Buzz Magazine

Issue date: 6/7/07 Section: Main Event

Media Credit: Amelia Moore (photo), Maria Surawska (design)

Jason Allen Phillips receives a tattoo of his daughter's name, Alizyaih, on his forearm by artist, Justin McCrocklin at No Regret's Tattoo Studio of Champaign on Tuesday, June 5. In the background, owner, Matt Stines, tattoos Mark Gilkison's back.

Media Credit: Amelia Moore Stine tattoos Mark Gilkison, who also designed the studio's website, with original abstract work that he will later use to compete with nationally. Stine has won awards for Native American themed tattoos, cartoon tattoos and "Most Unusual" in Wisconsin and Michigan.

Media Credit: Amelia Moore Mark Gilkison, has allowed Matt Stine to use his back as a canvas for Stine's original artwork. Gilkison will accompany Stine to tattoo conventions when the work is completed to compete with other tattoo art from around the United States. "I gave him freedom to do whatever he wanted. This is our seventh sitting, today," said Gilkison.

Media Credit: Amelia Moore Bottles containing ink for tattoos are neatly arranged on Justin McCrocklin's work area, Tuesday at the studio.

Happy steel needles
Dance paintings all over me
Illustrated Man


Matt Stines stabs people. He is an artist, a family man, an entrepreneur. Stines used to stab people, sometimes even celebrities, in Chicago, but the people he stabbed in Chicago did not allow him the creativity he, as an artist, thirsts for. So, Stines moved back to Danville to live with his wife and son where he could have a place of his own and friends to stab with.

Matt Stines is the owner of No Regrets Tattoo Studio in Champaign. He and his assistant, Justin McCrocklin, are helping people to embrace a lifestyle which has gained a mass following in pop culture. At No Regrets Tattoo Studio these two artists work with clients to produce original works of art which can live in harmony with their hosts as long as the earthly coils remain.

Matt Stines would like to offer these pieces of advice for people joining the 'inked' club.

Don't Be Intimidated
"Sometimes, when people don't have tattoos and they walk into a tattoo shop they're intimidated," Stines said. "I want us to be
approachable … it's a very laid back studio.

Research your Gunman
"Make sure you do your research and look at artists' portfolios." A good tattoo artist has style in his or her work. It is important that their style meshes well with the image you want to create.

Treat your Tattoo like a Piece of Art
"A tattoo is a living painting," McCrocklin said. "I don't think that people need to be so blunt with their tattoos," commented Stines. "Portraits can be one of the most beautiful things, but it's like a train wreck when people start to put names and dates under it. Don't try to cram too much into a tattoo. It's personal to you. You don't have to explain it to other people."

-Amelia Moore





Like Scratching a Sunburn

I approached Matt Stines with only a basic idea of what I wanted. Not a problem. While an apprentice in Indianapolis, Stines developed the ability to create designs on the spot, and within 20 minutes we had the outline. This skill seemed emblematic of Stines' hopes for, No Regrets.

"We want to have the best artists," he said. "Capable of producing whatever the customer wants." The art definitely comes first.

Stines specializes in realism. His portfolio is full of amazing portraits of Burroughs, Warhol's Monroe and, of course, Jim Morrison. A glass case in the front of the shop displays awards from competitions. Justin McCrocklin, Stines' apprentice since the shop's opening, showed me some of his tattoos up close: a red-faced Phil Collins next to Ziggy Stardust. Next up? Swayze-Centaur. It's beautiful.

The needle started to buzz. The pain, in Stines' words, is kind of like scratching a sunburn, but it disappears the second the needle moves away.

It could have been the cleanliness and professionalism of the environment, the laid-back attitude … maybe it was the Shania Twain playing in the background, but in a lot ways, No Regrets made the somewhat odd-seeming beauty salon/tattoo shop juxtaposition make perfect sense.

-Ken Beaver

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