THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 3, 1997 TAG: 9701030089
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE LINDSEY, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: 126 lines
THE BUZZ STOPS only when he blinks or takes his eyes off his work. He pauses to wipe clear the blood and mess, as if they were eraser shavings.
The skin on the customer's shoulder is stretched tight as the artist darkens in the letter ``S.'' The muscles around the shoulder and back flex and twitch with each new stinging mark of the tattoo gun's needle.
Without even pausing, the artist carries on a conversation as if he were doodling while talking on the phone. But his eyes are still with concentration.
Not many architecture students will have ``tattoo artist'' listed as work experience on their resumes.
Brian Leverette will.
A junior at Virginia Tech, Leverette has been working at Custom Dreams, a Blacksburg tattoo parlor, since June.
``I've been doodling for years,'' he said. Now his doodles are permanent parts of his clients' lives.
He decided to trade his football helmet for track shoes during the summer and found some spare time to fill.
The 20-year-old said he became interested in tattoo art because some of his friends had gotten tattoos.
``It was a good way to try out a different part of art,'' Leverette said. Plus, it would be fun, he could make some money and he could even fall back on it in the future.
He was more interested in the giving than the receiving end. Leverette does not have any tattoos and doesn't want any.
``I just haven't come across anything that I've drawn that I was like, `Hey, that would look good on my arm,' '' Leverette said.
His mentor, Mike Boyle, who owns Custom Dreams, said what impressed him most about Leverette, besides his talent, was his honesty.
``Brian was very upfront and didn't beat around the bush,'' Boyle said.
It was important to be able to trust Leverette, Boyle said. Artists price their own tattoos and handle the payments, making it easy for a dishonest person to steal from the tattoo parlor.
Before Leverette could even think about drawing his first heart with the word ``Mom'' in it, he had to learn the ins and outs of the trade. He worked in the parlor for half the summer for free, then moved up to a $5 hourly wage, Leverette said.
All this time, Boyle taught him the medical knowledge and proper technique for a good tattoo artist: how the tattoo is held in the white blood cells, how to prevent infection and how to ensure the process is safe and sterile.
To learn how to draw with a tattoo gun, Leverette had to practice on a grapefruit.
``This is because skin and grapefruits each have five layers until they squirt at you,'' Boyle said.
Finally, Leverette was ready. The first tattoo he gave was to his teacher - a collage of faces on Boyle's arm.
By August, Leverette was working on paying customers. He started out slowly, beginning with touchups and then simple pieces. By the beginning of the fall semester he was doing whole tattoos.
Now Leverette is a self-sufficient tattoo artist, able to run the parlor and price his own tattoos, Boyle said. No longer an apprentice, ``I'm more of a journeyman now,'' he said.
``It's very serious and you have to have a good bedside manner. The hardest part, though, is transferring what I can do from paper to skin.''
Pay varies from day to day since some are slower than others. Leverette works about four days a week and has earned up to $300 a week.
Leverette has given several of his friends tattoos. His favorite was an 8-inch monster that he gave Boyle.
``He's better than I was when I started,'' Boyle said. ``And in about three years, he'll be a very good tattoo artist.''
Since childhood, Leverette said, architecture had been an interest. Tattooing is just a different side of the same coin.
``They both use the same side of the brain, are time-consuming and frustrating,'' he said. Both require a lot more knowledge then meets the eye: Architects must know a little physics and tattoo artists must know a little biology.
He smiled while thinking about which career he would pursue after graduation and said, ``Whatever puts food on the table.'' Leverette said he plans to pursue architecture and maybe tattooing on the side.
For his first two years at Tech, Leverette was a running back on the football team. He was a walk-on and did not getting enough playing time to make it all worthwhile.
``It cut a lot into my classes,'' Leverette said. ``I couldn't afford to skip some of my classes to go to (extra) practice in order to play.'' So he decided not to play his junior year. He switched to track but recently decided to stop running and is contemplating playing football again next year.
Leverette said his parents were surprised when they found out about his new job. His father, a Baptist pastor, and mother were concerned only about whether tattooing was safe. Once he assured them that it was, they had no complaints.
His parents' opinions are important to him because their advice has helped keep him out of trouble throughout his life.
``I'm not saying that I'm a choirboy and do everything they say,'' Leverette said. ``But nine times out of 10, I listen to my parents. It keeps me out of jail. It keeps me from getting beat up on the side of the streets. It just keeps me out of bad things.''
Leverette laughed at the thought of opening a tattoo parlor in his hometown, Ruther Glen, which is about 15 minutes from Kings Dominion.
``The lifestyle there is slow,'' Leverette said. The community might not appreciate it.
The most rewarding part of tattooing, Leverette said, is the expression on people's faces when he has finished their tattoos.
David Salbaggio, a freshman at Tech, looked a little worried while he was getting his tattoo. He sat still, so as not to ruin it.
``I don't even feel it anymore,'' he said while Leverette was working. ``I think it's gotten numb.''
He stood up after Leverette finished tattooing Salbaggio's initials on his shoulder and flexed in the mirror. He slowly walked around the room to get his coat, never once taking his stare off Leverette's work.
The job is something different to do during college, Leverette said.
``I don't think I could be in a better situation.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
MIKE LINDSEY
Architecture student-turned-tattoo artist Brian Leverette gives a
heart tattoo to fellow student Corey Starr.
Leverette's mentor Mike Boyle of Custom Dreams tattoos Virginia Tech
sophomore Erin Kallaghan.
Photo
MIKE LINDSEY
Brian Leverette says tattooing is a good way to try out a
``different part of art.''
KEYWORDS: TATTOO ARTISTS