LIBERTYVILLE – When you walk into Private Ink Body Art in Libertyville, you’re not too sure if you’re actually in a tattoo parlor. The only thing to remind you of your location is the magnitude of art on the walls, which are covered with examples of tattoos that the artists can create.

“If we do a tattoo off the wall, we change it a little. We can make these [pictures] look so much better,” said Billy Caroll, owner of Private Ink. “This is paper; it’s not skin. This is flat paper; we make tattoos three dimensional.”

Next to the front desk, there is a long hallway with four rooms. Private Ink has four full-time and one part-time artist.

“During the week we see five to 10 people a day, and on weekends sometimes 50 to 60 people,” Caroll said.

On July 15, Jocelyn May of Waukegan and Ivan Avakian of Round Lake came to Private Ink to get tattooed. Both had previously gotten some ink at the shop, which has been open for two years.
May's more recent trip to the shop was to work on a tattoo that was already in progress.

The tattoo was started three years ago when tattoo artist Dan Hughes inked a phoenix and dragon on the upper right side of May’s back. A subsequent sitting had Hughes tattoo a griffin – a mythological creature with a lion’s body and eagle’s head and wings– on the upper left side of her back. Later, Hughes connected the two pieces with clouds, a moon and night sky.

On the recent Thursday, Hughes was adding some color to the clouds.

“I’ve always been into dragons and mythical creatures. I just asked [Hughes] how I could put it all together and this is what he came with,” May said.

Avakian, on the other hand, was at Private Ink to start a new tattoo.

He was adding to the collection of Mario characters on his left calf – this time adding the character Dry Bones.

Tattoo artist Matt Trybom created the piece. Tattooing is a way of life for the artists at Private Ink.

“It’s not a job; it’s a passion. It’s not like coming to work. This is my home,” Caroll said. “Everybody here is the same way; it’s not work for us. There’s nothing else in the world I’d rather be doing.”

Deciding on the tattoo

The first step of the tattoo process is deciding what you want inked onto your body and where you want it.

“We always tell people, ‘If you don’t know what you want, take your time’,” Caroll said. “Get a tattoo that you really want. We’re lousy salesmen in that way.”

May’s tattoo has meaning that is very close to her heart and started as a 30th birthday present from her mom.

“The right side represents my dad and me,” she said. “My dad passed away in 2004, and he’s the phoenix. The story goes that the phoenix rises from the ashes. I’m the dragon because I had to take his place.”

For Avakian, his tattoo brings him back to his childhood.

“Mario kind of raised me,” Avakian said. “Every day after school I would go home and play video games.”

Trybom said enjoys talking to his clients during the tattoo process.

"It's always fun to get a background story, especially when it's a weird piece," Trybom said. "It seems like people tend to open up to us; we're kind of like therapists."

Getting started

Illinois requires everyone to fill out paperwork before the tattooing process can begin. These forms include consent to get the tattoo, what to know before getting a tattoo, and how to care for the tattoo once it’s finished.

Before a tattoo can start, the artist needs to get the area ready. He or she uses a green soap, like the one used in hospitals, before and during the procedure.

“We clean them off and shave the area. It makes it a lot easier for the ink to get in there so the needle doesn’t bounce around very much,” Hughes said.

After cleaning, the artist will stencil on an image of the tattoo to make sure it is what and where the client wants.

“We want to make sure it’s something they can live with,” Hughes said.

Either an ink pen or a thermal fax – carbon copy – of the tattoo is used to create the image.

“The outline is used to keep the idea,” Hughes said. “It’s almost like a paint by numbers.”

The artists must mix the colors of ink they will be using for the tattoo.

Hughes said the paint he uses is all organic. He uses primary colors and mixes them to create the colors he wants.

"Each tattoo is different because you usually don't get the exact color twice," he said.

The tattooing

To create the tattoo, the artist dips the needle in ink. Tubes attached to the needle hold the ink in place.

The artist uses a foot switch to move the needle.

“The needle goes 1/16 of an inch into the skin,” Hughes said. “It only reaches about the fourth or fifth layer of skin.”

As Hughes started working on May’s tattoo, his client described the needle like a “cat scratch.”

“You can feel the friction of the needle,” May said. “You can feel the heat too.”

During tattooing, May noted that some points on her back hurt more than others, like her spine and the area near her armpit. Throughout the tattoo process, May has learned ways to ignore the pain.

“When it hurts I just focus on my breathing; that makes it a little easier,” she said.

According to Trybom, everyone handles the process differently.

“About two months ago, I had a screamer – bloody murder the whole time,” he said. “It was a cover-up [of an old tattoo], and I had to tell her she had to stop screaming in order for me to do the tattoo. She calmed down a bit, but we basically finished the tattoo and just left.”

Healing

After a tattoo is finished, Hughes said the healing process takes about 30 days.

Before leaving the shop, the artist puts a bandage over the tattoo to protect it. Hughes tells his clients to use soup and water to clean it and use vitamin A and D ointment to help it heal.

The first day after skin is tattooed, it may bleed a little.

“It feels like bad sunburn,” May said. Right after she left Private Ink, she needed to get something to eat.

“I’m always really hungry after getting [a] tattoo,” she said.

Avakian agreed with May about how the tattoo affects one’s body.

“With the adrenalin and endorphins running, it takes a lot out of you,” he said.

After they were done for the day, both clients said they plan to return to Private Ink.

“I’ll be back next week,” Avakian said. “There’s still some work to do on [the tattoo] on my arm.”

“[May’s tattoo] is a work in progress,” Hughes said. “There’s still about 18 hours of work left.”

Reflecting on her tattoo, May said she was proud of the art and liked how it looked.

“It’s an extension of who I am,” she said.

If you go...
Private Ink Body Art Studio is located at 333 Peterson Road, Suite 250, in Libertyville. For more information, call 847-816-8287.