to take in, but the community was extraordinarily approachable and inviting. For a seasoned attendee or frequent tattoo client, it could be a sense of fresh air and inspiration. While the portfolios at the expo spanned over many, many years, artists’ interest can change from time to time, and the projects and skills keep getting better. Many lifelong relationships were made at the expo and evidenced why attendees have continued to go for more than 20 years. It will be exciting to see how the interests and skills of these artists grow and what tattoos people will be craving next year.