Tattoo artist attempts to break world record

EDMONTON- An Edmonton tattoo artist is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for inking the most tattoos in a 24-hour period.

Diankh Lopez began her attempt on Saturday and worked through the night at Duke’s Bar and Grill in north Edmonton, to try to break the previous record of 801 tattoos.

Shortly before her noon deadline Sunday, Lopez had inked 808 tattoos and was hoping to reach about 818 by the time her 24 hours were up.

Lopez was required to follow a strict set of guidelines set out by Guinness.

“It has to be a certain size, and then I had to do outlining with a little bit of shading.”

Lopez says the past day has been exhausting, but exciting at the same time.

“That was the whole, kind of, point, just to challenge myself, see if I’m able to do it.

“It’s a fun thing too,” she said. “Back in 2007, Kat Von D from LA Ink was the first one to do this. She broke the record first and since then three others broke it and it’s always been in my mind… I’ve always been thinking about that, planning it.”

Each tattoo brought in a minimum donation of $20, with all proceeds going towards the Edmonton Humane Society.

“I love what they’re doing. They’re a voice for animals who are so defenseless,” Lopez said. “We raised a lot of money… so that’s the best part.”