Wild Bill Tattoo

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We encourage all our clientele to get involved in the creation of their sacred & permanent markings, as we work together to bring that which is within you to the surface.

Wild Bill's has always been a place where, when it comes to your tattoo,tolerance & creativity thrive. The staff is here to provide a custom design for you & you alone. A tattoo with true depth, dimension & detail. Something You will be happy with for life.

Its our 36th year anniversary! Its hard to believe Wild Bill's Tattoo has been here at 205 Vernon St. in Roseville for over three decades.
We would like to thank our loyal customers who travel great distances & come from all walks of life for their continued support.

When people ask why the shop has been so successful, Bill says its because he was very fortunate to have been exposed to & tattooed
by the very best artists the tattoo world had to offer. But most important, he has surrounded himself with ten of the most dedicated

Our sterilization is current, monitored & tested on a weekly bases. Everything we use for tattooing, with the exception of our machines, is single service use. (What is used on the last customer is not used on you.)
We have your complete health & safety in mind before, during & after the application of your tattoo or piercing. Our tattoo artists & piercer's are required to explain procedures prior to your tattoo, or piercing. They will answer your questions involving the aftercare of your tattoo or piercing. We will also give you written instructions on the aftercare...
Why We Don’t Tattoo Hands, Faces or Necks (the back of the neck is okay, because it does not show as much)
I don’t want people to think we are square or judge mental but our shop policy has always been not to tattoo on hands faces or necks. For 25 years I wouldn’t even tattoo on females arms with out a long talk about how people would feel about tattoos so visible on a persons arms. Things change …

Now you can’t walk into a happening night spot with out seeing pretty girls with full sleeves or large coverage of tattoos on them. Most the time they have more than the guys their with.

Its human nature to do things when your young without thinking about what the long term ramifications will be. Lets face it, we have all done things on the spur of the moment when we were young that we regretted.

Over the years so many people have walked into my studio and asked me to cover a tattoo they hate on their hands or knuckles with flesh colored ink. Even if it sounds great it just doesn’t work. The only reliable method is to have it removed with a laser.

Although permanent skin art has become more and more popular and it seems 25% of the population has them, there is still a lot of prejudice against tattoos.

I have a complete body suit of tattoos starting at my wrist going to my neck and ending at my ankles. But still, I can put on a long sleeve shirt and go meet the new landlord, go to traffic court etc.

I have made it my life’s work giving people a way of to express themselves with art in a permanent way. Them being happy with what I leave them with is the most important thing to me.
Wild Bill Hill

William Hill, owner of Wild Bill’s Tattooing in Roseville, California built his first tattoo machine at age 14 and began experimenting with tattooing on himself. His first tattoo was a girls name, his second tattoo was covering it up. He never saw a tattoo studio until three years later, and knew at that moment that’s what he wanted to do with his life. Wild Bill bought his first tattoo business license in 1974.

With a love of motorcycles that was passed down from his father, (also named Bill) the younger Bill rode around on his Harley raising hell. Being known to party a little too much and getting in trouble with the law, that’s what gave him the nick name Wild Bill. He decided to stop drinking at age 20. He noticed right away that things started to go much better for him after that. Wild Bill still has not drank to this day.

Wild Bill traveled to places like Virginia, Philadelphia, Texas, Seattle and Florida with a camera shooting photos everywhere he went and submitting them to magazines. He has had 1,000's of photos published in Easyriders, In The Wind, Iron Horse, Tattoo, Outlaw Biker and Biker Lifestyle. He also wrote articles to go along with the photos, covering the Motorcycle Ice Races, All Harley Drags and other biker events. In fact Wild Bill's all chrome 1966 shovelhead has been the centerfold and on the cover of more magazines than any other motorcycle to this date.
When he wasn’t traveling, Wild Bill tattooed his subjects, and this developed into a very busy career of tattooing.

Wild Bill’s whole body is covered in mostly black and gray tattoos which customers can generally view when they come up to the studio on warm days. Most of the time he’s not wearing a shirt so his collage of artwork, which includes pretty much everything but an anchor, shows. But why mainly black and gray? Wild Bill says it seems to be so much more realistic, showing the detail and true depth and dimension of the art work. One of Bill’s favorite quotes is "Color’s for kids." Wild Bill feels black and gray wears well with time and looks better with the tan most Californians sport year-round.

Wild Bill also traveled all over the country photographing Tattoo Conventions shooting photos for the Tattoo magazines. He also went on tour with tattooed bands such as The Cadillac Tramps, The Alley Boys, Social Distortion, White Zombie and The Stray Cats, writing stories to go along with the photos he shot. In fact Wild Bill Was on the front page of the first Tattoo magazine ever printed. He also had 38 photos on the inside. There were no tattooist credits back then. Wild Bill fought for years with the editors to get not only photo credits but tattooist credits also because people wanted to know who did the artwork they were looking at. Wild Bill went on to become the studio and cover photographer for Tattoo Expo, Tattoo Tour, Tattoos for Men, Tattoos for Women and Skin Art magazine. He has over 40 centerfolds and magazine covers to his credit.

Brian Everett and Jack Rudy, two of his tattoo mentors, got him started going to custom car shows. This became an obsession with him. Today his garage is full of custom show cars including a 1915 model-T speedster, 1925 stock model-T, 1932 Ford Phaeton, 1954 Porsche Spyder, a shortened 1966 Volkswagen Van, 1964 Amphicar, 1959 Messerschmitt, 2002 Panoz AIV Roadster, 2005 Panoz Esperante, 2007 Pontiac Solstice and three mini-cars. Wild Bill is both a tapestry of artwork and an artist. He has been named Best Tattooed Male at Tattoo Conventions four times. He has attended many shows and has a whole wall of trophies that he received, including:

Wild Bill entered and won the logo contest in 1984 for the anniversary logo on Roseville’s outgoing mail cancellation mark. So all the out going mail bears his artwork.

In 2003, Kim Forrest organized the artists at Wild Bill’s to work a fifteen hour marathon for the Children’s Miracle Radiothon, which is put on by the U.C. Davis Children’s Hospital. Three TV and two radio stations ran stories that helped get the word out and raise over $6,000 for the cause. Then in 2004 they raised $11,603.00 and 2005 brought in $11,720.00 all for the UC Davis Children’s Hospital.

This sensation is one feared by many people who are wishing to get a few tattoos of their own. When asked if it hurts, Bill says, "Of course it does. Is it unbearable? No." In fact, there is a common misconception that it hurts less if you’re drunk. This is untrue. When you’re drunk, you focus on the immediate sensation, but when you’re sober you can focus on other things. The stinging sensation diminishes after several minutes, and the area being tattooed becomes numb. Afterward the skin is only slightly red and itchy, and that lasts for only a few days. After a while it can even become addicting. Bill says, "Most people after three tattoos, they’re hooked."

Wild Bill moved into an upstairs storefront on Vernon Street around 1974. At first it was just him tattooing now there is ten full time tattooist and piercers . So what happens when you come in? Well, hopefully you have an appointment because if you do you’re guaranteed an artist’s time. But if you don’t you may be waiting a while. However most of the time they can squeeze in a piercing. The studio is through a door proclaiming not only that Wild Bill’s is the unofficial tattooist of the Kings, but also that they’ve been voted Sacramento Magazine’s Best tattoo studio five years running.

The walls of the studio are covered with artwork called flash, with a space covered in newspaper articles about Bill, his studio, and his cars. There are racks and racks of flash, cases of piercing jewelry (over 4,000 pieces) and waiting chairs sprinkled about as well. While you’re waiting you can look at the flash and jewelry, read one of the numerous articles, or just relax in one of the waiting chairs. Just don’t ask any dumb questions like "Does it hurt?"

The first time I walked into a tattoo shop in 1972 at age seventeen I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life. I had been tattooing by hand and with machines that I built since I was 14. It took many years of 10-12 hour days, 7 days a week and hard work to get where I am today, make no mistake about that.

I drew every spare moment I had, a lot of the time with a pen , so it was a lot like tattooing because there is no eraser. But pencil will always be my favorite medium .

At age 18 I got tattooed in Sacramento by Broadway Bob. I saw right away that wasn’t quite the style I was after. Then I Met Pete Stevens and started getting a lot of tattoos at “The East Coast Studio” in Sacramento on 16th + H Street by Pete, his partner Dennis and Bill Liberty. I remember getting tattooed by Bill and showing him my first so called professional tattoo machine. With the aspirations of opening my own tattoo shop, I told him, “all I need now is some people to practice on” and him telling me “with the art you’re doing, that shouldn’t be a problem“ He was right.

I decided on the town of Roseville because it had never had a tattoo shop. I didn’t want to step on the toes of anyone that had helped me, unlike the mentality of a lot of the new generation tattooist that open up right down the street from established shops hoping to cash in on their success. It just does not work that way and they will realize that when someone “opens up on them”.

I then met Kevin Brady and liked his style of custom tattooing. That he did not want to tattoo the same thing on two people impressed me. Kevin Brady had went on the road with some rock and roll bands and was very hard to get in touch with. He started making trips to my studio to work on my left thigh. One day he spent 10 ½ hours on a large roller skating skeleton on my leg. I told him I wanted to get some of that oriental style of full body tattooing. Kevin showed me the book “The Tattooist” with the work of Don Ed Hardy in it. The photos of his work were awesome, unlike anything I had seen before.
San Francisco had a lot of tattoo shops so I visited every one. That’s where I met Pat Martynuik we hit it off right away. In fact the first day he grabbed me and said I had a bare spot. He tattooed me in less than fifteen minutes. I watched how efficient he ran his studio as he tattooed both my wrist in a Japanese style. Pat had no secrets, he taught me how to adjust machines and make needle bars with out wasting time.
Thinking I needed an Asian tattooist to achieve the oriental look I found Pinky Yang of Alameda. While he was tattooing on me he advised me to go see Don Ed Hardy if I wanted that oriental style. Well that’s all it took.

I tracked down Ed in San Francisco at his studio called “Tattoo City”. He was booked up but he introduced me to Bob Roberts who showed me a calendar with a tattoo of a girl pulling down her pants that was done by Jack Rudy. The moment I saw it I knew that’s the style I wanted to learn to do more than the oriental style. Bob then showed me photos of his work. It was this fantastic, single needle fine line all black and gray tattooing. After Bob did some of that work on me I was hooked. I knew I would never be the same. I threw away all the color ink I had and never did another color tattoo again. I started making monthly trips to see Bob and we became very close. He was very open with me, always willing to show me the solution to any problems. I learned all about needle clusters from him and always will be grateful. Bob would take this small town boy out on the big city streets of San Francisco after tattooing all day and show me things I had never seen before. I guess you could call that my coming of age.
I finally got in to see Don Ed Hardy. I was very impressed with the full coverage body tattoos he was doing. My monthly trips started to include getting tattooed by Ed . A lot of the time I would be tattooed by Ed 5-6 hours and then get worked on by Bob 3-4 hours. That made for some long days, that’s for sure! It would leave me very drained but I was starting to get the coverage I was after. Ed was humble, a no nonsense tattooist unlike any other I had ever met. Starting work at ten in the morning and wearing a tie while he worked was not what I was used to. His whole outlook on life was something I admired greatly. Ed told me “once you think you’re the best you stop learning”. That’s something that has always stayed with me.

Once my arms and both sides of my chest was completed I was ready for my ribs. I knew it was going to be a major undertaking. I wanted large, big work. At the time I belonged to 20+ tattoo clubs world wide. I had been writing the president of the tattoo club of Japan and he had sent me some art work of a tattooed Japanese woman. The moment I saw it I knew that’s what I wanted on my rib cage. I took it to Ed and he worked on me a total of 8 ½ hours that day. For the other rib cage I chose a tattooed woman drawn by Olivia. Ed spent 7 ½ hours on that one. I will never forget the look on Olivia’s face when she saw my tattoo for the first time at a tattoo convention in L.A.. She loved it and said it was the first major tattoo of her art work she had seen. I noticed she spent a lot of time taking photos of it.

I began hanging out at Henry Goldfields on the famous Broadway in San Francisco watching the work of Greg Irons. He was a well know comic book artist that had not been tattooing all that long but doing fantastic black and gray work. I was fortunate to be able to get some portrait work by him before he passed away much to young.

I booked five full days in December 1981 with Ed “Don the Dog” Hardy. I showed up and Told Ed that I wanted a demon riding a motorcycle all in black and gray covering my entire back and butt. Ed was know to be doing the best color work in the U.S. He said if I wanted black and gray, I should go to L.A. and see Jack Rudy, “He likes to do that type of high detail mechanical work“. I told him no, I wanted him to do it. After it was finished on the fifth day, Bob worked on my solar plexus. That made for a lot of tattoo work for sure. Afterwards Ed invited me to dinner and the Hot baths with about ten other people with body suits in progress at the Japan center. I was quite honored. A lot of Ed will always be with me, (not just because he did the majority of my tattoos) but because he had a very large impact on my life.

I first ran into Jack Rudy while he was tattooing on some young upstart named Brian Everett in a hotel room in Virginia . At the time I had no idea what a positive effect Brian would have on my life.
I went to visit Jack Rudy in east L.A. to do photos for a tattoo magazine. We got along quite well and I felt his portfolio work was the Holy Grail of tattooing. Every time I went to draw or tattoo I would think, “How would Jack do it?”. We shared a room at many tattoo conventions, tattooing well into the night. In fact while in Philadelphia we both tattooed on Jim “the Snake” Nyhan at the same time. I remember him saying after two or three hours “whose idea was this anyway?” Jack and I both looked at him and said at the same time and said, “Yours!” Tattooing next to Jack was a great opportunity to watch him work. Finally he had some time for me and did an awesome portrait on my abdomen . One of the most talked about tattoos on me is the realistic portraits of my parents Jack did above my knee while we were in San Diego.

I kept running into the work of Brian Everett at conventions and started to watch his work very closely. The realism in his work was really making it stand out. I had him do a life size portrait of my daughter that took almost nine hours on my thigh. Believe it or not I had to stand the entire time. That tattoo has won more than ten awards. Brian and I got together at car shows, conventions or at my studio whenever he was available. He completed my right leg in fine line black and gray. Including portraits my parents wedding day, my 1915 ford and my Panoz roadster. Brian is a true family man with very high values that I admire greatly. His work on me blows people away both young and old. I truly feel he is one of the top portrait tattooist in the world.

Kim Forrest did my left lower leg and kneecap. Including portraits of my father and a life size Harry Houdini holding a king of clubs. My love for the black and gray style of tattooing seems to have been instilled in her also. She is a very fast and efficient addition to the studio. Kim seems to be able to do every style with the same high quality and attention to detail. Her list of clients include most of our local NBA team the Sacramento Kings.
Harley Haslem another talented artist working here in my studio tattooed parts of my ankles and the tops of my feet. I always thought I would be glad when my body suit was finished. But I am always finding things I would like on me but don’t have the room anymore. So always be picky what you get tattooed on yourself.

After 30 years on Vernon St. we have 10 full time artists working now. Our studio has been successful and is one of the busiest in the area.