Category: Portfolio

Recently my line work has become what I’m most proud of. I’ve been putting quite a lot of time in on the fake skins both at home and at the tattoo shop. Because I work there from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM I’m often exhausted by the end of the day but it’s amazing to see how quickly I’ve been able to progress. Morgan told us today that we were really getting the hang of things and that she’d consider letting us tattoo her once our forms came in if we were able to prove ourselves on our most recent project. The assignment was to test our capabilities with line work, which put me over the moon. Though I was also a bit anxious with the pressure, the excitement truly took over and I was able to get to a point where I was in the zone. Something Owen had previously explained to me was that there’s a certain technique that I’d have to get accustomed to too . When you tattoo it’s not just simply inserting the ink into the person’s skin. You have to use a specific type of vaseline-like substance to make sure the ink doesn’t splatter everywhere. So the order is Vaseline, tattoo, wipe. And once you get it down to a science you cut your tattoo time in half. Because I was locked in I was finally able to get the hang of it. Things are looking up.

One collaborative project that we worked on together at the shop was when we had to create a flash sale for St. Patrick’s Day. Each member of the shop was tasked with creating a unique design for the sale to bring awareness and new clients to Rebel. Something I learned fairly quickly was that it’s extremely hard to create designs that aren’t cliche or steal from other artist’s work. Since joining the shop, one of the things I realized is that there are so many designs out there, that even ideas you think are yours have already been done. All it really takes is a quick Google search. I explained my plight to Mike and as we talked about it he helped me realize that though everything’s been done we can always put our own unique spin and style on the designs we come up with. Yes, references can be helpful but they aren’t the end all be all and once we let our imaginations run wild we can come up with some of our best work. I got to experimenting, doing research on irish themed work and different symbols of saint patrick’s day that would make unique and detailed tattoos or simple cute ones that could be done in a flash, hence the name. Something I’m beginning to realize though is that in this field of work you really have to keep your head up and make sure to stay positive. I say this because in the time I’ve been there I’ve seen many flash sales not do very well and more often than not there are tattoos people don’t get at all. Despite all this I worked hard to persevere and do my best to create.

Flash Example –

When I reached into the shop today I took a bit of a break from tattooing on the fake skins. It was time to learn the other areas of tattooing: Setup and Cleanup. It’s imperative as an artist to know how to set up and clean up due to the amount of dangers it could pose to you and your client if you don’t do things properly. For example, the needles. When you’re working with tattoos though it’s not visible there’s plenty of blood coming out of the person you’re working on. And unfortunately there are many blood borne pathogens that could negatively affect a person’s health. For instance, if you’re working with a person who has contracted HIV and you accidently tattoo yourself, you could contract the disease as well. So I learned how to break down Owen’s station today and the following day I’ll be setting up Kay’s station. I will have to get my own station soon but it’s quite the investment. I have to get a toolbox from the Home Depot. I’m gonna save up for it as best I can.

For today’s work we learned about depth. Something that unfortunately, Owen and Morgan explained is impossible to teach us. Apparently, as we become more and more acquainted with our tattoo machines and practice we’ll get to a place where we understand it. But the jarring part about practicing tattooing on fake skin is that the depth doesn’t translate to the actual skin on real people at all. The fake skin is much tougher than the real skin. With real skin the needle practically sinks into it with ease and if you go too deep you can create what’s called a blowout and the skin will scar, leaving the tattoo to raise. It turns out that not only was the tattoo that I got from a previous shop raised but I was going too deeply on the fake skin, putting practically half of the needle inside of it. It was only when Morgan came over to check my progress that she realized that I was going too deep. I unconsciously was using the depth to guide my tattoo machine and make my lines more smooth and clean. So I spent most of today revamping my technique and going around the shop learning from each of the artists. Each of them had their own experience with depth but all together it helped me gain a better understanding. But something tells me that it’ll still prove to be very difficult at first.

As I worked in the shop today, I found myself starting to get the hang of shading. My fellow apprentice, Mike, has been incredibly encouraging. He and I have become rivals and friends in this race to become the best tattoo artists we can. Like me, he’s also been an artist for some time, and he showed me his specialty today, which is stippling. Owen came over while we were discussing, and to our surprise, he expressed to us that we should try to incorporate it into our fake skin practice today. I’d be lying if I said we weren’t ecstatic. We immediately found the first blank space on the synthetic skin that we could find, and we gave it a go. Mike found much more success due to his experience with the technique, but I found a way to hold my own. I hope to learn more techniques like this to grow my skill tree. I know that many tattoo artists have a niche or style that they do very well in, but my goal as it stands is to be as well-rounded as possible for now.

Today when I entered Rebel Tattoo’s doors, I was greeted by a new challenge. Until now, I’d only been working with standard liners or RL5’s as we call them. But today, I’d be working with “shaders.” Owen explained to me that I’m making a decent amount of progress fairly quickly with my progression, especially the steadiness in which I hold the tattoo machine, which I actually agreed with. I think that my years of illustration have granted me an aptitude in this area, and I’m happy that it’s proving to be so beneficial. However, when I began shading, that’s where things got a bit interesting. Shading with a tattoo machine is completely different from shading with a pencil or a marker. Due to the fact that you need to keep the tattoo machine practically completely straight to avoid differences in saturation and ink going into the wrong places, the technique required is quite unique. Owen and Morgan explained to me that in order to properly saturate my illustrations on fake skin and people alike, I’d need to keep the machine straight and move it in tiny circles over and over again. While it sounds fairly simple, I found it to be quite difficult initially and continued to struggle with it throughout the entire day. My days often looked like this. More often than not, I’d be presented with a new task or a new way to tattoo, and I’d focus on putting in as many hours as possible with the time that I had. I realized only a few days in that the majority of the reason that the people in the shop are so good at tattooing is that they’ve spent countless days grinding away and perfecting their craft, even if it meant staying after the shop had closed. It showed me that I’d need to do the same if I ever dreamed of being at their level or even better. So besides lunch and observing my fellow artists in the shop occasionally, I was glued to my desk, making sure that I kept at it. I appreciated this type of work because I know it’ll also be beneficial to honing my skills in my focus in COMD, which is illustration. As things are changing in the design world, digital art is becoming more and more prevalent. So I’m hoping that training my hand in this way will better allow me to use the pens and styluses in a more seamless manner.

The culture of my workplace is one that I hadn’t experienced prior. In most of my work environments, I’ve been alone for the most part, and I find that I’m in a place where I don’t really get a feel for how things are because I’m always on the move. But at Rebel Tattoo, things were different. When you enter the establishment, there are no walls besides the one in the back that closes off the rest of the place from the office in which the fridge, coat closet, and other equipment can be found. So, with this open floor plan in place, each and every one of the people present is encouraged to speak to one another. This constant dialogue and bonding create a family-like culture within the shop, making it feel welcoming and pleasant for anyone who chooses to be present or even engage in the conversations taking place. As for attire, most, if not everyone, dresses as they please, but there is an overarching theme. What’s interesting is that it’s not like the typical image of a tattoo shop that people have in their minds. Rather than the all-black attire that you might expect from the average tattoo shop, you see a range of much more vibrant and interesting colorways. Each artist expresses themselves with a different type of style that is unique to them. But it is worth mentioning that the attire worn by most, if not all of them, is clothing that could potentially be completely messed up. Given it’s a tattoo shop, none of the employees are strangers to the accidental spilling of ink on their clothes. Owen, in particular, is notorious for having black ink stains on almost every one of his pants.

In terms of lunchtime and other times to eat, we, as a whole, pretty much eat whenever we’d like to. As long as we’re not tattooing a client or taking care of something that requires our immediate attention, we can step out to a local restaurant whenever we’d like to grab a quick bite or have lunch. More often than not, though, at least one to three of us go out to eat together, which is often where I learn the most about the crew and how they came to be here. They communicate with me as if I’ve been a part of the shop for years, and it really makes it easy to learn and grow with them. A good example of this is that they’ve been really helpful in teaching me to use Procreate, the software we use to design and work through our tattoo designs. It’s been a bit of a learning curve, but I’m definitely getting the hang of it. I’m looking forward to the day when I can just know exactly what to do without hesitation, but I’m taking things one step at a time.

My role at Rebel Tattoo is that of “apprentice”. My supervisor, Owen Phelan, fellow tattoo artist and co-owner of the shop, has made it his mission to make sure I’m well acquainted with everyone and that I have everything I need to become a proper tattoo artist available to me, whether that be materials, knowledge, advice and even life lessons. Things progressed to this point fairly quickly. The way I came across this opportunity was a bit unexpected. Owen reached out to me one day, as we had known one another for sometime and we both shared a passion for traditional and digital art. He reached out to me and expressed to me that there was an open spot at the shop he co-owned. Afterwards, he brought me into the shop for a tour, we conducted an interview, and things went very smoothly. He asked me how my availability was, if he could see my portfolio and if I was willing to commit the necessary hours needed to complete my apprenticeship. Thereafter, I didn’t have to wait very long before I was fullintegrated into the establishment. 

I, Darius Daniel, have recently taken on an internship at Rebel Tattoo in Monroe Connecticut. I’ve joined as an apprentice and I’ll be taking the necessary steps to become a full time Tattoo Artist at the shop. Rebel Tattoo was born out of the hearts of four passionate tattoo artists by the name of Tre Bethel, Owen Phelan, Kay Boemmels and Morgan Liedke. They each worked at a different shop prior to birthing Rebel Tattoo and have come together as a team to provide quality service and a welcoming environment for their clients.
The establishment has one location that’s been open for about a year and a half. But in spite of its brief existence, Rebel has quickly amassed a devoted following and loyal clientele. The clients are very engaging and energetic folk. More often than not they interact in a positive manner with everyone in the shop, client and employee alike. Not to mention, it’s a rarity that they don’t tip the tattoo artist that they go to. Some notable events that have happened to create this ambiance, was creating a lounge area in the front with coffee and snacks, the installation of the TV which plays different music each day, and most notably the open concept so interacting is not only an option but promoted. As it stands I’ve entered seamlessly into the group and have been welcomed with open arms by everyone. I am determined to learn as an apprentice and they are always willing to teach and offer advice and tips to aid in my journey.
The first thing I’m learning to do is learn how to use “Procreate” which is essential for references, creating tattoo concepts, and working with the clientele. I look forward to seeing how far I can get this semester.