Something a little different from the usual machine seminars done these days, special for the PORTSMOUTH TATTOO EXTRAVAGANZA Mike ‘the Machine doctor’ Stratton will unravel the mysteries of the heart of the tattoo machine - the coils.

If you’ve ever wondered about coils & why it’s 8 or 10 wrap of 24 gauge wire & that’s it - then this seminar is for you - because there’s SO much more to them!

With plenty of visual aids & hands on equipment, what could be just a ‘physics lesson’ is brought to life by the Machine doctor to give you a much greater understanding of the main tools of your profession.

For this seminar, some basic machine knowledge is assumed.

Of course, if you have any tattoo machine questions, Mike will be more than happy to answer them & for those to whom a twin coil tattoo machine is a complete mystery he can be found on the MACHINE DOCTOR’S stand where he’ll show you what’s what with a twin coil tattoo machine.

Nikko Hurtado started tattooing in 2002. He was raised in San Fernando Valley in Southern California with his uncles and Grandfather who had home-made tattoos done with needle and thread. Comic books and cartoons heavily inspired him to become an artist. He started to draw cartoons when he was a little boy. According to Nikko, he would draw Bart Simpson for all the girls in class in hopes that they would ultimately like him. He started taking art classes in Jr. High and ultimately went to Art Center of Pasadena where he was able to master his craft.

Dan Smith was born in England but raised in New Zealand since the age of 6.

He got his first tattoo in the kitchen of a house of a few friends who lived by acclaimed tattoo artist, Dean Parken.

After years of inspiration from watching Dean Parkin and Dan Andersen work at Sacred Tattoo in Auckland, New Zealand Dan started tattooing in 2002 at the Body Art Shop in Adelaide, Australia.

As a tattoo artist, Dan has had the luxury of traveling all over the world including the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Holland, Hungary and now the United States of America.

Along with being a tattoo artist, Dan is also the lead singer for the band "The Dear and Departed" and have built a devoted following and boast quite a story, sharing stages with AFI, and avenged Sevenfold.

Dan thinks that it is important to be competent with all styles of tattooing but western traditional, lettering and music tattoos are what he specializes in.

Dan loves tattooing because it remains the one constant thing in his life. "Tattooing has been my backbone. It has got me through the hard times and has delivered some of the best."