It makes sense that Hyattsville’s very own tattoo parlor is in the arts district. After all, owner Erick Satchell of Satchmoe Art describes his tattoos as art.

A native of Waldorf, Maryland, Satchell uses an iPad Pro to sketch out first drafts of his tattoos as well as logos, drawings and digital artwork.

For each tattoo, I have my client give me at least a basic idea of what they are looking to get done and create a design from there. All of my work is custom so each tattoo is unique for that person. When they come in for a tattoo I present them with an outlined design on my iPad and right away the client is blown away, simply because they aren’t used to an artist drawing a design digitally. This sets myself apart from many artist in the area who still draw on paper or those who are what I call “copy and paste artist”.

Skin isn’t Satchell’s only medium. He was one of the artists who joined in the Fight the Blight initiative that took place in Hyattsville in September. His work can be spotted along Baltimore Avenue as shown here.

He’s also one of the artists featured in a Prince George’s County project to wrap traffic boxes with art at different traffic intersections.

It’s not uncommon to find a tattoo parlor this close to a college campus — they are a dependable source of clients, after all — but Satchmoe takes the artistic side of the trade further than many.