Tattooing inks its way into the small business sector

The growing acceptance of tattoos in society has resulted in tattoo studios becoming a burgeoning contributor to South Africa’s small business landscape.

Speaking at the second annual SA International Tattoo Convention in Cape Town last weekend, tattoo artist and convention organiser Waldo del Rocca estimated that there were 700 tattoo parlours operating in the country.

One of these is InKasi Tattoo in Soweto. Although InKasi artist Jay Don, who is one of at least four tattoo artists based in Soweto, was not at the convention, he said he’d seen a definite increase in the number of black clients over the past six years.

Don said that, in his first year or two, he was only doing about 300 tattoos a year, but now he’s doing double that.

“People are opening up about it in the hood,” he said. “They see tattoos on TV, celebs have them and they see them all around.”

He said that, for dark skin, you had to set the needle to go a little bit deeper, and colours such as reds and blues did not work so well. This is partly why most of his clients go for more traditional designs such as crosses or religious text.

Del Rocca, who runs Cape Electric Tattoos and Lighthouse Supply, which supplies tattoo machines, ink and other requirements to tattoo studios, said they had 500 tattoo studios on their books which were registered with the Health Professions Council of SA.

He said there were probably another 200 unregistered studios, and the number of tattoo artists working from home was “insane”.

With tattoo starting prices at around R500 and going up to R1 200 or more an hour for larger works, a popular studio could turn over R80 000 or more a month. Going by Del Rocca’s figures, a conservative estimate of the value of ink on skin would be in the region of R60 million a year in South Africa.

Certainly, the sound of buzzing needles applying artwork to living canvases had filled the convention venue by midday on a grey and chilly Saturday, where many people were wearing somewhat less than the weather seemed to demand so they could reveal their body art. By lunchtime, about a third of the 40 stalls featuring two tattoo artists each had a client getting inked.

Del Rocca said between 1 500 and 2 000 people would attend the convention. Tickets cost R195 for the Friday evening and R590 for the entire weekend, and about 1 000 visitors would also pay for a tattoo.

Over the past few years, having a tattoo had become less frowned upon, said Del Rocca, and had even crept into the corporate world.

“We’ve tattooed plastic surgeons and high court judges; carpenters and bin men,” he said.

While no industry body exists in the country yet, tattoo studios are regulated by the Health Professions Council of SA to ensure medical waste is managed properly. In addition, the ink used has been developed to the point where it contains no animal products, has natural, carbon-based pigment and no added chemicals or plastics.

Ideally, tattoo artists undergo an apprenticeship with someone who has been tattooing for a minimum of 10 years, and they learn about blood-based pathogens, cross-contamination and standard hygiene procedures. Beyond that, an aspiring tattooist has to have an “artistic flair”.

For at least two Capetonians, the convention provided the perfect opportunity to get more work done by their favourite upcountry artists.

Craig Marley, who has much of his body covered with brightly coloured characters from Marvel comic books, said he regularly flew up to Gauteng to get more work done by Pretoria-based tattooist Tony Weintraud, but Weintraud was at the convention, so Marley didn’t have to buy a plane ticket this time.

Similarly, Capetonian Cayli Varejes was getting more ink on her left leg from her favourite artist Nick Taljaard, who works at Fallen Heroes in Parkhurst, Johannesburg. Varejes, who owns a holistic yoga and meditation centre in Cape Town, said she had spent about R70 000 on tattoos, and was likely to spend R70 000 more.

For the artists, 51 of whom flew in from countries such as the US, China, Taiwan and the UK, the convention was an opportunity to display their work, exchange notes, meet other artists and organise guest spots at their studios.

Popular tattooists are paid a 50% to 70% commission by studios, so agreeing to appear as a guest artist – even at a studio in a foreign country – is common.

Artist Britney Goodman from New York said that, although she had to pay to attend the convention, she saw no reason not to take up the invitation.

“I’m here for the experience. I’m just happy to get enough clients to pay my way, which is mostly how tattoo artists do it,” Goodman said.

She said many artists had no home base, but built up their reputation through their portfolio and “floated” between studios.

Artist Agnieszka Trojanowska from Warsaw said conventions were “quite a big part” of the tattooing business, and attending them was a good opportunity to “get something fresh and new”.

A convention she attended in Hong Kong, for instance, “opened my mind as to what you can do”.

“I saw tattoos done so well that you cannot believe they’re actually tattoos.”

She said that, while South African tattoo studios had a lot of walk-in clientele, most studios in Poland were single-person operations that only worked by appointment.

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