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

Alright, Jake thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

One of the most meaningful projects that I’ve worked on would be the last project I just completed over the course of two full day sittings. My client came to me because he was drawn to my attention to every last detail for his consultation. He had recently lost his father and wanted a tattoo done to memorialize him. Him and his dad would always go down to the coast of Florida and go deep-sea fishing. Every year they would take a trip out to the shore and go way out to the end of the horizon.

My client chose me to do this because I took hours of my time sitting with him to really understand what he wanted with his permanent piece of artwork. I listen to what he had to say and why he wanted what he did. The most meaningful part of the whole project, to me, is really sitting down and talking with this person and learning his or her’s story.

He explained to me that every time they would go out on the boat, they would spot a sea turtle. I made a large note to remind me to include this as a big part of the design.

I spent the next few weeks finding and resourcing reference photos from everywhere I could find. I made him a full chest piece, that covered from shoulder to shoulder. There was a large compass, with the offshore map of Florida, with the coordinates of where they would go fish. On the other side, a large sea turtle swims off of the tide of a large fishing boat. In the boat is him and his dad, a silhouette of his last memories with his father. Behind the boat is a calm horizon, where the boat drifts away.

I truly love taking on these types of projects with so much thought attached. He trusted me through the whole planning stage and that really helped me come up with a design that my client and I were both thrilled with. Being an artist and being able to make people smile and confident with their decision is the ultimate satisfaction.

Jake, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I grew up in the South Atlanta area and started tattooing around the age of 21. I have been tattooing for around four years now, this being the first in my own studio. Before tattooing, I played college baseball for a few years before coming back home. I always was an artist growing up doing graphic design, graffiti, and logos. I was always fascinated by art that it was always just apart of me, I never really thought about it. I never even thought about becoming a tattoo artist until I went a got my first sleeve. Being around the culture and seeing the artist come to work everyday and tattoo was mind-blowing to me. What career could be better, than doing art? Every day? All day? Pretty sure there isn’t one.

Fast forward now and my life has changed for the better. Art and tattooing took me off one path and placed me on a completely different one. That’s all thanks to God, as well. I now spend my days doing full day seven hour sessions, focusing on making one client completely happy per day. I focus on building an emotional attachment from the client to the project. What do they really want? What’s the actual problem I need to solve? How can I show them this solution and get them to be “all-in” with me? I focus on being completely transparent and real with my client from the start. I want to learn everything about this new tattoo you want. Even if it is just something you “want to get for a while now”; you still have a REASON for getting it. I focus on honing into that reason, and generating a piece of art from scratch that will speak to you in a way that develops emotional attachment. Instead of just looking for as many clients as possible through different lead sources… I can really hone into each client I want to work with and develop a relationship with each client. Really understand where they are coming from and why they want me to do their project. Once the client feels like they are really worth your time, then you will have no problem being the solution. I always put my client first and think about what they would find total confidence in.

Being a tattoo artist is a lot more than just showing up to work on Monday morning at 10 am with a coffee and turning the open sign on. You have to be fully committed to this lifestyle to make it work. Nobody will bring leads in for you, and nobody cares if your leads don’t want to get tattooed by you. It’s all up to you in this game and that’s why I love it. You have to be extremely hungry to survive as an artist in general, but especially as a tattoo artist.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The school system can better implement more ways to get underprivileged children and teenagers into art. There are plenty of kids out there who are artists, like I was, but don’t even know yet. I was 21 when I even got introduced to tattooing, some kids don’t even make it to see that age.

I plan to start a charity or nonprofit dedicated to helping these types of kids, teenagers, and young adults. Art can change lives if in the right hands. I have witnessed it take place and plan to share this with others. How art and tattooing can take you from one place and put you in a completely different situation. It’s one of those things like skateboarding…. I can give you a brand new $450 setup and watch you do half an ollie. I give a professional skateboarder a $35 Walmart board and he can gap a 10-stair jump first try. The same exact thing applies for tattooing. It’s not the setup, the machine, or the brand. You can start tattooing today for $50-$100. The only difference between a person with a $50 rotary tattoo machine and a bottle of ink is the hustle, determination, and perseverance of the one who is willing to learn and sacrifice. You wont be great the first six months of tattooing or skateboarding, that’s just life. But stick with it, and watch how good you can get with that Walmart skateboard or Amazon rotary machine.

Sacrifice and stay down the first six months to year it takes to really develop a foundation in this game. Once it’s there, it’s there forever. You can build a whole life on it! Take your time and just understand that everyone sucks the first time they try. THATS LIFE!

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Having something called a polarized filter. This is an attachment lens you can put directly on your iPhone or DSLR. It reduces almost ALL of the glare on the tattoo you’re taking a picture or video of. Pair the CPL filter lens with a light box and you are money. This will help your pictures look not only more professional but also more readable. Raw iPhone pictures using a weak light source will not help your tattoo pictures at all.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.1890tattoo.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/1890tattoo
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/1890tattoo
• Youtube: www.facebook.com/jakestowers
• Other: Follow my personal Instagram as well @JakeStowerss