Slinging Ink
by Sarah Sumler
Issue date: 5/4/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
"First of all, it's a tattoo machine, not a tattoo gun," she says. "That's an old biker term."
The tattoo industry has changed tremendously in the past 20 years. In the 1960s and 70s tattoos were associated with biker gangs and prison inmates and female tattoo artists were relatively rare. Early pioneers in the business like Madame Chinchilla and Juli Moon had to deal with sexism in the industry and it was often hard for female artists to gain the same status as men.
Although Pabon is the only female artist at Red Dragon, she says that times have changed somewhat and now more people are likely to focus on an artist's work rather than their gender. "No one has treated me differently for being a girl," Pabon says. "Back then women weren't allowed to do as many things as men, but nowadays it's pretty equal."
Although she loves her work, Pabon is sometimes frustrated by clients who come into the shop looking for a bargain. "Cheap tattoos aren't good, and good tattoos aren't cheap," she says. Tattoo artists determine the prices based on the size of the tattoo, location on the body, and the amount of detail the design requires. A small simple tattoo can cost as little as 50 dollars, but large tattoos that cover a person's entire back or arms can cost thousands of dollars.
The most common requests are for "flash" designs like star shapes, lettering, or animals but Pabon prefers doing custom work. Custom work is where the client and the tattoo artist collaborate to create an original design. A large custom tattoo can require hours in the tattoo chair and can cost upwards of a thousand dollars, but the end result is a tattoo that is one of a kind.
"[With a custom tattoo] you are going to get something from the artist that is only for you, and to me that is priceless," she says.
Compared to some tattoo artists, Pabon has relatively few tattoos, but when it comes to permanent body art she prefers quality to quantity. She loves collaborating with artists like Stefano Alcantara, an award winning artist from Peru, who inked a portrait of Walt Disney on her upper arm. Pabon currently has six tattoos ranging from a color portrait of Marilyn Monroe to an image of the robot Johnny 5 from the movie "Short Circuit."
The tattoo industry has changed tremendously in the past 20 years. In the 1960s and 70s tattoos were associated with biker gangs and prison inmates and female tattoo artists were relatively rare. Early pioneers in the business like Madame Chinchilla and Juli Moon had to deal with sexism in the industry and it was often hard for female artists to gain the same status as men.
Although Pabon is the only female artist at Red Dragon, she says that times have changed somewhat and now more people are likely to focus on an artist's work rather than their gender. "No one has treated me differently for being a girl," Pabon says. "Back then women weren't allowed to do as many things as men, but nowadays it's pretty equal."
Although she loves her work, Pabon is sometimes frustrated by clients who come into the shop looking for a bargain. "Cheap tattoos aren't good, and good tattoos aren't cheap," she says. Tattoo artists determine the prices based on the size of the tattoo, location on the body, and the amount of detail the design requires. A small simple tattoo can cost as little as 50 dollars, but large tattoos that cover a person's entire back or arms can cost thousands of dollars.
The most common requests are for "flash" designs like star shapes, lettering, or animals but Pabon prefers doing custom work. Custom work is where the client and the tattoo artist collaborate to create an original design. A large custom tattoo can require hours in the tattoo chair and can cost upwards of a thousand dollars, but the end result is a tattoo that is one of a kind.
"[With a custom tattoo] you are going to get something from the artist that is only for you, and to me that is priceless," she says.
Compared to some tattoo artists, Pabon has relatively few tattoos, but when it comes to permanent body art she prefers quality to quantity. She loves collaborating with artists like Stefano Alcantara, an award winning artist from Peru, who inked a portrait of Walt Disney on her upper arm. Pabon currently has six tattoos ranging from a color portrait of Marilyn Monroe to an image of the robot Johnny 5 from the movie "Short Circuit."
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