Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: ARTS & LIFE

Media Credit: Kyle Phillips

The buzz of a needle and the smell of burning ink are normal occurrences for Wes Brown as he sits at work and creates his art on people's skin.

In a society where skin art has become a norm in the last 15 years, Brown makes his living helping people express who they are by needling pictures on their bodies. Brown looks at his art as a way to express himself and his imagination.

When Brown picked up his first pen and began to draw, he never thought it would eventually turn into a flourishing career as a tattoo artist.

"I've been drawing ever since I could hold a pen," he said. "I was like six years old and had just picked up a comic book. When I was in high school, I started picking up tattoo magazines and really getting into the style of tattooing back then."

Brown had high hopes for landing a job in the comic book industry, even going so far as to enroll in a college for graphic design. However, he soon abandoned the idea and decided to apply his talents toward tattooing.

"The only problem with comic book illustration is they divide up the responsibilities; there is an inker, a penciler and then there is a color artist, and I didn't want to split it up. I wanted to do it all." Brown said, "I actually went to school to be a graphic designer and got out of that and immediately got into tattooing.

Looking back, he realized the career he chose was the only one that could help him push his art and make his days at work enjoyable.

"Honestly, I think about that a lot. If I were to lose my hands or lose my eyes, I would really be screwed," he said. "Because this is all I can really do. This is what I have trained myself to do for years."

Now a tattoo artist at Smiling Ricks Tattoo Studio, at 231A W. University Dr., Brown has seen his artwork and style progress over the years as he continues to learn and expand on his technique.

"When you get into tattooing, your style tend to change because you see that there is more styles than one - there is like a billion of them - so gradually my styles started to change," Brown said

According to his boss, Clay Terronez, Brown's art has progressed since he has been working at Smiling Ricks.

"I hired Wes because he has heart, and he is a good kid," Terronex said. "In general he has really developed more as an artist since he has been here."

While Brown is content with his job, he still has dreams of opening his own shop someday.

"I think it's a lot of artists' dream to open up their own shop, maybe not a big huge shop with a lot of people, but maybe like a tiny little custom shop where it is just me working on custom pieces all day," Brown said.

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