Inside of Parry Choripradit's studio, large sketches drawn on tissue-like paper hang on his walls, each one telling a story.
There's the one inspired by the farming town New Egypt, New Jersey, where an old couple in the 1950s dig up an Egyptian lamp in their farm, accidentally releasing a pharaoh. Next to it, there's a detailed illustration of greedy businessmen chasing sloths in a jungle.
For the handful of illustrations, it will take Choripradit about 40 hours — 12 visits a year — to tattoo the design on a client. The New Egypt design will wrap around a man's leg, the sloth design across a man's back.
"It's a blank canvas," the Annapolis tattoo artist said. "In my head, it's do whatever you want. There are no real (style) rules. The limits are as far as you imagine. Every time I sit down, I try to make the next one cooler."
Next Saturday, Choripradit's custom tattoo shop, Lucky Bird Tattoo, will host a "new school" style art gallery featuring work by top tattoo artists from all over the country. The new school style originated in the 1970s and often includes heavy outlines, bright colors and cartoon-like subjects.
For Choripradit, who has been a tattoo artist for more than a decade, this is the first of many themed-art galleries for the tattoo shop. With Saturday's show, he hopes open people's eyes to a new standard for tattoo shops.
"Let's show that it's art," he said. "So, let's get beautiful art in here."
But 11 years ago, he never envisioned becoming a tattoo artist. When Choripradit was 18, he was in a band and worked odd jobs to fit with its schedule, one of which was at a tattoo shop near D.C. he went to as a customer.
He started cleaning toilets and eventually found himself preparing the stencils for the tattoo designs. His stenciling kept improving, to where one tattoo artist suggested he learn the craft. Choripradit eventually apprenticed with the tattoo shop and became one of the tattoo artists.
But when he wanted to improve the designs and create his own, the traditional tattoo shop wasn't interested.
"I got into this because I thought it was going to be playing music, like getting a little high at work just from doing something that I enjoyed," he said. "And it turned not into that. But I knew it could be."
After a few years, Choripradit went to tattoo conventions to build his portfolio. He promoted his work on Myspace, where people from across the country reached out to him about designing tattoos. Six years ago, he opened Lucky Bird Tattoo on Riva Road.
The shop started with just Choripradit and two tattoo artists. Now, there are 10 tattoo artists, all of which do custom work, and a new private studio. Last time Choripradit looked at his personal wait list, there were 500 people hoping he would design their tattoo.
Lucky Bird Tattoo isn't the "cliche tattoo shop" where people pick a design of a wall and the tattooers are intimidating, said manager Scott James. Every customer has a consultation before getting the tattoo, where they and the tattoo artist talk about every detail, ranging from the tattoo's story, the vibe or the lighting scheme.
Of the tattoo shops in the area, James said Lucky Bird Tattoo focuses solely on "the art." When customers are looking to get a tattoo, the shop views it as buying a piece of art, he said.
"When you got down to Main street and West Street, there are tons of galleries. We're a different style of art gallery," James said.
The concept of tattooing as art is a relatively new concept and often doesn't get the respect it deserves, said Richmond tattoo artist Jesse Smith, whose work will be featured at the gallery. The only major difference, he said, is that tattoo artists use skin opposed to canvases.
Choripradit said it takes him 30-50 hours to draw the monochromatic illustration, which is to scale to the client. While he's never taken an art class, Choripradit's learned to draw different styles and compositions from books and practicing different technique hundreds of times.
Now, Choripradit prefers to do full-scale designs on backs, arms and legs. People come to the Lucky Bird all over the East Coast and as far as Switzerland.
And before he tattoos a sloth on a back or a pharaoh on a leg, he still feels the pressure.
"It keeps us striving to constantly be better," he said. "There's a lot of people who get into this and lose that, I think. Some forget how important and how permanent it is. You're changing someone forever."
If you go
Cost: Free
What: The New School Art Show
When: Saturday, June 11
Where: Lucky Bird Tattoo, 2521 Riva Road, Annapolis
