Photos by Laura Vanagaite
This year, on the 7-8-9th of April, Porto had the annual event that is called ‘Oporto Tattoo convention’, where various artists from all over the world came to represent their work and style of tattooing.
More than 300 tattoo artists gathered at the heart of Portugal – Porto to compete and show their skills. Here we found well-known artists that are currently working in Porto, like Eduardo Fernandes from the Exink studio, which is based in Braga and works mainly with the realistic tattoo design. His colleague and tattoo artist Manuel Ribau was also participating in the convention and has won the third place in the Old-School tattoo category. During the visit, we saw the works of the tattoo artists from the Spider Tattoos studio, Fat Cat tattoo studio, and artists from Spain, which is called The Dog INK.
While visiting the event, we talked with the artist Ricardo D’Almeida from the Heavy Handers Tattoo studio, who was also attending the convention and asked about the most painful spots to do a tattoo. “The most painful spots are the ribs, elbows, and the thighs. However, it all actually depends on the person because the pain of the tattoo is different for everybody. All of us can handle it differently, for example, some people want to stop the session after the artist touches the skin with the needle, and the other can sleep all the session while he’s being tattooed by the artist, so it’s actually hard to say which part is the most painful one.” Ricardo told us that most of the artists also come to the conventions to buy the materials for their work because it’s cheaper and the main supplier, which is called Piranha Tattoo Studios provides the best ink used to do not only black and white but also color style tattoos.
We asked the artists to answer the question, if there is a certain group of people who do tattoos, and if the idea of having it is changing?
The artists agreed that the idea of having a tattoo is becoming much more acceptable than for example five years ago. As they joke that now it is starting to be hard to find a person without a tattoo or a piercing. The view of it is changing, and it’s a very good sign that the norms of the society are starting to be more open-minded.
The artists said that once you get your first tattoo, you just don’t want to stop and it becomes an addiction. The event was offering not only tattooing but also piercing, various concerts, the main contest in which the artists represent their work.
For those who adore tattoos, piercings and are looking for unique tattoo solutions we can say that it is definitely worth to visit this event, and get to know not only the artists but also see the works in reality and choose the best design for your skin.
