PRISON TATTOOING...the inside story.
by "Orbit"
Tattooing and prison seem to go hand in hand, every jail has
a "resident" tattoo artist, this is an interview with one who
got away.....
"Orbit" spent the last 4 years as a guest of some the Canadian
Federal Prison System's finest establishments. Previous to his
unfortunate incarceration he tattooed in Montreal Canada at his
own shop "New Age Tattoos".
Q. Is it true tattooing is not legal in jail and what did you have to do to
get the job done?
A.yes its illegal but it never stopped me.
In jail instead of a counter girl you have a "six man". The "six
man " is THE most necessary element in prison tattooing. His job
is to keep watch for guards doing random walks. If you get caught
generally the person being tattooed will take responsibility for the
contraband equipment as there is no need for 2 people taking the fall
for one offense. The penalty for possession of contraband could be
a fine or time in the "hole". If the guard walks by the six calls
"six up" signifying "the man is on the move". Stuff is then stashed
and artist and client try to look as innocent as possible. Fresh
tattoo work must also be hidden away until healed as it is an offense
even to have new ink inside.
editor's note ..try doing that in a street shop!!!
Q.What are the popular designs in prison?
A. A lot of the people getting work have missed the tattoo explosion
of the past few years and still think of tattooing in traditional styles
only. Tattoo mags are contraband but still get in through the cracks in
the walls. I had a stack of tat mags that i got in and spent days replacing
the covers with those from porn mags. A lot of people simply picked flash
from there. The biggest thing by far is fine line single needle work.
Black being the easiest of the colors to find. Jack Rudy flash kept me in TMs
(tailor made cigarettes). Thanks Jack! Reworking amateur joint tattooists
scribblings was another big thing.
Q.How did you get the equipment and inks to work with?
A.Some things could be purchased legally, these include multi volt
adapters, beading needles, and if you got a hobby permit, ink could be
bought. Rotary machines were built from cassette drive motors. Needle
bars were plastic Qtip shafts. Fine beading needles could be bought from
Native Canadians for a pack or two of cigarettes. Tubes were fashioned from
pens cut in half, with various tips attached to accomodate various needle
groupings. The gas valve from a Bic lighter was used for a single needle
tip. A Pilot fineliner marker made a perfect 5 round and melted felt tip
pens made great 6 flat tips. People came to me to buy tubes and needle bars for cartons of cigarettes, before that most people just used single needle only. Latex gloves could be stolen by inmate cleaners in the health care unit.
The ink of choice was Pelican Special series, and also Createx non toxic
airbrush paint for color. Stencil paper was mailed into me along with letters
written on 8 x 10 sheets of flash by my good friend "Yob".
Q. What precautions did you take to prevent desease transmission?
A.To tell the truth there wasnt a lot of that going on. I take a great
deal of pride in the time i took to try and educate people about this.
The best I could do was single use tubes and needles, after the tattoo
the client would take his tube and needle and keep it on stash for future
work. Up until then most people thought changing needles was good enough.
I set a standard that all other tattooists in the joint were forced to copy,
and of course I always wore gloves.
Q. How were you paid for your work?
A. I myself being the supremo artist that i am did not give my services
cheap. I opted to do mostly bigger work. There were enough fly by night
scratchers that were happy with a carton a tattoo. I prefered paper money
but would also barter for other luxuries.
Q. How many people are tattooing in prison?
A. Prison populations are transient, at times none at other times many.
The good artists rise to the top and scratchers are weeded out. Being
a tattoist inside elevates you to almost godlike status, in a place
were you're forced to wear the same clothes as everyone else I had the
ability to give people back their individuality. Whem I left my mags and
equipment were passed down to a fellow tattooist with a long stretch ahead
of him, like a family heirloom.
Q. Any memories or anecdotes you'd like to add?
A. My fondest memory of being tattooed in prison is spending 2 days bent
over a guys bunk with my pants down getting a devil's tail from the base
of my spine down the back of my thigh and not losing my virginity!
Seeing my flash tattooed on another guy by another tattooist made me feel
like I had accomplished something with the wasted years.
Our thanks go to Way Cool Tattoos & Piercing for this exhibit