Skin-Deep: Love And Patriotism Flourish In Bremerton Tattoo Parlor

BREMERTON - Eagles are big in the tattoo business, and they're especially hot just now, says Temple Drake, who for 18 years has run a tattoo shop a block from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in downtown Bremerton.

So are flags, especially since the start of the U.S. buildup in the Persian Gulf.

Eagles clutching flags are particularly favored. That was what Richard Overton of the USS Nimitz had come looking for as he waited in the cramped entryway of Drake's business, Tattoo Techniques.

He had an eagle on his right shoulder already, done by Drake in September. This one would include the flag, a combination he'd seen on someone in San Diego.

Others give their patriotic statement a fashionable twist, said Drake, and tattoos depicting sharks, skulls or what have you erupting out of the skin are in fashion now. He's done about four that show the American flag viewed through imaginary slashes in the skin, he said.

Tattoo Techniques - operated by Drake and his partner, 21-year-old Bremerton native Gary Jenkins - can be a fairly quiet place around the end of the month. It can be semi-chaos after the first - right after the Eagle has flown, so to speak.

Waiting is part of the game. Drake and Jenkins take appointments of a sort, but with no phone in the shop they have to be made in person.

Overton finally decided to come back later after waiting behind a former customer who was having her tattoo brightened.

Years in the sun faded it, and his work is guaranteed for life, said Drake.

One young man who was waiting told Jenkins he wanted Yosemite Sam on his upper arm, with the word ``cowboy'' written below it in simulated rope.

The cartoon character was one of dozens of possible tattoos on display on the shop's walls, at prices of $45 to $650, depending on the complexity. But ``cowboy'' in rope would take a while to design, said Jenkins.

The shop has a plastic template for all designs on the wall. Jenkins applied graphite to the image of Yosemite Sam etched into its template, then pressed it against the customer's arm to transfer the image.

Jenkins followed the pattern to outline the tattoo in black, constantly wiping away excess ink and any blood from the image. He then shaded areas that needed it, and finally chose a different tattoo ``machine'' with a broader array of needles to add the color.

A teen-age girl with a half-finished tattoo on her upper arm is his next customer. The word ``LOVE'' with a tongue sticking out of the ``O'' needs darkening and Drake makes it a brighter red in about 15 minutes.

Unlike Jenkins, Drake doesn't wear the thin rubber gloves that have become de rigueur in the age of AIDS.

``I did more damage in a month than I did in my whole career,'' he said of wearing the gloves. ``It's like having someone else's hands on the end of your arms.''

Jenkins, though, who apprenticed with Drake, learned with the gloves on and uses them all the time. ``People think they can get AIDS from getting a tattoo,'' said Drake, ``but the people really in danger from AIDS is us.'' He expects he'll give the gloves another try.

When the tattoos are finished, they are covered with Vaseline and thin plastic. The tattoo should be washed thoroughly 24 hours later, after which it will scab over lightly. When the scab flakes away, the tattoo is complete.

Drake has a clipboard filled with tattoo designs representing about 5 percent of his business - people who walk through the door, plunk down a 25 percent down payment on a tattoo, then don't return to have it done.

More customers ought to get cold feet, Drake says. He guesses that eight out of every 10 people who have a lover's name tattooed to their skin later have it covered up.