For The District’s first-ever large body work tattoo contest, we invited Outer Limits owner Kari Barba and Ink-N-Iron festival producer Trace Edwards to click through reader-submitted photos on our Flickr pool and—heh, heh—pick a winner. Their unanimous choice was Mike Gonzales, whose lotus flower sleeves and Hindu-inspired body work stood out among your many colorful submissions. Mike, in turn, credited tattoo artist Chip Douglas as the real winner. We spoke to both men about Mike’s tattoos—which, Mike says, are just the beginning. He’d like a full body suit—talk about suffering for your art!

PHOTO by RUSS ROCA

MIKE GONZALES, WINNER
“There is a whole theme of Hinduism behind what I’m doing. Ganesha is my deity of choice—he is on my right side, my protector. Ganesha is the remover of obstacles. On my left side is an Indian woman—Parvati, Ganesha’s mother. Her husband is Shiva, and I’m going to put that image on my back. I’m getting other tattoos on my back removed to make room for it.

“On my sleeve I have lotus flowers. What I explained to Chip was that I wanted all of the elements represented: wind, water, fire, earth and ether, all of them represented in the background. We are coming together with something. Chip has a degree in art so he’s an artist by nature and then he started doing tattoo work. He did a couple of smaller pieces on me before we worked into the bigger ones. I’m thinking my whole body suit will take another two to three years—and I’ve been at it for almost two years now. I have my appointments with Chip every other week. I’m booked through the year.

“I tend to fall asleep when they’re working on me. Working on your ribs is the most sensitive place. What I started doing when he was working on my ribs is I meditated. I’d go into a deep mediation, and before you know it, the session is over. Now, I just fall asleep.”

PHOTO by RUSS ROCA

CHIP DOUGLAS, FINE TATTOO WORK
“I’ve always been into art and drawing, and I’ve been tattooing full-time for about six years. I had an apprenticeship before that for about 14 months at Sharky’s Tattoo in Sunset Beach. Now I work for Lucky Bastard at Fine Tattoo Work in Orange.

“Mike’s body suit—it’s pretty challenging anytime you start a project like that. It’s intimidating. It takes two people to complete something that big, and anywhere from 10 to 20 sittings to start something that big. The cool part is seeing the finished product.

“He’s been getting tattooed almost every other week for the last two years. He’s super dedicated. It’s a late start for him, but people like that are also more mature. There isn’t as much of a risk of him moving off or away and not finishing it.” // AS TOLD TO MEGAN BRESCINI

Tags: contest, fine tattoo work, Long Beach, tattoos, The District Weekly