We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful David Davincii. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with David below.
Alright, David thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear a story from back when you were an intern or apprentice. What’s a memorable story you can share with us?
There is a big difference for an artist to be thought of as talented in a small town like Waterbury, CT. where practically everyone knows you and is supportive of your artistry verses being judged as talented enough to be chosen as an apprentice at a tattoo shop like Black Ink in Harlem, New York. I was really excited and blown away by this opportunity and affirmation of my skills.
It was highly intimidating for me being around so many celebrities. I was trying to fit in without being noticed, all while grinding and pushing to make a name for myself.
Working at Black Ink increased my self confidence and boosted my professional and personal self esteem. But my journey wasn’t all love and laughter. There was a lot of hardship involved. Daily travel to and from Connecticut was expensive, eating out everyday was costly, and I had no place to live. There were plenty of nights that I fell asleep in the train station because I had nowhere else to go and no money to buy another ticket home and back. Some nights I was being harassed by homeless people, and other times I was being harassed by police to wake up and keep it moving.
I didn’t tell my family back home how hard I was struggling so I gave them the impression that I was staying with friends. I wanted to give myself every opportunity be successful so I made up my mind that I was going to sleep in the train station or on the street if I had to. Whatever I had to do to make my time there work out.
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 started showing talent in drawing and creative art at a very young age. My family was always supportive and I just kept going and getting better and better. By the time I reached my teens I decided that having a career in the arts was something that I wanted to do.
I have to confess that I inherited most of my creative skills at birth. My grandmother says that I picked up a pencil at 3 years old and that I never put it back down. However, my dad is also a free style artist and he was the one who first explored tattoo artistry as a part time way to make extra money. I developed an interest in body art by watching him transform people and then he took me under his wing.
He bought me my first tattoo machine and that’s how I got into the business of making people look good.
The ability to alter someone’s appearance permanently with art and creative designs was simply amazing to me. I also liked doing the design collaboration with my clients and establishing that trust bond given to me by them.
As I look back now I am most proud of the fact that I didn’t stop there with my art talent. After I mastered my craft in tattooing I decided to pick up a paint brush to see what I could make come from that. Soon I started to explore the world of mixed media art and fashion design. Now I was working with every kind of material from canvas to interior and exterior walls, custom piece metal and gemstone high-end jewelry designs, street-tops, automobiles, sneakers, and clothing.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson that I had to unlearn was having a knee jerk reaction to new opportunities. I had a habit of saying no to new experiences without giving myself the chance to explore the possibilities that the opportunity could bring. This did not push me to stretch myself and grow where I needed to grow.
As an example during the time that I did not see myself as a painter I turned down the opportunity to paint a portrait of Wiz Khalifa during the height of his first album success. It was going to be presented to him during his birthday celebration with family and friends. Huge mistake.
And now I’m painting portraits for anybody and everybody but that first opportunity could have opened a lot of doors for me a whole lot sooner.
Fortunately, today I can say that I’ve done portraits for wonderful people like Kelly Rowland, Jason Lee, Chrisean Rock, YG. Just to name a few.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
I think that I have built most of my clientele by practicing great people skills, being consistent professionally, and being a truly good person.
I make sure that my clients feel safe. Clients are often exposing intimate parts of their body and details about their life so it is important that they’re in a safe environment. I ensure them privacy of their person and their words. And then of course it is the work, the art stands out because I create strong and unique designs that people love to wear.
Lastly, the consistency and quality of my work has brought clientele back as repeat customers and people feel very comfortable referring other people to come check out the experience.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Photographer @visualsbychern