DETROIT (WWJ) - Skin should be heeling for the approximately 5,000 people from all over the world who visited Detroit for the Motor City Tattoo Expo.

Mike DeBoer drove in from Chicago to get tattooed. WWJ caught him walking around the convention with his shirt off… but from a distance, you’d have had no idea he wasn’t wearing one.

DeBoer has tattoos all over his body.

Mike DeBoer shows off a fully inked leg.

“I started getting tattoos pretty much as soon as I turned 18,” said DeBoer. “If I had to put an hourly guess into it I’d probably say I’ve got at least 300-400 hours into me.”

DeBoer was nominated at the expo for best chest and best leg sleeve. He says the body art is worth every penny.

Downriver Tattoo Artist C.J Jones was one of those featured at this weekend’s event.

“A lot of long hours, a lot of drawing, drawing until your fingers get numb,” said Jones.

Marshall Bennet is an artist at Eternal Tattoo in Eastpoint, and told WWJ that tattoos are becoming more and more popular.

“With the reality shows – it’s getting very mainstream – it’s also changed a lot in the industry,” Jones said. “It’s very popular, right now I’m very busy.”

Coordinator Terry Welker said the convention has lasted so long because the tattoo industry is thriving.

Welker says the Motor City Convention is one of the best in the country because tattoo artists have to be invited, and he and his team search the nation to find the best of the best.