This professional tattooist makes a colorful statement

by Jeff Olsen

Brandon Driscoll works with needles and you bring the canvas, which is your body.

He's a professional tattoo artist with a year's experience and works these days in Grand Forks at The Darkside Tattoo at 1604 S. Washington St. Suite 100.

He was contacted recently heading into a gym to work out, which is a good idea since he works long hours.

If the sky is the limit, Brandon still sets some boundaries, like if a young person requests a neck, face, or hands tattoo.

"My main thing is, I go by age and two, by jobwise," he said, adding that if they're on the younger side, will their career choices be jeopardized.

Brandon referred to "job-stopper tattoos."

"Recently, I had someone who just turned 18 and she wanted her first tattoo on the outside of her hand going down her knuckle to her pinky finger. I told her no way because she has no idea what she wants to do in life."

Under North Dakota state law, there is a procedure to follow.

"Usually when they come in, the first thing they do is to fill out paperwork and then we copy their ID so we can check their ages."

Some of his patrons will come in for a specific tattoo.

"It depends person-to-person. So, some will come with a specific request from Google or Pinterest and say, 'This is exactly what I want on my body.' You kind of trace it out and put it on them. Some people will come in with a specific tattoo request, but they will be like you have the creative freedom to put whatever you want as long as it meets the idea of what they gave you."

Mr. Driscoll is a serious artist.

If he laughed during the interview, it was rare.

He wants to be the best.

"I trained for a year before I became a professional about a year ago."

It's six days a week with Mondays off.

"Tuesday through Friday, it's usually 11 to 7, but obviously appointments can run longer because tattooing is human work and people need breaks. So, it can take a lot longer than normal shop hours."

On the weekends, his hours are from 11 to 5. The weekends are walk-ins and the hours can stretch to 10 p.m.

He isn't complaining.

"It's totally up to us with our schedules. I'm early in my career so I want to put in all the hours while I can."

Beginning as a seventh grader at Roseau High School, he began taking art classes with Mrs. Mary Vatnsdal.

"I've been drawing and painting ever since," he said, adding that he's exclusively a right-handed tattooist.

"I get crooked lines if I try to do it left-handed."

His clientele include more females than males.

"Not by a huge margin, but I'd say 60 percent are gals."

And yes, his customers aren't shy about location placement.

He noted that he's the wrong guy if a woman wants a tattoo for a breast after a mastectomy.

"If they want big and bold blasted on their breasts, I'll gladly do that."

Usually, for a smaller tattoo, the minimum charge is $80. Otherwise, it's $100 an hour, which is a pretty standard tattoo price, according to Brandon.

Many tattoo artists are walking art collections, and Brandon was asked the number of his tattoos.

"Five, and I've done all of them myself, but I will be getting one done by a coworker soon because I can't reach that part of my body."

He commented on his coworkers at The Darkside Tattoo.

"There are two piercers and six tattoo artists including me. I'm the new guy starting on October 15."

He averages 30 tattoos a week.

Made any mistakes?

"Many, many!" he laughed. "The only way you can learn is working on people. Like you can practice all you want on fake skins, but nothing compares to working on people because their muscles twitch, they move around, they try to watch, and you're not always steady 100 percent of the time. You're human also. So, you're definitely bound to make mistakes, but that's part of the job."

There was animation in his voice.

"We're not machines!"

He added that everyone messes up a little bit.

"You just have to learn to cover it up and work around it."

He does get unusual requests.

"People will spend $80 on like a little sparkle or a little star on themselves, which takes like a minute for me to tattoo. I spend more time setting up than I do tattooing. I find that kind of weird because you're just throwing away money."

Then came a rare chuckle.

"If you want it, you get it! It's $80. That's why we try to tell them either to get it with another tattoo or a handful of other small ones."

He added that some people just want that little sparkle, and they're willing to pay for it.

What do you suggest for a novice customer?

"Honestly, if it's your first tattoo, I always recommend stuff a little smaller because they don't know what their pain tolerance is."

His suggestion includes bold outlines and a lot of color inside because those look better.

"Traditional and neo-traditional are my two favorite art styles."

The Professional

Brandon is making a good living.

"Definitely now that I've got my new shop. Before, I was scraping by just after I got my license," he said, adding that the shop you work in really matters.

"It's not just who you are tattooing. The name of the shop is very important," he said, noting that there are three female tattooists.

"We have our own separate rooms and have a door that we can close."

That can be necessary when a female wants to bare parts of her body.

"I've had groups of people come in and watch their friends get tattooed."

Typically, it's arms, he said, but lately it's been the ribs that are really popular for tattooing.

"It's been really common, and that's definitely up there for pain tolerance. They can either take it or they're squirming every time."

He mentioned the achievement of being a tattooist.

He singled out his coworkers.

The team at The Darkside Tattoo includes tattooists Phenix, Erin, Roy, Brian, and Brandon.

The team also includes Hayley who does both tattoos and piercings while Ashley does piercings.

What do the piercers do?

"Ears, belly buttons, nipples, eyebrows and all kinds of places."

Is there a numbing agent when they pierce nipples?

"No, it goes by pretty quick. Usually, the best way to do it is piercing both nipples at the same time."

Anyone old working as tattooists?

"Phenix and I are the youngest. She's 23 and I'm 26, and then everyone else is between 30 and I think the oldest is 47. That's a pretty good range of people."

And his take on his profession?

"I love it!"

What's your favorite tattoo on your girlfriend?

"Probably her knee tattoo. She has one that has a monster shark T. Rex kind of jaw with sharp teeth. It looks cool."

Ever do a Santa tattoo?

"Not yet! It would be fun."