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Oct 31, 2023

The art of ink: Napa tattoo artist creates wearable ink

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa. A

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

A tattoo artist works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

A client lays down while getting a tattoo on his leg at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

A blue star.

For most, these three simple words would conjure up a simple image, inconsequential and innocent. But for Kristina McDonald, they represent so much more.

To her, this blue star belonged to a childhood babysitter, the image tattooed on the back of the sitter's neck, revealed when McDonald would play with her temporary guardian's hair.

This was the first time McDonald saw a tattoo and learned what the concept was. Art was not limited to paper or canvas. Art could merge with a person, travel with them, shape them.

McDonald, now 33, describes the blue star as a "core memory," borrowing this concept from the 2015 Disney/PIXAR film "Inside Out," meaning this memory is one of a handful that helped shape her personality. Years later, when McDonald turned 18, her very first tattoo was a blue star on the back of her neck, setting her on a path to become an artist, first on paper and canvas and later on skin.

McDonald recalled all this while sitting in her workspace at Napa's Golden Owl Tattoo. McDonald has called this shop, located at 3369 Old California Way, her home as she perfected her craft.

She started her apprenticeship in 2012 and later joined the ranks as a full tattoo artist on April 1, 2014, which in the spirit of the holiday she thought was an April Fool's joke at first. Despite an appreciation for tattoos, this accomplishment was not always her intended profession.

Growing up in Napa in the 1990s, McDonald loved punk rock, and her "art crowd" embraced alternative styles, technicolor hair dye, piercings and a "creative lifestyle."

"When I was younger, I found myself wanting to get tattooed," McDonald recalled. "I was really interested in body art and body modification."

With her family's blessing — today McDonald noted she is the only person with tattoos in her family — she went forward with the blue star tattoo on the back of her neck. This was the start of what would be a years-long love affair with body art, both on herself and others.

Her pursuit to become a tattoo artist herself came, however, as McDonald was attending Napa Valley College. Her study of art in the classroom was coupled with continued exposure to the tattoo world via a friendship with Golden Owl owner and artist Donavan Kinyon. She found herself at a crossroads. She could either continue going to Napa Valley College and transfer to Sonoma State University to become an art teacher. Or she could choose to tattoo.

"We have a saying that tattooing chooses you," McDonald said. "To fully commit to an apprenticeship, you have to already know how to draw… my life has always been about art."

McDonald would describe her apprenticeship as a bit unconventional. Traditionally, obtaining a tattoo apprenticeship — the training period artists undergo to learn how to put art on skin — would involve coming into a shop and getting to know an artist and committing yourself to them, becoming their shadow. Oftentimes apprenticeships are unpaid, and other times, artists have to actually commit money to the shop to buy their apprenticeship, McDonald explained.

For her, it was the former, but the experience she gained from Kinyon was well worth it. She learned the fundamentals of tattooing and developed a strong work ethic. McDonald said Kinyon was very open-minded about her working there and "has a really wholesome understanding of how creativity works."

McDonald noted that her experience as a female tattoo apprentice in what is traditionally a male-dominated industry may not be the norm. There may still be barriers for other women entering the tattoo industry elsewhere, but she "was welcomed into the shop."

"A huge chunk of the time when it comes to the apprenticeship, it was setting up his (Kinyon's) machines," McDonald explained. "And then you first tattoo on yourself to practice."

Tattooing yourself is quite common when learning to tattoo. Some would say it is a right of passage during an apprenticeship.

"I learned how to tattoo on myself first and then the lucky day came when I got to tattoo Clark," McDonald said, gesturing to fellow Golden Owl artist Clark Beach, who was working on a client. Beach joined the shop as an apprentice following McDonald and the two would practice tattooing each other as part of their training.

McDonald has never counted.

"Real estate is fleeting," she said of the small patches of open skin appearing between the intricate ink adoring her body. "I’m very heavily covered at a young age."

The longest McDonald has sat for a tattoo in a single session has been nine hours and the longest she's tattooed a client has been 14 hours.

Asked to reflect on why she and others choose to get tattoos, McDonald spoke more to the mental aspect than the physical appearance. Growing up, she struggled with body image issues and said "tattooing helped me feel more confident in my own skin." Even though tattoos made her stick out more in a crowd, "cool tattoos helped me feel good about that attention."

McDonald noted that a lot of her clients have felt this way about their body art. That tattoos are all about "bringing positive attention to their bodies to make them feel more comfortable."

"Tattoos are great for managing mental health," she added.

Surrounded by a variety of framed artwork, including a collection of her mushroom "flash" — pre-made, often small tattoo designs that serve as inspiration for walk-in customers — McDonald reflected on her tattoo style.

"I love blackwork," she said. "Just utilizing black ink. Black noir with heavy contrast on the skin. I also love big floral pieces with organic shapes. Flowers are so timeless."

Apart from the daily grind of a tattoo artist, one challenge that often walks through the door is cover-ups. This is when a person, for whatever reason, is no longer satisfied with a previous tattoo. It takes a skilled artist to arrange a new piece of art on top of an old one to make something new, camouflaging the previous work in the process.

"Every tattoo cover-up is different," McDonald explained. "I find that challenge really satisfying."

The organic flow of flowers makes for great cover-up subjects, helping "draw the eye away" from the dark tones of old ink.

It is no secret that tattoos hurt.

"It becomes harder to get tattooed as you get older in terms of managing the pain," McDonald said, clarifying that "pain is so relative to each person" that it is difficult to explain to clients what they should expect. Due to this, she tries not to put a measurement on the expected pain level for a given tattoo, but may suggest moving a piece to a different spot.

Certain locations on the body tend to hurt more than others. McDonald said that these areas include parts of the body that don't see the sun very often and areas of the body where skin rests against skin.

One appeal of tattooing, according to McDonald, is that "the canvas is always changing," which "keeps the industry so interesting and diverse."

One recent client McDonald worked on was a 68-year-old who was adding onto their existing tattoos. The art, and the people wearing it, is always changing.

However, tattoo artists have an ethical responsibility that other artists do not. Their work is inked permanently onto people's skin.

"Take me with you when you go" is how McDonald thinks of her artwork traveling with her clients as they leave Golden Owl Tattoo. "You have to know that your art can impact an individual life forever."

Her advice for people looking to take on this responsibility and become a tattoo artist: Tattooing is a lifestyle.

"It takes commitment not only to the craft but to personal growth," she said. "It takes pure dedication. Fall in love with art and draw everyday."

Besides her tattooing, McDonald takes commissions of other artwork. For more information, email her at [email protected]. To contact Golden Owl Tattoo, visit goldenowltattoo.com or call 707-266-2454.

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa on Friday, December 23, 2022.

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

A tattoo artist works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa on Friday, December 23, 2022.

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald talks to a client about the recent work he's had done on his back at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

A client lays down while getting a tattoo on his leg at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

Tattoo artist Kristina McDonald works on client at Golden Owl Tattoo in Napa.

A survey conducted in 2019 found that 40% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 have at least one tattoo.

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