BILL SALMON
Bill Salmon has been collecting tattoos since the early 70s and has
been worked on by 54 different tattoo artists. He got his chance to break
into tattooing from a guy named Dean Dennis who had a place on Broad-
way in San Francisco's North Beach area. After about a year there he
made the move uptown to Ed Hardy's Realistic Tattoo Studio where he
now does tattoo work full time. Eventually, Bill wants to be able to say
he's been tattooed by one-hundred different people. ''I feel that I'm
definitely a hard-core enthusiast. I'm not just doing the things, I'm con-
tinually getting them. I want to have a tricked-out choice sult when it's
all finished." He carries work from such luminary names as Greg Irons.
Pat Martinique, Bob Roberts, Kandl Everett, Leo Zulueta, Hanky Panky,
Freddy Corbin, Henry Goldfield, Jack Rudy, Dave Gibson, Scott Ster-
ling and Ed Hardy, who has done the most work on him. We asked Bill
to shed light on sonie of the lesser known points of getting a tattoo.
THE LAW
In California you must be at least
18 years old to legally get a tattoo
Tatlooing is illegal in New York. But
it varies from state to state, even city
to city. Eighteen is a good age to wail
until. What you might have wanted
at fifteen, 99.9% of the time will have
changed three or four times before
you're eighteen.
SO YOU WANT A TATTOO
Not everybody knows what they
want. Do some soul-searching. Any
thing is a possibility, Bring visual aids
to the tattoo artist to present a bit of
your vision before he starts to draw
the design. He'll improvise on it,
perhaps throw in a few important
points. A lot of people are into pick
ing a pre-drawn design, but when
many people start off they want to
make the first one a special one, in-
stead of just running into a place and
out again. It's like being hungry and
getting a Big Mac. It fills you up but
it doesn't give you much nutrition.
THREE STEPS
The first step is to determine
whether or not the person really
wants a tattoo. The second step is to
find out what they want and the third
decision is where they want it. After
that, a small deposit is put toward the
job and within a week we'll have a
drawing done specifically for that
customer. Upon approval, a date is
set to do the tattoo ASAP. That way
the crystallized effort is maintained
if they back out of the tattoo, the
deposit covers the time spent on the
effort. If the customer comes in with
something rigid that's art-ready, then
we'll go with it.
HYGIENE
Most professional tattooers
sterilize their needles in a steam
autoclave. It's the same unit that
hospitals sterilize their scalpels with
I's steam pressured at over 250° for
over thirty minutes, which kille all
germs. As for the inks, they are all
individual portions, nothing is re-
used. Some people don't have any
concept of what sterilization is, or
don't trust it. They can request a new
needle set-up. If a needle is good and
sharp, it can be used and sterilized
and used again with absolutely no
worry of transmission of disease. On
a professional level, there's yet to be
any transmission of disease con-
nected with tattooing. I would never
use a needle on anyone that I would
not tattoo myself with.
THE TATTOO
The proper way to get tattooed is
a conscious experience. Try not to
party the night before: get a good
night's sleep. Psych yourself mentally
and say, "Yeah, I'm going to sit for
that. I'm going to get it and it's going
to be an easy ride." Have a good
breakfast, go to the tattoo shop and
go for it. When it's all over, then you
can party, if that's what you want to
do, because you deserve it. From a
technical standpoint, drinking
alcohol before you get tattooed isn't
the way to go. Alcohol thine the
blood. Therefore, when the needle
pierces the skin there's excessive,
unnecessary of bleeding. It makes
the job more complicated. It's messy
and it takes longer. Also, when your
mind is altered, you can't sit still as
well. At crucial moments you may
sway or move on a line that's going
to reflect for the rest of your life. It's
a short ride, even if it's a multi-hour
tattoo. When it's over and both par-
ties did it right, then you can party
TATTOO MAINTENANCE
do it. After the tattoo is finished, our
method is to dress it, put A&D oint-
ment on it, and keep the dressing on
it anywhere from 2 to 24 hours. A
lymph fluid, which is a bodily heal-
ing agent, secretes out of the tattoo.
If the bandage sticks to the tattoo, run
warm water on it and peel it off gently.
wash off the lymph fluid with some
soap and water, pat it dry and apply
thin coats of Noosporin for the first
five or six days. Then it's peel. Once
it does this, you can use any type of
skin moisturizing cream. Keep it from
getting dry because then it'll itch.
Picking the scabs may remove some
of the ink. How you take care of it
those first days depends on how it
There are many ways of taking
care of tattoos. Listen to what the per-will look later. Some people can heal
son who gives you a tattoo says and
in five or six days. Consued on page 1761
This Page, Top Left to Right: Steve Keenan and Jason Jessee minutes after receiving Santa
Cruz dots on their ankles from Freddy Corbin (left), and Bill Salmon (right). A close up
of the skull on Gator's arm. Steve Alba sports some heavy rocker tattoos in the woodoo
vein. The variety of designs on Bill Danforth's forearms. "Hot naked women" on bass
guitars on the back of a man named Spock. Full shot of Bill Danforth's motifs. Tony Alva's
company logo adorns his loft shoulder. Pushead graphic on some guy's back at a go-
cart race. Dogtown in stone and bones lies in the skin of Jim Muir. A close-up of Bill
Danforth's right arm. Theo has a nice dragon on the right side of his chest and shoulder
(Check out his pierced lip. Ow!) Next Page, Top Left to Right: Shoulder of guitarist/skater
extraordinaire Ron Emory John Kennedy Jr. salutes his daddy's casket on Mike Corcoran's
arm. Three shots of Freddy Smith-notice the variety of styles, including traditional and
fine line work. (What about the Einstein on his elbow?) The autoclave found at Realistic
Studio, protected by a guardian soldier. The classic-looking voodoo/Halloween/
Misfits Japan-style piece on the arm of Tim Kerr, guitarist for Bed Mutha Goose. Bryce
Kanights initials burst out of his arm in an oriental-style fire and water theme. NorCal
Nick's familiar old-time skate symbol. SSG, emblazoned on Gavin O'Brien's arm, stands
for Scurb Skate Gang. Micke Reyes (left) and Jim Thiebaud (right) display a patchwork
of Interesting pieces. The first Thrasher logo, with skull, belongs to M.Fo, as well as the
snake w/knife and crucifix memorial done in a tribalesque, heavy black line style. Being
able to see what Jay Adams is thinking isn't any easier even though he had this zipper
installed on the top of his head.
O