Ink flows as tattoo show gets under way

People from all around the world attend the 2011 Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth to get tattoo work done by the world’s best artists at the Mirage on Friday, Sept. 30, 2011.

2011 Biggest Tattoo Show On Earth: Friday

Fernie Andrade, right, of Los Angeles works on Brandon Mladinich at the 2011 Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth at the Mirage on Friday, Sept. 30, 2011. Launch slideshow »

Mario Barth may be the only tattoo artist who admits that getting inked hurts.

While many artists and even some customers insist the process is pain-free — some even say it feels good — Barth has become famous to the extent that he can call it like he sees it without risk of turning away customers or rankling others in the business.

Still, a little pain — or a lot of it — didn’t stop hundreds of tattoo aficionados from getting tatted Friday at the Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth, the annual tattoo convention Barth started 10 years ago.

According to Barth, 28 percent of 18- to 50-year-olds will get a tattoo sometime in their lives. He suspects the percentage rises even higher during a sour economy.

“When the economy tanks, tattooing has a big flair,” said Barth, who owns King Ink at the Mirage and Starlight Tattoo at Mandalay Bay. “It’s something nobody can take away from you.”

More than 1,000 tattoo artists and vendors gathered Friday at the Mirage to kick off the convention, which runs through Sunday. About 50,000 people are expected to attend over the three-day run. Locals get in free.

“Tattooing has had a steady climb,” Barth said. “It was big before, but it was a subculture. Five to seven years ago, it reached the masses.”

The convention offers artists a place to learn. Novices and experts can attend seminars, test out new equipment and network. Tattooing is one of the few professions without vocational schools.

Attendees benefit from having 500 tattoo shops next to each other. Prospective clients can scan the crowd for styles that catch their eye or snag appointments with artists who might otherwise have one- or two-year waiting lists. Barth, for example, is booking sessions into 2013.

The artists come from around the world: Italy, Russia, Mexico, China. The Horitoshis, one of only two families of artists in Japan — where tattooing is illegal — manned a large stage, as did the Sua Petelo family, Polynesia’s only remaining traditional tattooers.

Las Vegas resident Car Harlow, an actress, barely flinched as Los Angeles tattoo maverick Baba ran a tattoo gun over her neck. Harlow usually drives to L.A. to sit with Baba, but this year he came to her.

“It’s like living art,” Harlow said of the designs covering her body. “It’s self expression.”

At booths around the convention center, customers already inked kicked back as artists traced new lines over their ribs and calves, while first-timers squirmed under the needle. Nestled between tattoo tables, shop owners hawked books, T-shirts, paintings, baby clothes, jewelry, skateboards and sculptures in the shape of skulls. A lone psychic sat looking bored.

Activists handed out pamphlets urging safe tattoo techniques, while insurance agents pushed policies for artists.

“It has become quite a sophisticated industry,” Seattle insurance agent Barry Clipsham said. “You keep expecting the trend to come to an end, but we’ve been expecting that for 15 years.”

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