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

Alright, Ivan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Tattooing to me turned into a lifestyle. I have been getting professional tattoos since I was 16 years old. I can remember a time when getting a face tattoo was really on a different level. Now its trendy. There was still a certain mystique tattooing revered when I was green to tattooing. I stumbled into an apprenticeship right when Miami Ink was just airing. I had done hand poke tattoos on family and tattooed myself with crude prison style machines at this point. But nothing ever professional. Now I’ve worked alone in tiny single person booths to working with upwards of six artists together in an open air plan. In the begging my first mentor explained to me that I would not be ready to open my own shop until I was at least 10 years into tattooing professionally. He was an old biker who was cooler than google cause he knew everything. He was right. Over the years I rolled with the punches taking lessons from the situation that would walk in to the tattoo shop. Throughout the years people would tell me stories about myself and when speaking of me the other individual engaging in conversation would have an eureka moment when hearing my last name “TwoBulls”. Years had passed and it became my time to heed the helm. I take an Old School outlook on tattooing and simply apply that to the modern day demand for tattoos as they evolved. My concept is simple bullet proof tattooing made for the working class.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a life long artist. From pre K to today I have been creating art. I feel that urge to naturally create with anything. Tattooing fell into my lap. I ran with it for years and became ungrateful for what I was given. I became a drunk. I battled alcoholism and eventually hit rock bottom multiple times. I owe my career to Andy Westman who kept me afloat during this time and made me take a hard look at my life and where it was going to go. My daughter just turned one so I decided to never drink again for myself to be able to be there for my child. In August of 2023 I will have six years alcohol free. Since then my career has become more then I could even dream of. Tattooing is something special to me in which I hold dearly to my heart. Being clear minded I can really focus on my craft and the workmanship put into each tattoo. Other than my family tattooing is all I know. Its all I do and want to do. I focus on one client a day. As a new client most see how deep tattooing can get and that there really are levels to this like any other industry. From tiny little tattoos to full body coverage the tattoos I make are always tailor made with longevity in mind. I love evolving with the industry but keep everything I create based off of knowledge obtained through long term experience. I take teachings from all disciplines of tattooing and implement them into my daily routine. TwoBulls Tattooing is tried and true with integrity.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

One time on social media another tattoo artist in my town was going on a long rant about another artist under cutting his price. So jokingly I said that I would have just done the tattoo for free to undercut both of them just for fun. The artist ranting about the prices was angry with my response and continued on. The shop I worked in at the time was in an old gas station with a large sign out front with the letters you could move around and spell out phrases. I put “Free Tattoo Tuesdays” up on the sign. It ran for a month and the local newspaper eventually came in and wanted to know about the sign out front. The newspaper wrote an article about me and the tattoo shop then put my picture and the write up on the front page of the paper.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Right now I have a good friend occupying space in the shop. He really is my go to person for anything that I need help with Thomas Walsh. He’s a good ol fashioned walk in artist. His books are getting filled now that people are able to see his take on the traditional side of tattooing. I remember the day he came in to the shop I was working at looking for a place to tattoo. Our mentor at the time Andy had Thomas do an interview tattoo where he would do a small tattoo and the rest of us would see if Thomas was a good fit or not. Tommy did the tattoo. It was solid from what I remember. Tom got the job. I was hesitant of him at first because I don’t like new things but we became good friends. We partied together played hooky from work drank till the sun came up but these days we just want to make cool tats. And we are doing it. Its a good feeling knowing Tom is in it for the long haul and for all the right reasons.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.twobullstattoos.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/2bullstat2/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/twobullstattoos