The first thing you notice about 18-year-old Jahsan Lambey is his neck tattoo. It's done in thick black ink and it sits right in the center of his neck. Jahsan spent $60 on the tattoo and he says that's a small price to pay for art.

"My body is my canvas, I like drawing. I drew the neck tattoo out for the tattoo artist to do it, so it's just cool to me to see that I can look at it every day," he says.

Jahsan's mom says her son may have only paid $60 for the tattoo, but in many ways it may cost him a lot more. Jahsan works in an auto shop now, but his mom worries about his future job prospects, among other things. 

KPCC contributor Tanya Jo Miller reports on the pros and cons of Lambey's tattoos in the first of an upcoming series on recent graduates from Crenshsaw High School in South LA.