We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Neil Palmer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Neil, thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Yes, I have. It wasn’t always like that though. Early on in my career just relying on walk-ins, it was hard to budget or save anything. I did not like the, “busy one day and then dead for two” routine. . So I started setting appointments. Every couple of walk-Ins I’d schedule them for a few days out. I just kept doing that until I was getting booked for a couple weeks at a time. Then a month at a time and so on. Now I have three to four appointments a day Tuesday-Saturday. I’m able to kind of forecast what I’ll make for the month and that definitely takes a lot of stress off life. I enjoy showing up to the shop and getting my drawing done for the day and preparing myself mentally for what the day brings. I wish someone would have showed me how to pay myself a long time ago. Instead of lumping all my money together, I’ll save my deposits and tips and use the hourly part for bills and daily life. It has worked like a charm. Sometimes looking back, it’s hard to believe I’ve made it this far just tattooing.

Neil, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Welp. I’ve been tattooing since August of 1999 in and around Houston Tx. Born and raised here. I guess just the classic trying to follow in my Dads footsteps kind of deal. He worked for NASA, designing everything from mission patches, to parts of the space arm for the shuttle. We used to draw at the table together when I was a kid. I was always drawing or trying to paint. I drew this little cartoon strip all the time of kid fighting tanks and monsters lol!! I learned about tattooing through my older cousin. Then it seems like all the pieces just started falling into place. Some one taught me to make a homemade machine and I started carving up the neighborhood, I did catch on pretty quick though. I tattooed until I thought I was good enough for a shop. I got a job at a shop over on the east side and that was it. Seems like yesterday and forever ago all at the same time. When I started, we had to tattoo everything that came in, no excuses. So having that weight on my shoulders pushed me to keep going outside my comfort zone. These days I tend to stick to Traditional American and Japanese concepts. Color or black and gray. I’m also not above doing an infinity symbol either lol! I pride myself on my professionalism but I’m not perfect. I like being at the shop before my appointment, having their drawing ready to go so I’m ready to tattoo as soon as you get to the shop. I think I offer a solid and affordable tattoo experience. Im super proud of my shop and the entire crew here is just awesome. We’ve been open since June of 2015 and I love it here. Its so nice to want to come to work everyday.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think one of the most rewarding aspects of being a tattoo artist is the freedom. I don’t have anyone telling me I can’t take days off or I can’t go to a family event or what ever the case. It’s given me the luxury to be with my family more. I like the process of tattooing also. From the consultation to drawing, and then finally seeing my clients feel like total bad asses when they look at their new tattoo. All of those things motivate me to keep moving forward.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I guess my only mission or goal is keeping the shop and my clients happy and to try and be better then yesterday. The world is a wild place right now, I’d like to think that when you come to the shop or get a tattoo from me; it would be a nice escape from the nonsense. Even if it’s just for a few hours.

Contact Info:

• Website: Palmertattooing.net
• Instagram: Palmer_tattooing
• Facebook: Neil Palmer