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

Chauncey, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I have always been artistic and creative for as long as I can remember. However, tattooing as a profession had never crossed my mind growing up. I’ve always been into the artform as a collector and admired quality body art but 20 years ago the industry was highly guarded, information was scarce and the process of how to even become a tattoo artist was far from “common knowledge”.

I was asked one day to come into a tattoo studio to assist with airbrushing a mural, upon completion, the studio owner had asked me if I’d consider learning the craft. At the time I was a full time musician and also worked in the graphic design industry but was looking to get into something new and exciting.

I completed my apprenticeship with the studio rather quickly and was thrown into the world of tattooing. Equipped with the basic fundamentals of tattooing, it was up to me to seek out new ways to grow and expand my knowledge. Like any artform or craft, you never stop learning and you’re always evolving.

Things are much easier today than they used to be in regards to expanding your knowledge of the craft. Be it
online courses, watching YouTube videos, directly contacting the artists that inspire you, taking seminars or attending tattoo conventions. With that being said, we are in the age of information and not all information is good information and there is no substitute for years of experience, hard work and dedication.

The greatest obstacle to overcome in tattooing in my opinion is staying inspired and not getting stagnant. By traveling, guest spotting and attending shows you always come back with a new sense of excitement and drive.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve always had a passion for the arts, in a variety of mediums: music, painting, sculpting, digital media and most notably tattooing. After finishing my tattoo apprenticeship I began to really excel in the body art industry and found my strengths pretty early on.

I generally specialize in saturated color work, large gradient blends and a realism/surrealism. But in order to be a truly well rounded artist, being well versed in all styles is a must. A lot people stay in their lane and miss out on so many tips, tricks and techniques that can be applied to their work, but will never learn those things because they refuse to step out of their comfort zone.

Tattooing is a very rewarding career, you meet many great people who put all their trust in you create your art on their body forever. More often than not the body art tattooers create is more than just a tattoo, its memorializing a loved one, celebrating a milestone or helping someone overcome and heal from a previous trauma. I’m a firm believer that the whole tattoo experience should be uplifting and every piece deserves 100% effort.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think a lot of people outside of the tattoo industry, or non-creatives struggle to understand is how grueling tattooing actually is, both mentally and physically. Sure most of us aren’t in the best shape possible, but spending 6,8.10 or 12 hours hunched over in an awkward position to get the best line possible or shade it just right is incredibly taxing. Not to mention the wear and tear on your wrists and hands, its not for the faint of heart haha.

Creating a visually captivating, cohesive, original piece of artwork for each client every single day is also very difficult to do. It will leave you mentally and physically exhausted at the day if you don’t pace yourself.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me the most rewarding aspect of tattooing is when a piece or project is complete and I see that client months or years later and they explain how their life has completely changed because the tattoo/sleeve has boosted their self-esteem and overall made them more confident, outgoing and loving their newfound outlook on life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vonstriga.com
• Instagram: @cktattoo
• Twitter: @MechaSeCa