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‘Nothing unusual' in today's tattoo industry

By DOMINIKA MASLIKOWSKI/The Daily News

Friday, April 25, 2008 12:06 AM CDT

READY TO WORK: Robert Keany loads some ink onto his tattoo gun while tattooing his wife Shannon, at the tattoo convention at the Aquarius as part of the 26th annual Laughlin River Run. JEFF MANGUM/The Daily News

LAUGHLIN - There's “nothing unusual” these days in the tattoo industry, said Robert Keany of Culture Shok Tattoo in Lake Havasu City, who said he's “seen it all.” But bikers like the specific kind of ink designs that speak of their love for the open road and Americana.

Keany was one of the artists featured at the tattoo convention on Thursday at the Aquarius Resort, staffing a booth with his wife Shannon alongside about 50 different vendors during the 26th annual Laughlin River Run motorcycle rally.

The couple opened shop in Lake Havasu City seven years ago, and met when Shannon was 18. Robert did her first tattoo - of a fairy on her leg - and on Thursday he worked on a design for her 13th, of a series of peonies to ink on her chest.

Robert says he likes to “specialize in not specializing” when it comes to styles of tattoo designs, but says the convention was a good mix of different styles from black and gray, to portraits and bold colors. And while he said many tattoos you can think of have already been done, a “true collector” will opt for getting a whole sleeve of a tattoo or something big, versus a collection of smaller designs.

“It's so diverse now, everything you see out there,” Shannon said. “Everything from a little flower to a full body suit.”

Bikers, Robert said, still like Americana motifs like eagles and flags or Native American drawings. One 50-year old biker got his first tattoo of flames shooting up on his arm at the convention, while another got tattooed with a pin-up girl on a motorcycle.

Brandon Lombardi, a tattoo artist with Las Vegas' Skin Design Tattoo, said he specializes in color work and the parlor's owner, Robert Pho, is also well-known for his fine-line portraiture. Bikers, he adds, still like classic designs like Harley-Davidson shields.

For it being the first, Lombardi said the convention was well-coordinated and organized, and anyone browsing the vendors would find just about any style - from colored and traditional work - Americana, anchors and pin up girls - to Japanese and new school bubbly, cartoonish designs.