EUGENE, Ore. - Dragons. Angel’s wings. Skulls, of course. Even a likeness of Mel Gibson from the movie "Braveheart."

They’re all here. Plus women on roller skates. Tattooed women on roller skates. Actually, everywhere you look there were tattoos. Some finished, some in the process of being done.

This is the first ever Oregon Ink Tattoo Convention, organized by Brandon Ingram and his partner Kevin Rasmussen. Judging by the size of the crowd at the Lane County Fairgrounds, it was a huge success.

“This is the first in Oregon’s history,” Ingram said. “There are confirmed one hundred fifty tattoo artists, but there could be a few more.”

He said first day attendance was about what was expected.

“I would guess we hit 2,500 to 3,000,” Ingram said. “That was Friday. Today, Saturday, is the big day, and we’re estimating 5,000 to 10,000. Tomorrow it will be pretty good, it’s Easter.”

Ingram intends this first ever event to become an annual gathering.

“…We’ve already booked it for next year,” he said. “I had to turn down over one hundred tattoo artists this year.”

Most of the tattoo artists are Oregonians – because you have to have a license to tattoo in the state.

“There are a few tattoo artists here who came in from California and Washington, but they came up and got an Oregon license, which is a big process,” Ingram said. “But they did it because they wanted to be here.”

The obvious question is why anyone would want to get permanent artwork on their body.

According to Ingram, “Everybody wants one, but they’re scared. But they justify it by saying, ‘It’s in remembrance of my father,’ or girls getting their baby’s footprints.

“At least they’re finding something that means something to them. People used to do it to be cool or to be tough, but now everyone’s doing it.

“I have friends who are doctors, everyone. People want to stand out, to be different, they want their own identity. I think they just want to stand out in some way, no one wants to be the same.”

So what’s this going to cost?  “Most artists now charge by an hourly rate,” Ingram said, “and most have a minimum of between forty and eighty to do anything, because it’s such a process.

“You’ve got to set up all your needles, and there’s the sanitation, and you’ve got to set up your station, and that takes about an hour.

“And most artists are about ninety an hour up to about two hundred an hour, depending on how good they are.”

One woman has a tattoo of an octopus that stretches from her neck to her lower back. It is gorgeous, and huge. Which means it is expensive. The art was still being done on Saturday, by one of Ingram’s friends.

“She’s going to have about forty hours into that, and that one is about one hundred fifty an hour, so do that math, so that one will be about six thousand dollars,” Ingram said.

The Oregon Ink Tattoo Convention continues Saturday and Sunday from noon until 10 p.m.

This multimedia package was compiled by:

• Dan Morrison
• Ashlyn Gehrett
• Renee Abousamra
• Venessa Locher