I started tattoing out of sheer boredom about 8 years ago while serving time for yet another probation violation. I never did well on probation. They would ask me to do things that I would always refuse to do simply out of spite and an overall distaste for law enforcement and authority figures. I would intentionally give hot urine screens, not call when I had police contact or, often, just not show up at all anymore.
I would call the probation/parole officer and tell them to come and find me thinking at the time that it was funny. I guess they didn't find it very funny because they would always come and find me.
I've been extradited a total of five times between three states. The worst part about being extradited is that all of the accumulated time served while you're sitting there waiting to be picked up by whatever County it is that wants you is considered dead time. It goes towards absolutely nothing.
Looking back at the manner in which I used to behave, I'm certainly not proud and often dont understand my own past actions. Anger and unresolved resentments reigned supreme in my life then. Things are better these days. Not resolved, just better.
Anyway, the manner in which tattoos are done in jail (especially in the county prison system) is much different than how a tattoo would be applied on the streets. Usually, a staple is removed from an Our Daily Bread, which is a requirement to give inmates if they request one, in most jails. That staple is then ground down on the concrete floor into a very fine needle. The needle is then laid onto the very edge of a pencil with about 1/2" sticking out the end. Then the needle is secured to the pencil with long strands of bedsheet thread. Running the thread up onto the needle leaving about 1/16th" - 1/8th" exposed at the tip is important. This will serve as your depth guide and it soaks up the ink making for longer running line work.
Making ink is a whole different story. If you can get away with it and have the means to create fire, then the best option for making ink is by burning hair grease. A toilet paper candle wick that's sticking out of the hair grease a significant length can be lit and placed under your bunk to produce a build up of soot. The soot is then scraped onto a piece of paper and mixed with a little bit of witch hazel, water or shampoo.
If you absolutely have no access to fire then ink can also be made out of the graphite from pencils. By placing a couple drops of water on the concrete floor and taking a piece of graphite out of a pencil and rubbing it back and forth through the water droplets it will eventually create a paste that can be used for tattooing. If made correctly it works surprisingly well.
Each tattoo is done one single poke at a time. It is a tedious process that requires patience but, when done right, the outcome is unique and preferable to some people. And jail is, more than anything else, boring as hell. So this was a great way to fill the days hours.
That was the last time that I was incarcerated and I swore to myself that I would never go back again and I haven't. I decided comply with the courts mandates and get my ass off of Probation. Which is exactly what I did eventually. Since being released I have spent the time and money on MUCH better equipment. This is what my work looks like today:
So, yeah, I was hardheaded and defiant as hell and lost 5 years of my life in the prison system but gained a profitable skill. Time well served in my opinion.
