Among the arts, tattooing is an unusual medium in that once the artist finishes a project, it gets up and walks out the door.

To local tattoo parlor Ink City’s fortune, one of their larger pieces has walked right onto the pages of an internationally published tattoo magazine.

International Tattoo Art Magazine’s January issue featured coverage of the Seattle Tattoo Expo in August, including pages and pages of attendees showing off their own ink. Among them was a tattoo by Ink City owner Jason “Danger” Buckholtz, completed during the spring and summer of 2009.

Buckholtz didn’t have a chance to attend the expo last year, so he was pleased to hear from a customer that he had been photographed for International Tattoo Art’s feature.

“He’s a pretty dedicated customer, he had been coming in for seven to eight months before he asked us to do that one,” Buckholtz said. “He gave us free reign on the design, but he knew he wanted a 1950s anthem to California hot rodding culture.”

The tattoo covers the whole arm, a style known as a sleeve. The shoulder and upper arm include a Route 66 sign, a retro diner and a Ford hot rod. Hidden in the neon sign of the diner are the names of the customer’s parents. An old-style steel microphone extends down the forearm of the sleeve.

Buckholtz estimated that the final sleeve represented about 35 hours of needlework completed in increment sessions, which doesn’t include time spent designing and planning. The cost was likely between $2,000 and $3,000, he said.

Pricing for tattoos begins at the shop’s base minimum of $60, which covers most small designs. Larger custom work that require multiple sessions, such as the 1950s sleeve, are priced on an hourly rate.

Not all tattoos are created equal, in terms of the relationship between price and size: factors such as the tattoo’s intricacy and whether it is colorized affect the time, and therefore the price, of the design.

An Asian-inspired sleeve, for example, would probably be more expensive than the 1950s sleeve because the former design family is typically marked by intricacy and a wealth of color.

With each project, a good tattoo artist should remember that a design will be a piece of art that is with its owner for life, Buckholtz said.

Contract Ink City artist Rich Royale explained that the design process requires an artist to consider whether a tattoo will fit a client’s body type and how it will age as the client ages. Line placement is important, because a design that includes too many lines close together, even if it looks beautiful initially, will almost inevitably spread out and become blurred, he said.

The exposure in International Tattoo Art has brought in a few additional customers, but Buckholtz said that Ink City would not find itself in a rush, because out of necessity a tattoo shop cannot operate on a rush. Sometimes the phones are constantly ringing and sometimes the artists have to hustle, but all business has to be spaced out into appointments so that they have the time to do their job properly.

“You cannot rush a good tattoo,” he said. “This is art that, if done right, you will enjoy for the rest of your life. The last thing you want is a stressed out tattoo artist.”

The shop atmosphere is indeed relaxed. Royale watched an old action movie on the television and Buckholtz’s father waited to visit his son over lunch while Buckholtz worked on a back tattoo inspired by pin-up icon Bettie Page. He and the woman being tattooed, Jenny Jones, talked about their preferences for 1980s hair metal.

Buckholtz has been tattooing for 19 years, and he opened Ink City, his first shop, in 2006. Currently the staff is made up of Buckholtz, Royale – who is an independent contractor, as is common in the industry – and an apprentice.

The community has been welcoming to their business. The shop frequently tattoos firefighters with East Pierce Fire and Rescue, and they recently hosted a streak of state patrol officers, Royale said.

Ink City Tattoo is located at 21191 state Route 410 East. They maintain a Web site at www.inkcitytattoocrew.com and can be contacted at 253-862-0208.