Bloomington High School North, Nikean, 2009, Page 142

Description:	erikprobstiAfter decades of confinement to the arms of sailors and ex-cons, tattoos are being embraced by mainstream society. Withreality shows like Miami Ink and L.A. Ink, the art of designinga tattoo has been pushed into the spotlight.Some people see tattoos as a way of destroying onesbody, and others find it an effective way to display something that is important to them. Some even see them as a formof art.Senior Erik Probst is one of those individuals.As a fledgling tattooist and art enthusiast, Probsthas created several designs and has become veryfamiliar with producing this type of artwork bypracticing for about a year.Probst gets many of his ideas for tattoo designs from the Internet or by drawing themfree hand.I started designing tattoos just out ofboredom. It was a thing to do in my sparetime, as a thing on the side, Probst said.He mainly designs for family and friends,including fellow senior Maddie Poor andjunior Kali Ireland. Poor had Probst designthe word believe for a tattoo on her rightwrist.I really wanted my tattoo to mean something. Having a friend design it made it muchmore personal than having some stranger (design it), Poor said.Ireland also has had a tattoo designed byProbst, although it has not been tattooed on yet.She plans to get the initials of her three brothers with the word strength underneath themetched on her foot.Although Probst has designed many tattoos,he does not have any himself as of now. Yet healready knows that his first will be his zodiacsign, Leo, on his back.Ive always thought it would look cool, hesaid.But even though he has developed this hobby intoa skill thats in demand from his friends, its not something he sees himself sticking with as there are otherareas of art hed like to explore.I just do it for fun.story by TessaMcConnellAmandaHummelDarrellJerdenPatrickKaluaARTISTI142 seniors
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomnorth/id/6918
Collection:	Bloomington High School North

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