BY ADAM WILSON, Assistant Scene Editor
For longer than many students can remember, Third Eye Tattoo has been the only tattoo shop in Ellensburg. However, three months ago, three local tattoo artists opened up their shop. The Roost: Ink Club, located downtown, is giving the Third Eye a run for its money.
“I just think people needed to have a choice,” Jared Carter, one of The Roost’s artists, said. “It’s cool because now they have three more artists.”
The artists – Clayton Merritt, Jared Carter, and Tony Ritter – originally held their business in Cle Elum, but decided to move to Ellensburg to improve their clientele.
“A lot of us still had clients coming from Ellensburg to get tattooed in Cle Elum,” Ritter said. “There are people in Cle Elum that want tattoos but definitely not on the same spectrum by any means.”
Ritter specifically mentioned Central’s students as a huge boost to their customer base.
“This generation is so huge and so involved in the tattoo scene,” Ritter said. “Ellensburg is perfect for that.”
Although college-aged clients will be their largest demographic, Carter assures readers anyone can come in to be tattooed.
“We’re happy to do a tattoo for just about anybody,” Carter said.
While Ritter is an Ellensburg native, Merritt and Carter hail from Cle Elum. Carter has known Merritt since he was a child and said he met Ritter through a mutual friend.
Carter and Ritter have both been artists for two years. Merritt, who taught himself to tattoo by tattooing himself, has been an artist for about 15 years. Ritter describes Merritt as “the vet in the group”.
Despite the large time gap in their professional careers, all three artists got into the industry for the same reason: their love of the medium.
“All three of us are pretty passionate about all different kinds of art mediums and we all love tattoos,” Ritter said. “We definitely express that passion and we couldn’t see ourselves doing any other form of art. It’s pretty much the only thing we really wanted to do.”
Kaylee Harris, an apparel and textiles merchandising junior, was no stranger to tattoos when she got her latest piece from Ritter. The tattoo, which she describes as a tribal-inspired diamond piece, was completed in May after two hours of work.
Ritter “is really friendly, really outgoing,” Harris said. “He’s also really professional when it comes to what he cares about.”
Harris has three other tattoos, all of which were done by a different artist. Despite Ritter having less experience than Harris’s other artist, she described the experience with him being just as high quality.
“I love my tattoo that [Tony] did for me,” Harris said. “I like the placement and the way that it goes along with the body.”
Ritter is confident that all three of the artists will be able to produce quality work, no matter what the order.
“We love the opportunity to get to do a cool tattoo,” Ritter said.
Ritter said each artist is capable of doing any style. However, they each have had their specialties lately Ritter prefers realistic styles with softer lines and bold colors.
Carter enjoys giving a modern spin to traditional tattoos with solid lines and sailor colors. Merritt likes large black and gray tattoos. For the quality of the tattoo, it really comes down to how much artistic freedom they’re allowed to have with the concept.
“I like everything when I get some freedom to do my own style with it,” Merritt said.
For those thinking about getting their first tattoo, Ritter recommends being open to suggestion, but also have a good understanding of what the tattoo should be. He believes the first tattoo should be important. Finally, he emphasizes how important it is to not constrict the artist’s vision.
“It’s a lot harder to create something that we enjoy, that turns out like the most phenomenal thing on earth, when we’re given two hundred rules,” Ritter said. “That makes it really easy when you work with someone is when you’re open to suggestion.”
The Roost is located at 315 N. Main St in downtown Ellensburg. Their business hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
