Tattoos: Original works of art at Opie's

MORRISON – Richard "Opie" Callihan was drawing on his friends with markers in exchange for lunch tickets when he was in sixth grade at Morrison Junior High School. In his pocket he always carried markets and a notebook full of drawings.

Now, at age 33, he does body art with a more permanent medium at Opie's Tat's, 105 W. Lincolnway.

Video: See how the photos were developed to accompany this story.

With 15 years of experience as a licensed tattoo artist, he likes the variety in creating body art, he said.

"You're never doing the exact same thing," he said. "It's new people, new stories. I enjoy listening to customers tell me why they're getting what they're getting."

And that's why he has made sure his shop isn't a "tattoo factory." Every customer at his shop gets an original piece of art. The shop's walls have a few photos on them, and a small, glass table near the entrance has a few books with drawings and photos. But those are meant, if needed, as a starting point, not to be duplicated exactly.

"We're not the pick-it-and-stick-it type of shop," he said.

Artistic freedom appeals to him. He is working on a bright, floral tattoo on his girlfriend, Becky Collins, of Morrison, that doesn't have outlines or black ink. The freehand style is uncommon and "somewhat cutting edge," he said.

Collins' tattoo, when finished, will have flowers representing the birth months of all of her immediate family members, he said. Tattoos with meaning for customers – especially memorial tattoos – are among his favorite requests.

"If it doesn't mean anything to them, I don't even care to do it," he said.

He strives for realism.

"It's always amazing to me when an artist can make a tattoo a lot like a photo on skin," he said. "I've always striven to be that guy."

He enjoys the building process of seeing a customer repeatedly for a complicated, large tattoo, he said.

Gabriel Tapia, 26, of Sterling, is one of Callihan's artists. He has been tattooing for 6 years. The Sterling native has been interested in body art since he was 8 years old, when he noticed his grandmother's name, Betty, tattooed on the left arm of his grandfather, Alvin Murphy of Kewanee.

"That's when I fell in love with it, because I was like, 'Man, you can get art on someone's body and it'll last forever,'" he said.

Clients and tattoo artists alike have a creative outlet in tattoos, he said. And he never does a tattoo without learning something.

"Every tattoo teaches you something else," he said.

Callihan and Tapia don't just create art on skin. Callihan created the sign on his storefront. Tapia has been putting designs on shoes and hats that are sold at the shop, and each is designed differently.

Callihan's grandmother, Peggy Brooks of Galesburg, embroiders promotional T-shirts by hand that also are available for sale at the shop. She spends 5 to 12 hours on each shirt, making it unique, Callihan said.

Even two 80-year-old twins who came in to the shop for their first tattoos did not leave looking alike. One asked for a rose on her ankle.

"The other got two roses on her ankle," Callihan said, "so she was one up on her sister."

About this series

This story is the second in a series by SVM reporter Bridget Flynn called Sauk Valley Ink. The series will feature local tattoo shops and local perspectives on tattoos.

If you have a tattoo and a story behind it, please send us a photo of the body art, a photo of yourself, and a description of the tattoo's meaning. Send the photos and info to Flynn at bflynn@saukvalley.com or send it to the saukvalley.com Facebook page. We will publish some of the most intriguing body art.

If you are in a hiring position, and you have an opinion about employing someone with tattoos, or if you're a parent with an opinion about letting your child have one, please e-mail Flynn or call her at 815-625-3600, ext. 521.