In addition to making phenomenal punches, what do you think is the key to success and can increase popularity in the profession?
When it comes to Facebook, it is a platform where people not using newer apps can check me out.
The most important thing is to find a niche for yourself. Develop a specific style and polish it everyday. Draw EVERYDAY. Not only in the style you’re interested in. I recommend sketching realistic objects and people we see around us. You then develop a skill to notice chiaroscuro and perspective, which are hugely important for every tattoo artist. My drawing skills rose significantly since I started tattooing simply because I polished them everyday.
Another important thing is to swallow your pride and stop competing against your professional colleagues. Everyone grows at their own pace and if we start to see ourselves as competition, we’ll all only lose. The beautiful thing is, in our profession, creativeness and individualism can lead to unique projects. If we reject the idea of rivalry in our heads and we focus on self-improvement and developing our own unique style, we’ll then realize that each one of us is unrivaled.
Another important element of our work are social media. In my experience, platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or Tiktok give us a chance to show ourselves from a different perspective to our clients.
On TikTok you can show what kind of person you are. It’s my favorite app; I share fun facts about tattoos, private stories and advice on how to care of your skin before and after tattoo sessions. It’s also where you can show your sense of humor and your creativity.
I treat Instagram more as a portfolio. My profile must be neat and clear since it’s kind of a business card for a tattoo artist.
In our profession, also an unconventional approach may bring us popularity. Realizing what was never done before and making it happen. By this logic I thought about enhancing tattoos with modern technology. I’m in the middle of creating an app, which with the help of augmented reality will animate tattoos on 3D skin models. It’s called “Inkality” and you can hear about it some more on my social media and on my website.
To sum up: only our own imagination limits us, and consistency and self-improvement is the key.