VANCOUVER INK

Clients travel from all over the Pacific Northwest to book a spot with one of Vancouver’s top tattoo artists. What is it about our city’s tattoo culture that brings them here? story by TAYLER HUTTON

It’s a crisp and sunny day for February in Vancouver, and Alison Woodward’s perfectly eclectic gold Stegosaurus broach gleams in the afternoon sun. We’re sitting in the perfect-for-people-watching front window of Propaganda Coffee on East Pender, and as it turns out, it’s also a great spot to run into local tattoo talent like Joel Rich—known to his Instagram fans as skeletonjelly—and he joins us for a spot in the sun.

Both Rich and Woodward work at Black Medicine Tattoo in Chinatown, just a few blocks east of the café. Woodward, a bubbly non-binary tattooer whose Instagram account, alisonannwoodward, has a following of more than 13,000, creates work that evokes a sense of whimsy, the designs delicate and storybook-like. Their style is illustrative with a focus on natural objects, but they are best known for their playful mushroom and root vegetable characters. Whether those characters are riding a snail, reading a book, or just lying about looking cute, Woodward’s tattoos could steal the heart of even the most traditional parents.

Many of Woodward’s clients have travelled to Vancouver just to get one of them, and they’re not the only talented tattooer that people have travelled here for. “There’s this thing where people are travelling to get tattooed here,” says Woodward. “Vancouver is a destination to get tattooed.”

Gastown Tattoo Parlour’s Alexis Thomson—another local tattooing talent—agrees. “A fair number of my clients all travel in,” she says. “The most popular location internationally would be from Seattle, or Portland.” Those clients would have likely discovered her on Instagram—Thomson goes by alexisethomson with over 10,000 followers. Her style is colourful, illustrative and focuses on botanical and mammalian subjects. “I’ve had a few clients come in from even further.”

But why here, and why now? Is there something unique about Vancouver’s tattoo community? Thomson points to a local tattoo culture

Gastown Tattoo Parlour’s Alexis Thomson is one of the city’s top tattoo artists, and praises Vancouver’s unique tattoo scene for its high calibre of artists.

that values unique design. “Maybe it’s because we have a lot of custom artists,” she says. “There’s more of that interest from the clientele to seek out someone special for the project.”

And there’s the fact that there’s just a lot of great talent here, rather than any unique “Vancouver-style” of tattooing, she says. “There is a pretty high calibre of artists here and more variation,” she continues. “It’s kind of hard to pinpoint anything that is uniquely from here. It could be that we have a little bit of everything to offer.”

Woodward notes that in Vancouver, “we are able to sustain an amazing amount of private studios and shops.” A quick Google maps search turns up 73 (and that’s not including private studios!). Even so, with an oversaturation of artists, Thomson notes that “clients often say how hard it is to get a booking into a tattoo artist in Vancouver, because everyone is booked up and everyone’s books are closed—which is kind of incredible because there are so many of us.” Over the buzz of tattoo machines, she continues. “This just shows how high the demand really is.”

How to Be A Killer Tattoo Client

Alison Woodward shares their top five tips and tricks to help ease you into a smooth tattooing process for you and your artist.

BE WELL-RESTED

It’s essential to make informed decisions and have an enjoyable experience.

EAT A MEAL BEFOREHAND

Getting tattooed on an empty stomach can increase your chances of fainting during the process.

GO IN COMFORTABLE, CONFIDENT, AND READY TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION

Making a choice that you’re comfortable with and confident in is essential for getting work that you will love long-term.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS, CLARIFY THINGS AND SET BOUNDARIES

You should always feel both safe and in control.

RESPECT YOURSELF

By being respectful of yourself, you’re respectful of your artist’s canvas and craft.

A few of artist Alexis Thomson’s recent designs.

Part of the reason for this demand is thanks to Instagram. Woodward notes that they “had a very lucky opportunity, you know, being the right age at the right time as things came up,” pausing to take a sip of their coffee. “When I first started tattooing, Instagram didn’t exist… and then it did, and then everything changed.”

But part of it is the way artists here become tattoo artists altogether. “Part of what really fuels our local tattoo culture and presence here is the fine line that our regulation balances on,” says Woodward, fiddling with their reusable mug as they continue. “In Canada, it’s a different process from province to province.” In B.C., they note, “we exist under Vancouver Coastal Health. When you open a tattoo shop, you get health inspected. And if you need to make changes, you make changes, or you don’t get your business licence.”

In fact, safety regulations are just about the only regulations imposed on tattoo artists in B.C. “This works as a fertilizer for the breadth of shops, styles and people that you see tattooing in Vancouver,” notes Woodward. The bright-eyed 30-year-old’s enthusiasm is infectious as they continue. “Because you don’t have to go to school to get accredited, you don’t have to go through some long waiting list. You don’t have to be held by another person who needs to sign off on your paperwork.” In other countries, including the U.S., “if you are working under a journeyman and they don’t want to sign off and would rather keep you as an unpaid intern, they can just do that.”

The breadth of style in Vancouver’s artists is demonstrated in some of Woodward’s favourites. They point to one of their biggest inspirations, Nomi Chi at Gastown Tattooing, one of Vancouver’s most recognizable and popular. Nomi, who also goes by they/ them pronouns, has a following on Instagram of 180,000 between their two Instagram profiles; @lizard_milk is their tattoo-only platform, and @nomi_chi is their illustration platform, and they’re known for their unique black-work freehand compositions. “They’ve been a huge influence on me both as a supportive person and as an artist,” says Woodward. “It’s really wonderful to see someone fearlessly make the work that they want to make and have an audience for that.” Local tattoo fanatics have to act fast when Nomi’s books open; they have the tendency to fill up within less than a day.

They point to other local favourites like Shannon Elliott (paingardens), known for her neo-traditional style with an illustrative twist; and Katie Shocrylas (kshocs), whose pet portraits are brightly coloured, stunningly rendered and instantly recognizable. They see Katie as one of the heavy hitters. “When I think of people who are local and unique, I don’t see other people making what she is making.” Katie’s use of punchy, bright neons and abstract illustrative expertise has attracted clients from across the globe.

Talent like that is worth flying out for. n