“When you think of tattoos, the first images that come to mind are anchors, ships or roses,” said John DeWeese, a tattoo artist at Genuine Tattoo Company on Walnut Street. “Things that you would expect to see on Popeye or your grandpa.”
DeWeese said this style began as early as the 1930s. At the time, there were only around 20 tattoo artists in all of America.
Out of those original tattoo artists, DeWeese guesses only five of them could actually draw.
Men like Norman Keith Collins, better known as Sailor Jerry, copied illustrations from news advertisements and passed the drawings back and forth amongst fellow tattoo artists.
“For people who do this kind of tattooing, it’s the historical aspect of it that draws us to it,” DeWeese said. “There’s a distinct lineage of designs. They look different on every person who gets them, but they’re from the same historical origin.”
DeWeese, who began tattooing at the age of 17, noted as tattoos lose their stigma in American society, more and more people are drawn into parlors to get subtle tattoos much different from the traditional American style.
Though he said he is more than happy to provide people with the small infinity symbols and neat cursive typography, he enjoys his job most when working on the more authentic style that drew him to the profession in the first place.
“I would say tattooing is one of the strongest American styles of art,” he said. “It 100-percent originated here.”
DeWeese doesn’t enjoy tattoo television shows, but he does give them some credit for preserving the art form. He isn’t at all worried it will be forgotten any time soon.
“There’s a fairly large group of hardcore tattoo collectors, so I don’t think it’s getting lost, per se,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s the ‘in thing’ to do amongst the general public.”
DeWeese is covered in colorful images of geishas, monsters and lettering. He doesn’t have a lot of tattoos, he said, only one big one that isn’t quite done yet.
“This is what I do for a living,” he said. “This is what I’ve dedicated my entire life to. I feel like every tattooer should strive to have their full bodies tattooed.”
The traditional designs are not the only thing DeWeese has noticed changing in American tattoo culture. People’s motivation behind getting inked has also shifted.
“There’s this idea today that every tattoo has to have a story, and that’s one of the things that annoys me most,” he said. “Not every tattoo has to have a meaning. Get a tattoo because you like the way it looks and it compliments your body.”
