We caught up with the brilliant and insightful E.j. Allen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
E.J., appreciate you 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?
Any kind of freelance career is expected to be kind of rough starting out. For me this was no exception unfortunately! With tattooing, traditionally you complete an apprenticeship under a mentor. In most cases these will last about a year or so, some more. When I started my apprenticeship, I was still enrolled in college but I wasn’t employed anywhere else at that time. One of the reasons why these things can be a hard start financially is because you don’t start off making any money at all. And in most cases you are paying for the time it takes to teach you, as well as all of your supplies. So as a college freshman just starting to take on rent and all of my other life expenses this was kind of rough. Luckily I was working with wonderful people who were more than generous with lending me supplies and advice to get started! But a lot of the time, the craft itself seems like only half the battle. With a freelance job, there’s so many factors that matter outside of just your work itself. Not only your reputation within that community, but the shops reputation as well. How marketable and desirable your work is, and what kind of audience would want to get it again. Of course time builds that reputation as well, with people having more trust in your abilities, and recommending others to check out what you have to offer. So although slow, with keeping these things in mind I was eventually able to start making enough to support myself with tattooing. Marketing yourself and your art in order to keep that up has its own challenges, but with what I’ve learned so far, I hope I can continue to keep growing.
E.J., 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?
I have been tattooing for about two years now, but art has been a big part of my life for about twelve years. I have always focused on drawing as a creative outlet for myself, but within the most recent years it has been a passion I’ve been really happy to share with others as well! When I began my career as a tattoo artist in 2022, I started at The Hive Body Art Collective as an apprentice artist. Throughout this time I’ve gotten to meet so many amazing people, learning not only through other artists but through my clients and community as well. Most of what I tattoo isn’t entirely the same as the art I make for myself, but both mediums have their advantages. I’ve always been a huge fan of media like anime, tv shows, comics, and video games. All of which have been huge inspirations for me and my artwork at home. Most of the art I make on my own time is fan art for various series, usually of the characters or work inspired by those stories. Although this kind of work isn’t as easily marketable or popular, (especially for tattooing), its always been how I prefer to have fun with my art and the series that I love. When I started learning how to tattoo, and began creating designs that would better fit in the tattoo scene, it got me out of my comfort zone a lot more. Getting to know new clients and work together with them to create something that they will love, really broadened how I see my own art. When I got to start drawing not only for myself but to help other people complete their own vision, it showed me how important art can be to people who don’t actively practice it. As well as how many different personalities and perspectives I get to see because of that. I love getting to know the people that I’m tattooing, and honestly the fact that my clients have put that trust in me and my art is such an honor I cant cherish enough.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I graduated high school, I actually had no intention of making a career out of tattooing at all. I wanted to be an art teacher. And although I still have a great respect for all of the educators out there, there are so many reasons why I am glad I changed my mind. I spent about two years at the University of North Georgia, where I majored in Art Education, and planned to minor in Graphic Design. I had taken several traditional art and graphic design courses throughout high school, and continued learning different traditional art mediums throughout college. And although I loved my art classes in college a lot, the longer I was there the more I realized that I didn’t really choose it for the right reasons. I loved a lot of my art teachers and the influence that they had in my journey with art. They helped me find who I was as an artist, and showed me that a helping hand and a change of perspective is super important when it comes to learning any craft. And although I am so glad that they were there to teach and help me, I came to realize that that wasn’t what I was made for. What I wanted about that career wasn’t to teach, I just wanted to stay in the art field. I wanted to make sure I could continue to create throughout my life no matter what. But when it comes to succeeding in an art focused career, the options are unfortunately very limited. While still enrolled in college, I worked as a waitress at a bar and grill. While I saved money, I had eventually left the restaurant scene that I was much more used to, and started focusing on putting together a portfolio. I compiled what I could of the work I had done with different examples of what I wanted to do with my art, and started searching for tattoo shops. I made a list of all of my options, and pretty much just started job searching. I went to about four or five different shops with no luck, some didn’t even want to see what I had at all. But eventually, I had some luck with someone willing to give me a chance to learn what I wanted to learn. There has been more than enough unexpected bumps in the road along the way, but with where I am now I cant be more happy with the opportunity I was given to do what I do. If I had not let myself explore different possibilities, I wouldn’t be where I am now, and I wouldn’t have met the people I know now. Although I’m not sure what could have been either, I’m very fortunate to be able to say that I feel like I made the right decision for myself.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Comparison is the thief of joy. This is something I still have to remind myself of fairly often. The story that comes to mind was when I was a freshman in high school, and there was an upperclassman artist that I looked up to quite a lot. All of her pieces were just beautiful. She would paint all the time and every painting would be even better than the last, with her work in every art show. I was always really excited to go see her work on display. I would look so closely at how she painted and the choices that she made throughout her art. And although it sounds awful, every time I would think of her work it just made me want to study how to do it even better. I remember making a promise to myself that I would make sure that by the time I was in her grade, my skills would exceed where she was then. Of course I knew that that was a horrible way to look at it at the time, but that’s just how I felt about it. There’s still times now where everything feels like a constant race. That I am way behind where I should be in comparison to my peers. But I know that that’s not the way to succeed. Art is something I’ve always felt should be done for yourself. And although not all artists may feel that way, the whole reason I wanted to draw in the first place was for me. When it comes to drawing and tattooing I know there is always going to be someone better right in front of me. But the great thing about being here now is getting to learn from those people instead of envying them. I am so incredibly grateful to be able to be around people who I can learn with, in a community that cares about helping each other grow. Its important to remember that that’s why I want to keep doing it. To be better than the person I was yesterday, not to be someone else.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @ej_allentattoo
