Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Benjamin King. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Benjamin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Took a big risk moving to Austin six years ago. I was in south Denver beforehand where I had only been for a year. I moved there from Nashville with the hopes of finding a shop to start tattooing. I worked at two different shops as an apprentice but wasn’t allowed to tattoo at either of them. After a year of struggle and working three jobs, I started looking at other options. I had a friend here that encouraged me to make the move and I wasn’t progressing where I was at so I quit the tattoo shop and stacked up enough money to get here. Six months after I moved, I started my final apprenticeship and started tattooing within a year of being at that shop.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Hey all, my name is Benjamin and my wife Myka and I are local artists here in South Austin. We both tattoo by appointment only at a private studio on S Lamar street. I have been tattooing professionally for six years now and this is Myka’s first year.

I started painting at a young age and won the first art contest I can remember in first grade. Ever since, my family has encouraged me to do art and throughout the years been supportive no matter what I choose to do. I was homeschooled off and on throughout my adolescence and took private art classes for a year in high school. These classes helped me develop into more of a fine artist and I attribute a lot of my structure to that year. The last five years I have been solely tattooing and painting realism has been my main hobby. I’ve tattooed in many different styles but photo realism and portraits is my specialty. In 2021, I was traveling a lot doing guest spots in different cities I’ve lived in across America. 2022 has been about family, I have spent more time at home than ever in my life and married my best friend and partner, Myka Dylan last month in Las Vegas.

Myka does American Traditional tattoo art and is quickly becoming a sought after artist in that style.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One of the hardest things I’ve experienced was backpacking across Southern Asia by myself when I was twenty three. I flew into Mumbai, India and had theee months to make it to my return flight out of Hong Kong. It was a long journey full of ups and downs. I got sick in Goa, India and ended up sleeping on the floor of the train station for a few days until I had enough strength to make it to a hostel. When I was trying to cross the border of Nepal into Tibet the border guard turned me around because I was by myself and I probably would have froze to death if he hadn’t. I ended up flying to Thailand instead of going through China like I had planned. A lot of waiting at bus and train stations helped me develop the amount of patience I now use everyday I’m doing art.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

This past year has been a transition for me into tattooing by appointment only versus working at a street shop in downtown Austin. Although I advertised that I was appointment only last year, I still worked Saturday and Sunday taking walk-ins as was needed. This year I have done more painting than in the last five years combined. My mental health and overall quality of life is at an all time high, and I look forward to seeing where this next year takes me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Frankenstein_king | @aintyourcowgirl
• Other: To book an appointment please email me at [email protected]
  tattoo appointments [email protected]

Image Credits
Peach and Honey Creative @_peachandhoney
@meredithdevine meredithdevine.com