1984_03 The Daily Collegian March 1984

              March 23, 1984
Tattoos
Art on a living
canvas
at work on a design. Hi.'
he doe   "
. He slowly moves the needle across the
canvas, adding a line here, a touch more red there,
and then wipes off the excess color.
Michael Morrision is an artist and a good one at
Morrison is a tattoo artist.
Morrsion knows his trade well. He has been
tattooing for 15 years and knows the feel of the
needle from both ends. He is probably the most
illustrated man in Fresno. Hisarmsare covered, his
legs are covered, his chest is covered wilh tatloos
He refers to it as his "whole body suit." Bul even
"I don't like them on the hands." Morrison said.
"I don't like the way they look on thc hands."
Morrison'sshop on Blackslone Avenue, which is
the only shop of its kind in Fresno, is nothing like
the seedy tattoo parlors tha! might be imagined.
His shop is neat and clean. He treats his tattooing
Bjuipment as if they were surgical tools, which in a
amy they are. His shop attracts all types of people;
aomejust looking and others more or less shopping,
fwocouples that came in during the late afternoon
•Talked around admiring al! the designs that adorn
Photos by
AlGrillo
lels the famous Norman Rockwi
hangs on his back wall. It shows I
girl's name tattoed on his arm; i
other girl's names all crossed out.
something you decide
not try it," Morrison
always forever.
^emighT'
,t to begin will
varned. "You I
philosophizes.
got him '
"There usee
Donnie was getting at
The electric tatiooing machine fits into'Morri-
;on'shand I ike a pencil. The^icedlcat the tip pokes
ind scratches the.pigment into the skin at the rate
if 3,000 limes a minute. Thc needle itself can bea
ingle point used for drawing thin lines or there can
>e as many as 14 points at the tip used for coloring
getu
endtogetthesr
unicorns, pegasus, and rainbows. Men, on th
other hand, get everything else. He said they ar
getting much better taste in the things they put o:
nowadays and tend to choose things with a lot mor
in areas. Morrison said the needles dont hurt as
bad as a doctor's needle, since it's a solid needle and
much thinner and only penetrates three layers of
The colors used are chemical pigments that dont
fade even after many years. Morrison said that
many people give themselves tattoos with India
ink. He said tbe homemade tattoos not only look
bad. but tbey tend to blur after a few years.
"Some people will have friends do il and it wont
turn out well," Morrison said, "but it's with them
the rest of their lives."
Plastic surgeons can remove tattoos, but it's very
expensive and still leaves a scar, Morrison said. The
only otheralternative is that which gives Mornsort
most of his business: cover-ups.
Morrison said that people will come in with a
tattoo that didnt turn out quite right or one they
didnt like, and they ask him for another tattoo to
detail.
Besides cover-ups, Morrison said that he does
tattoos for cosmetic reasons abo. Eyebro
tattooed on for women that dont have them.
" It could be that a woman'sevebrpws are slim or
had them taken off with electrolysis." Morrison
said. "I do it so they wont have lo get up every
moming and draw them in. Eyebrows are a lot less
painful to do than an
Vincent Venani, who was getting a very detailed
tattoo on his calf, said that it will run him about
$400. He was getting it to cover up a couple other
tattoos. He said it was nothing compared with the
rest of his body. Verzani estimated that he had over
$6,000 worth of tattoos on his body, but said he
stopped keeping count a long time ago.
Morrision said Ihe largest tattoo he had ever
done is a whole back tattoo. He said it cost about
$1,000 to put it on.
"On the larger tattoos 111 do the outline first."
said Morrison. "It makes it easier on the customer
Vicki Pitman, 29, Morrision'! girlfriend,
has let him tattoo a floral design around her wrist.
She said that she has run into pio Menu before just
because she has a tattoo. Her biggest complaint was
when she went looking for a job.
"It's like when tbey used to say, 'You're black and
you cant work here," she said.
Mormon said he has experienced that same kind
of rejection from the.public.
-There is a lot of prejudice against tattoos! I've
had instances in public Where a stranger will t ome
up to me and say it* one of the nicest tattoos
they've seen. IVe turned around and had people
come up to me and try lo drive me into the ground."
"Some people are narrow-minded and w
categorize ill talooipg as sinful," said Morrison.
"Ill just another form of art. It doesnt have any
Pitman agrees with thaf opinion.
"It* just another decoration, like jewelry and
earrings,'* she said.
Morrison describes peopk that get tattoos as
"people thai know their mind* and wont change
There is a law thai prohibits anyone under the
age ot 1» front trnteriag a tattoo parlor. Mormon
said that poople really have to ba committed to
getting a tattoo-bacaaac it's with them the rest of
their life. He docnt advine anyone to a* a tattoo
unless they are dead apt est it aad have tatnaajM
about it for quite awhile.
"Sorne people rush ia here and w
on," Morrison said. "I tell them i