There seems to be three categories of tattoo aficionados: Artists, Collectors and Looky-loos (those who don’t actually have tattoos but are interested in finding out more, in case they do). Within the Artists category are professional tattooists who go to work every day, pushing ink and living the artists’ life. There are “scratchers,” people who tattoo without an appropriate apprenticeship or legitimate workplace. Yes, Filip Leu works out of his home as did his friends Bill and Junii Salmon, for years, in fact (they now have a shop, Diamond Club, at 2113 Van Ness in San Francisco), but that is not who I am talking about. Whether it’s because it’s “too damn boring” to serve a proper apprenticeship and learn all about making needles, mixing colors and mastering the Sterile Chain of Events, many scratchers can’t afford an autoclave for sterilizing their equipment or they….Continue READING ON Baxter’s Blog