CLC student Aeren Gabbey has three tattoos, one of them the death tarot card.
Gabbey, a second-year student, got a tattoo of the death tarot card because it symbolizes change.
“Accepting change is really important to me in my life,” said Gabbey.
Gabbey also has tattoos of vines and a jellyfish. They would like to get more tattoos in the future, but are indecisive as to the specific pictures or words to be tattooed.
On Oct. 31, Gabbey was one of eight students at the Grayslake campus asked if they have tattoos.
Michal Brankin, a second-year student, has two tattoos: an eye crying and a jumping spider named Thumper. Both of their tattoos were from a flash event. At a flash event, tattoo artists either post small tattoos in advance or have binders of tattoos available to view at the tattoo shop.
“It was the only way I could get good ink from a good artist,” Brankin said. “I liked picking from a sheet and choosing the prettiest one.”
Ty Lewis, a year-five student, has four tattoos currently: a pokeball, a frog, a ghost cat, and a beetle with a large eye in the center of it. They would like a full arm sleeve, when there is full coverage of tattoos on one or more body parts.
“I want a sleeve, but I don’t know what yet,” Lewis said.
Ben Grabiel, a second-year student, has one tattoo along with definite plans to get two to three more in the coming weeks. His current tattoo is a band of flames running around his forearm. A band is a tattoo that runs as a watch would either on the arm or the leg. The flames reach to Grabiel’s elbow.
“I really like flames on the side of cars,” he said.
Cars are something that he and his father bonded over, in addition to old cowboy movies. He plans on incorporating both into tattoos soon. Grabiel would also like to get a Bible passage tattooed. He also noted that in the future he would just get tattoos with little to no significance.
Dana Flores is a first-year student who already has 11 tattoos, and all are stick and poke tattoos that she completed herself.
Stick and poke tattoos are typically done without the use of a machine. One or more needles are attached to something to grip and are continually dipped into an ink reservoir. This is typically a slower process than using a tattoo machine.
A few of Flores’ tattoos are a cat for her cat Raven, the letter P on her ankle for one of her friends, and a failed tattoo of the word happy on her knee. The tattoo was too painful to continue.
“The goal was happy in fine print, but I ended up with dots on my leg,” she said.
Flores said tattoos are not for everyone, but that anyone can get a tattoo.
“Make sure to second guess yourself before the permanent alteration,” Flores said. “Get tattoos that match you.”
Angela Carlin, a second-year student, currently has no tattoos but plans to get them.
“I have so many ideas,” she said.
The most meaningful of the ideas is her mother’s birth date and death date once she passes away. She also wants a full back tattoo of a dragon or a skeleton hand going up her spine. Carlin has seen other examples of these tattoo’s and is or was? inspired. She has not gotten any yet due to her indecisiveness.
Other students simply do not want tattoos.
“They’re just not really me,” said Brice Rose, a third-year student.
Anthony Iosca, a second-year student, agreed with Rose’s sentiment.
“It’s just not my thing,” he said.
