VH1’s Black Ink Star Melody Mitchell Leads Richmond Tattoo Festival Artist Lineup

The Richmond Tattoo, Art & Music Festival returns after a two-year hiatus featuring VH1’s Black Ink star Melody Mitchell. She joins 150 artists from around the world who are coming to Richmond October 21-23, 2022.

Mitchell is known for her creative color approach on all skin tones and her nature themes with underlying tones of mysticism and began her career based on her deep connection to anything and everything artistic from drawing, to painting, dancing, and singing. “Illustration always came most natural and it got the majority of my attention. Tattooing specifically caught my heart very off guard, actually,” says Mitchell. 

“Richmond is a richly diverse city and we wanted to amplify that with the selection of artists attending including who we chose for a headliner,” says Jesse Smith, owner of Loose Screw Tattoo and Co-Founder of the Festival. “She’s talented, hungry, and frankly, just awesome. I think people will be extremely excited for the chance to meet her or be tattooed by her.”

“These conventions are important because I love to immerse myself in the tattoo industry and at big conventions like this one I get to see a lot of heavy hitters in the game as well as a diverse look at tattoo enthusiasts,” said Mitchell. “I am here to bridge the gap through awareness and representation. As a woman, I think we have a special power of bringing people together and so I take it upon myself to educate people about great black tattoo artists in the industry and the difference between tattooing lighter or darker skin. I especially love doing color on brown and black skin, something a lot of artists are very afraid of.” 

When asking Mitchell what she was most excited for at this year’s festival she stated: Amazing tattoos, duh. I definitely look forward to meeting people and hanging out with fans, I really want to have a hell of a time. Maybe even some dancing!” 

Interested in booking a session with Black Ink artist Melody Mitchell? Attendees can reach out here. 

This year marks the 28th annual event that will showcase more than150 local and internationally known tattoo artists, including celebrity artists from Ink Master. Other top talent attending this year’s Festival include: 

Megan Jean Morris // Female tattoo artist and Master Ink season 7 contestent specializing in realism and surrealism. Megan is joining the convention from Salt Lake City, Utah and holds a degree in Industrial Design from Syracuse University. 

Lalo Yunda // Columbian abstract artist and now Brooklyn, Native, Lalo owns House of Money Tattoos and in an Ink Master veteran from season 2 and 9.

Josh Payne // New school and color realism artist Josh Payne hails from Denver Colorado and is Ink Master Season 10 winner. He’s been tattooing since the young age of 16 and currently tattoos out of Long Live Tattoo Collective.

Frank Ready // Hailing from Oklahoma, Frank Ready has 17 years of experience and appeared on Ink Master season 10 and 13. He is known for excelling in all styles of tattooing with an emphasis on bold color, soft black and grey, and clean lines. 

Made Rich // Realism artist and Ink Master season 3 and 9 alum Made Rich was a former athlete and graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts. His approach to tattooing explores the social impact his sessions have on clients and works to generalize common issues and concerns.

James Vaugn // A finalist on the first season of Ink Master, Vaughn brings 20 years of experience in neo-traditional Japanese art with boundless creativity. 

Steve Tefft // Owner of 12 Tattoos and Ink Master Season 2 winner, Steve joins the festival with over 20 years experience where he started out in 1990 by tattooing on his closest friends.