CATCH A RISING STAR

By Michelle Delio

One of the best parts of my job is opening an envelope and having a bunch of photos of beautiful tattoos spill onto my desk. It's even more interesting when the work was done by an artist who is new to me. Prediction time: Dave Waugh is going to be dragging home armloads of awards for his work any day now. He's definitely an artist to watch carefully and get work from soon, before he's booked up solid for months in advance.
-Michelle

Tattoo Revue: Let's ask the most obvious question first; how long have you been tattooing?
Dave Waugh: Professionally, for about a year and a half.
Tattoo Revue: How did you learn?
Dave Waugh: Vinnie taught me just about everything. Actually he's standing behind me right now making sure I say the right things.
Tattoo Revue: (Laughs) That's terrible. Make him go away.
Dave Waugh: I'll just ignore him. You know, I actually did my first tattoo about ten years ago.
Tattoo Revue: Hand Poke method?
Dave Waugh: Right. I was sixteen.
Tattoo Revue: You did it on yourself?
Dave Waugh: Oh, yeah. But then I did a couple on other people, who are probably no longer my friends.
Tattoo Revue: What made you decide to do that?
Dave Waugh: Curiosity. I wanted to get a tattoo and I was told I wasn't old enough to get it done right so . . .
Tattoo Revue: What does it look like?
Dave Waugh: I don't know. I had it covered.
Tattoo Revue: How did you get to apprentice with Little Vinnie?
Dave Waugh: He'd opened a shop down here in Westminster and I was off work due to an injury. I just cruised on down because I heard that he might be interested in trading tattoo work for flash designs. So I came down and talked to him and he said yeah, we might be able to work out a trade when I brought some drawings in. So I left and I found out later he thought he'd probably never see me again because everybody in town had been coming in and asking him about trading work for designs. Anyway I came back the next day with a gigantic stack of papers and drawings and all sorts of stuff for him.
Tattoo Revue: So you'd been designing tattoos for a long time?
Dave Waugh: For years. I'd been drawing designs that I eventually wanted to get for myself and drew some work for friends. I've been interested in tattooing for a long time.
Tattoo Revue: What sparked the interest? Did your father or favorite uncle have tattoos?
Dave Waugh: When I was in the ninth grade this guy I knew tattooed his girlfriend's name on his arm in big letters. I thought that was pretty cool for ninth grade. Then another guy in my class got a tattoo, he probably snuck into a shop with fake I.D. because the piece looked pretty good. Then when I was in the tenth grade I saw the Red Hot Chili peppers on TV. They only had a few pieces at the time but it really impressed me; the music, the tattoos . . . .
Tattoo Revue: What was the hardest part about learning to tattoo?
Dave Waugh: Overcoming the nervousness. I knew I'd get it eventually but you really sweat the first couple of people you work on.
Tattoo Revue: In my job when the work isn't going right I just have to hit the delete button.
Dave Waugh: (laughs) You can't delete somebody's arm.
Tattoo Revue: I really admire tattooists. It's an intense way to make your living. You can't have an off day.
Dave Waugh: Right. You always have to be very aware of what you're doing, very aware of the person you're doing it on. No, you can't have an off day and that's really tough sometimes, but you have to strive to give your absolute best effort every single time. I've seen a lot of really bad tattoos and I don't want to ever be responsible for scarring someone like that.
Tattoo Revue: What kind of work do you specialize in?
Dave Waugh: I just strive to be as original as possible. I will do flash designs but I try to twist them around a bit and give my own style to the piece.
Tattoo Revue: When you design a piece do you pay attention to how it will hold up over time?
Dave Waugh: Yes, you have to be real careful about what you're doing. I've got a tattoo on my arm that I got when I was eighteen, eight years ago, and it looks like I got it last week! It was well designed and applied. I've seen people who have eight year old tattoos that look horrible, they were just pounded into the skin and exploded. And I took care of the tattoo. Aftercare is really important.
Tattoo Revue: I often think that with all this ozone hole/skin cancer stuff that's going on now that tattooed people will be the only ones who survive the millennium. Most of us stay out of the sun and have for years.
Dave Waugh: (laughs) Yeah, I don't get much sun . . .Ever! And we have this extra layer of ink protecting our bodies!
Tattoo Revue: (laughs) Somehow I never thought of the ink as a sunblock. Maybe we could get a grant to study it>
Dave Waugh: Maybe we could get a grant and just spend the money and say we studied it?
Tattoo Revue: Sounds good to me! Anyway, on to the next question; do you like working at conventions?
Dave Waugh: It's kind of hard on your back. But it's a great opportunity to expose yourself to a lot of people . . . your work I mean. Conventions are hard because you'll be working ten or twelve hours straight. But the time passes fast and the beer sure tastes good after you close down for the night!
Tattoo Revue: You just won an award for your flash, didn't you?
Dave Waugh: Yeah, first place in San Diego for both black and white and color flash! I was really happy about that, especially since Mike Malone was one of the judges.
Tattoo Revue: Mike's work is incredible. I just saw some of his work when I was in Chicago at the "Eye Tattooed America" show and it blew me away. Speaking of which, while I was there I was talking to a tattooist who said he sometimes feels like his clients are vampires, sucking all his energy. Do you ever feel that way?
Dave Waugh: Well, you have to do everything that's humanly possible to oblige your clients and give them something terrific. And that's the way it has to be, because tattooing is a service industry. But at the end of the day, yes, you're very tired. Plus you do your best every time. You're putting your very best effort into every piece, all day long.
Tattoo Revue: With the quality of work that's available today, why do you think people still end up with lousy tattoos? Don't they look in the artist's book and see how bad his or her work is?
Dave Waugh: Some people don't know how to see. They'll come in here with a piece of garbage and they'll be real proud of it.
Tattoo Revue: I remember one of the very first conventions I attended, some guy came up to me and stuffed his tattoo into my face. He said "So, what do you think of that?" and I said "Hey, don't worry, that can be covered up real easy". He was all hurt and upset because it turned out he was real proud of the piece.
Dave Waugh: I've been guilty of that sort of thing too. People say they want an honest opinion but when you give them one they get pissed. I also think a lot of people may know they have lousy tattoos but don't want to admit it.
Tattoo Revue: And sometimes something that's not really great looking may have a lot of meaning to the person who is wearing it.
Dave Waugh: Right. Tattoos should make you happy.
Tattoo Revue: Anything else you'd like to say before we wrap this up?
Dave Waugh: I'd like to thank Little Vinnie for all his help and for sharing what he knows with me, and Guy Aitchison for telling me to keep on drilling and being willing to answer my many questions.
Tattoo Revue: One last question before we end this: what do you think the future of tattooing is going to be?
Dave Waugh: Wonderful! It's really busting wide open. There's a lot of great artists tattooing now, incredible artists who have taken up tattooing as their medium. I can't wait to see the work that'll be coming out five years from now.