When David Rose opened Halo Tattoo on Marshall Street in September 1997, his mission was to create a safe and trusted locale for people to be tattooed and a haven for artists.

“I never got tattooed in Syracuse,” Rose said. “I’d been on tour with bands and I’d been all over the world and had gotten tattooed, but there is not a shop here that I would step foot in.”

When Rose first opened his business, he wasn’t tattooing people — he was running the shop. It wasn’t until his favorite tattoo artist encouraged him to start actually using the equipment for tattoos instead of merely sterilizing it that he began tattooing.

Depending on how intricate the artwork is, Rose tattoos between two and 12 clients per day. Sometimes he also designs the tattoos for customers.

“When I am asked to do custom stuff, I really sink my teeth into it and give the person the best idea of what I can give,” Rose said.

Customers may show Rose a few tattoos they like, and then give him a quotation or bible verse to go with it. Rose then creates his own vision and adjusts it to the customers’ wishes.

“Clear communication is the key to a good tattoo,” Rose said.

If there isn’t enough communication, there’s a chance that the date, birthstone, zodiac sign or quote will be wrong. Rose tries to eliminate this issue by creating a template to follow. The customer can check the template for errors and if a tattoo has an error, it is the client’s fault.

“It’s hard to mess it up if you know what you are doing. I’ve definitely tattooed wrong dates on people, but that’s not my fault,” Rose said.

When the tattoo is exactly what the customer imagined, however, Rose said the results can be fantastic.

“When this woman leaves, she’s no different on the inside, but somehow she is, and she’ll feel like she is,” said Rose, referring to the woman he was tattooing. “You know when you get a new haircut, and it’s like, ‘Oh I look so good?’ A tattoo does that.”

Published on January 21, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact: maquigle@syr.edu