We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Devin Jacobs. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Devin below.

Devin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

When I was a kid I fell in love with drawing and later in life every kind of artform I could get my hands on. That love followed me into High School where I took every art class I could and fully focused most of my efforts on getting better. It was here I came to the realization that finding a job in the arts or a creative field in general can be an incredibly treacherous feat due to the economy, the cost of school and the competitive nature of most fields in that category.

At this time I decided to quit wasting my time with it because I was not talented enough to make it out on the other end employed. Fast Forward 7 years later and I found myself stuck in life at a job I wasn’t passionate about, with absolutely nothing to show for my time invested. I soon found myself facing rock bottom, and in an act of desperation I crawled back to art and it welcomed me back like I never left it in the first place. I started using painting as a form of therapy and cure all for my problems and for the first time in a long time things started making sense again.

I soon arrived at the epiphany that I would much rather live a life of uncertainty with all it’s ups and downs than ever go back to the mundanity of things I was not passionate about. I am still in the process of making art my only job, but I have long since promised myself I would never leave art again. It’s simply been to good to me all these years, and I still owe it so much.

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.

The reason many people know me to this day is from a series of projects I did where I would paint popular characters and pop culture references into used thrift store paintings. I had dabbled in arts for most of my life but the paintings launched me into the career I have today. The reason I even started doing them was because I thought it was an easy way to get back in the habit of painting since I did not have to start with a blank canvas.

Many of these paintings I did saw success that I had never experienced before and got me connected to people all around the world. It even led to recognition from the creators of many of the franchises I was covering, which was an incredibly surreal experience on multiple occasions. Despite the success from these I knew that being a commission based artist in that capacity was still sadly not a feasible career path. However, the new direction my life took gave me the confidence to attempt something i had only dreamed of to that point.

Since I can remember my love for tattoos and the culture surrounding them has always been a focal point in my art sensibilities but I had effectively created a skill wall between myself and the tattoo artists I had become friends with over the years. Eventually I had bluntly asked some of them If they thought I had what it takes to become a tattoo artist. Once I was able to quell my imposter syndrome with the support of many I then took it upon myself to practice every day until I decided I was ready to start searching for apprenticeship.

Knowing the struggles of getting into the industry I attempted to alleviate the situation by moving 3 hours away to live with my sister so I could afford to only have a part time job while I trained. While I was away I was able to focus on not just tattooing but all forms of art, I was able to build my skills in portrait work along with being able to be involved with the local music scene back home by creating album artwork and tour posters for events. Although I was able to find a shop to take me it it ended up not being a good learning experience and proved tough to build new clientele without knowing many people.

I made the tough decision to come back home and finish my apprenticeship here, but i’m eager to get a new start and cant wait to see what I can achieve doing this job I never thought I was good enough to have. I will most likely get back to tattooing within weeks of writing this at a new shop that i’m helping my new mentor open up back here at home.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The beautiful thing about hitting rock bottom is when you are down there you start to easily parse out what is most important to you in life. I have long since decided that I will do everything I possibly can to make tattooing a full time career for me – despite any past, present or future obstacles in my path. I have firm belief that having this mentality in such a competitive field is truly the only way to carve out a path for yourself. Just in order to move back home for an opportunity to finish my apprenticeship, I worked 60 hours a week for 4 months straight to save up in order to afford it. Just to expedite the process I even worked 3rd shift ( 4 pm -4am) to quickly save so I could get the wheels rolling to tattoo again. I am not the best artist in the world, I was not born with the innate ability to create like many I know – but I make up for these things with discipline and determination. I emphasize these two things for anyone trying to make it out there.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It took me a very long time to come to the conclusion of this in my life but the most satisfying aspect of any of this is sharing a connection with someone who relates to the thing you’ve made. The world can be an incredibly isolating place but Art is the great connector. Every time I go to a museum I will see a painting I connect with and suddenly I don’t feel as lonely as I did before it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @devinparkerjacobs
• Facebook: Devin Parker Jacobs
• Twitter: @MFDPJ