Inkin Tattoo Festival shows art is more than skin-deep

Tattooing is an art form that has existed for millennia. It uses the human body as its canvas. Millions of people have adorned their bodies with works of art over the years.

You can show off your tattoos and meet talented tattoo artists showcasing their artistic skills at the Inkin Shreveport Tattoo Festival, which will be held Aug. 23-25 at the Shreveport Convention Center. The festival will feature contests, vendors, entertainment and kids’ activities. Admission is $25 per day or $50 for a three-day pass.

According to Aaron Antonucci, the producer and promoter of Inkin Productions, which hosts tattoo festivals that travel the country, this is the Inkin Festival’s second year in Shreveport.

“I started (the company) in Biloxi (Miss.) after Hurricane Katrina ’cause people had nothing to do, and I wanted to give them something different to do and educate them on proper tattooing and tattoo techniques and stop the spread of disease by doing home tattoos,” he said. The festival is an offshoot of that. “I’ve got three of them now, and I’m building a few more.”

How did Shreveport get into the mix?

“Honestly, I was just looking around decent-sized cities that didn’t have anything like this, and I came across Shreveport. One of my friends used to live there, and I figured we’d give it a shot.”

Last year’s festival, Antonucci said, could have moved faster.

“But a lot of people didn’t understand that they could come and get tattooed. A lot of people thought it was just to show off tattoos or to watch people tattoo, and that’s not what it’s for. It’s for people to come and get tattooed by people they wouldn’t normally get tattooed by.”

What exactly can people expect from this festival? “Of course, we have people getting tattoos. There are all kinds of vendors, anything from candles to knickknacks. There’s musical entertainment.

We have sideshows. Then we have a bunch of tattoo contests. The attendees are allowed to enter any tattoo that they have into any contest that they want. So, it’s just a big, giant tattoo party, almost,” Antonucci said.

Artists will have their portfolios on the tables, “and you can come up and tell them, ‘Hey, I want a frog holding a wine glass,’ or whatever, and they’ll draw that for you, and you guys will discuss a price, and once you agree on a price, they’ll start tattooing it on you.”

Although last year’s festival was a bit slow, response on social media to the upcoming show has been “incredible.” People are really excited about it, Antonucci said.

What is the fascination with tattoos?

“Tattoos give people a chance to express themselves through art and other art mediums. It gives them a chance to express themselves without having to say anything. Some people use it to show who they are, what their heritage is. Some people use it because they like a certain kind of artwork. Some people use it because they want to memorialize somebody,” Antonucci said. “There’s so many different reasons for people to get tattoos, but it’s usually for people who want to keep a moment in their life with them forever.”

Current popular images for tattoos vary widely. “It’s everything,” Antonucci said. “There’s no such thing as a current image. It’s everything. Portraits, Victorian, the old traditional, old school, naval stuff. Anything. It’s literally anything.”

Antonucci has seen his share of unusual tattoos. “Not stuff that we can discuss,” Antonucci said with a boisterous laugh. “I’ve tattooed every part of the body.”

Tattoos have evolved from monochromatic sketches to multi-colored works of art. Today, customers can get photorealistic tattoos.

Antonucci’s idea of the perfect tattoo is pretty simple. “Whatever makes the customer smile and feel good on the inside. It don’t matter if it’s a stick figure. The artist may not like it, but if it makes that customer happy, that’s what matters. That’s the perfect tattoo.”

What happens if a mistake is made -- say, a word is misspelled? That’s pretty rare because tattoos are double- and triple-checked. These tattoo artists have been experts in their profession for many, many years.

Do you have a tattoo you’re proud of, or do you plan to get one? The festival will have contests in various categories. “There are a couple of categories where the tattoo has to be done at the show, and that’s, like, Tattoo of the Day and Best of Show, but anybody can enter their tattoos at the show,” Antonucci said.

Since some tattoos are located in, shall we say, out-of-the-way places, don’t worry. There is no nudity at the festival, which is designed to be kid-friendly. “Everything is done tastefully. We even have bounce houses and face painters, all that kind of stuff for the kids,” he said. “We try to keep everything family-friendly.”