Comic-Con 2014 First Look: Check Out the Awesome (and Free) 'Bates Motel' Tattoo Designed by 'Epic Ink' Artist Chris 51

Love getting creeped out watching Bates Motel? Imagine that happening every time you looked in the mirror!

San Diego Comic-Con attendees will get that chance when they stop by the A&E drama's booth this year. There, they can pick up a temporary tattoo inspired by Bates Motel and designed by Epic Ink artist Chris 51.

[Related: 'Arrow,' 'Constantine,' 'Supernatural,' More Unveil Official Comic-Con 2014 Backpacks]

Chris owns Area 51 Tattoo in Springfield, Oregon, and he and his team will be the focus of a new docu-series on A&E. Chris is a big Bates Motel fan so when the network approached about the collaboration, he enthusiastically jumped on board.

Check out a first look at his design, plus find out what he told Yahoo TV about how he came up with it and what to expect from Epic Ink, which debuts August 20.

Tell us a bit about how this all came about.
The network had a great idea of a promotion for our tattoo show to come up with some temporary tattoos, and we loved it. The other artists just happened to take on some of the other tattoo projects... so I decided to do Bates Motel since I was the biggest Bates fan. I kind of staked claim to it, if you know what I mean — as the boss man, I kind of was like, "This is mine, I'm doing this one." I didn't give them much of an opportunity. I'm a huge fan; my fiancée and I hang on pins and needles for the next episode to come on every week.

I wanted to do something that showed the iconic house of Norman Bates and Norma Bates, but yet have it relatable to tattoo pop culture. So, that's why I wanted the house, but I also wanted a tattoo banner by it and more traditional writing. I wanted to mix the two cultures together.

Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates in 'Bates Motel'

Did you have other inspirations and several drafts?
Honestly, no, because I've been tattooing a long-ass time. So, basically these kinds of things are really easy for us. I literally designed this thing in about 15 minutes. We always do stuff really quick, on the fly.

What do you love about the show?
I love Norma. I love the mom. I am a fanboy, I want to meet [Vera Farmiga], get her autograph, take a picture with her and put it all over Facebook. She is such a good actress, and it's such a believable character. She's just amazing. I love her.

Would you do the tattoo permanently on fans?
I'd love to! I'd be honored to.

[Related: 'Bates Motel' Producer on Norman's Blackouts, Those Awkward Mother-Son Moments, and What to Expect in Season 3]

Do you do a lot of TV tattoos?
Oh yeah, especially with the kind of reputation that me and all my other artists have. We kind of specialize in that, so it's a daily occurrence that someone wants some iconic, pop culture-referenced subject matter — movies, TV, these are the types of things we do most. And it's the most fun thing to do as well.

Did you have other ideas for Bates-related tattoos?
Absolutely. I was actually going to do one that had a knife, the classic Norman Bates knife with a banner wrapped around it that said "I love you, Mother." But I thought it was maybe a little too not PG-rated. [Laughs.] But I love the iconic house image instead… I actually found a model of the house online and used that for my inspiration. Someone built a model of the house! So, I looked at that, and I had the show on my iPad and I took some screen capture shots of the house during the show. I kind of combined the two and added some bushes and the banner and stuff. But I do have to add that Caroline Russell [our receptionist at Area 51] is the one who is a Photoshop genius. I did the design work and drew it, and then I emailed her the raw image and she's the one who added all the color on Photoshop. So, I can't take full credit for it.

Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates in 'Bates Motel'

Do you always come up with tattoos so quickly?
It depends. If someone wants something that is an iconic image — say they want the Bates house — that's something where the night before, I'll purchase an episode and download it and take screenshots of it. I really do my research and find something original, because you don't want to just go to Google and grab the first image that comes up, because it's probably been done before. Things like that, or like actors' faces, or a scene from a movie, for the most part, my artists and I download them all on our computers and just take image captures and try to use that for reference.

Whether it's a portrait or a house, in this case, or say a weapon from Star Wars, it's gotta be perfect or people will point out every flaw or every mistake. If something comes up that's custom — if someone wants flowers or a bird, or something like that — I'll come in a couple hours early and I'll just draw it up on the spot. Or, I'll draw it right on them. A lot of people, when you have a huge clientele, have faith in us. So, we can draw right on them. It's about half and half, I'd say.

Josh Bodwell, Caroline Russell, Jeff Wortham, Chris 51, Heather Maranda, and Chris Jones in 'Epic Ink'

What can we expect from Epic Ink?
It's the most amazing show you will ever seen in this genre. Literally, we took everything that was commonplace and had been seen before and done before on other shows, and we wanted to do it completely different. We wanted have everything to have a completely positive vibe. We had fun, we were ourselves. We were very adamant about "no drama." We don't take ourselves too seriously; we take our tattoos seriously.

The reason the show is called Epic Ink is because nobody's seen such a collection of epic tattoos. It's really the one word that describes the tattoos that are done, because every one is a half-sleeve or a quarter-back. That's one of the main things: The art itself can only be described as epic and not like anything else.

The rest of the show? We're talking the craziest shenanigans and jokery. We're just a bunch of geeks, and we geek out. If we do happen to argue, it's about why Heather Maranda wants to ruin her collectible action figures by taking them out of the package when they're not worth anything because she wants her kids to play with them. And I say they're more like artistic pieces to hang on a wall and appreciate. Those are the kind of fun debates to get into. It's a comedy, it really is. Nobody's seen anything like it before. I'm so pumped for it.

Epic Ink premieres Wednesday, Aug. 20 at 10:30 p.m. on A&E.

Fans attending Comic-Con in San Diego can stop by the A&E booth (#4016 and #4018) to get the Bates Motel-themed temporary tattoo.