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

Alright, Justin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

One of the most prominent issues I came across with tattooing was my ability to step into my own authority. Now that I know myself and the ways I prefer to work more intimately, I can stay within my integrity by telling clients what I offer and wouldn’t mind redirecting them to someone who might be a better fit if theres uncertainty with either the client or I. To communicate your value and process with a client, it takes not only knowing yourself, but also the value you’re providing. This sense of self has allowed me to have a more objective and neutral stance on my skill level and gives reference to what my services are worth. This game of knowing your worth and also not losing sight of where you could be getting better is a balancing act that shows you you’re probably worth more than your inner critic tells you. If a client comes to me and expresses a feeling that they weren’t provided with a fair trade of value, I have to be discerning to what might be gone wrong and where in my process could I adjust to prevent that from happening again. Now if I were to have two or three clients back to back tell me they feel jipped or taken advantage of, then it’s time to take a hard look at what I’m doing wrong. Luckily I haven’t had more than one client have issues at a time and they’re also rare which is the goal. I’ve agreed to pricing and projects that didn’t feel quite right and almost every time the unspoken awkwardness will come to bare teeth later in the process. Early on in my career I took on a client that didn’t know what he wanted really, being so vague I found myself sweating blood trying to find a design that would work for him. He ultimately didn’t like the design but never told me. So in the lack of communication, he ended up feeling like an undervalued client with a over priced piece. My goal with every client now is to make sure they get the right person and piece they’re looking for no matter if I have to send them off or tell them no three times. The power of “No” is a big part of what defines you as an individual and service provider, allowing you to focus in more on your passions.

Justin, 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?

My name is Justin Pain,

I’m a suburbian that grew up all over Denver and always yearned for the beach or forested valleys. The drive to travel and potentially relocate plagued my mind for most of my childhood and manifested as escapism where I’d go on long hikes and sometimes get lost practically on purpose. Although the desire to be financially stable prior to setting out on the world has been my preferred goal as to prevent prolonging my more long term goals like buying land and building a sustainable farm.

When I graduated high-school, I thought due to my parents, that I’d be best off going to get a six year degree, so I went to university for a whole semester in graphic design. That semester drove me to depression and my first real existential crisis quickly. My future was in logo’s and professional art for businesses where I’d be freelancing or apart of a team and maybe a slight bit of my ideas would be mashed in with the best of our group. So after realizing how awful that sounded and how hellish my future felt, I knew it was time to find an alternative. Art school was too expensive seeming to me at the time so I hit the pavement and handed out resumes anywhere that’d take them. Almost sent myself off to the Navy during this time as it seemed like the only other option, but luckily decided not to and a few months after, a friend offered his old tattoo machine to me. So in a few months, I realized how much demand I had for tattoos with my friends lining up to get one and I decided it was time to find an apprenticeship and do this the right way. It took six months of walking shop to shop until I found one that said I could hang out if I helped clean. That was now over six years ago and I’ve had a non stop adventure of taking leaps of faith, trusting I could handle the challenge of making career moves with a passion for my work.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My overall goal in artistic ventures is to utilize collective symbolism and an appreciation for all things being sacred to remind us of our own divine nature.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

When I do my best in relating to a non-creative about my life in work, I find it the most difficult to protray the fear of missing out one can have as an artist. This feeling can come from being split between practicing the thing you know you’re good at or trying something new. A new medium, art form, style, or even something more focused on a more traditional education. For me, things like making music, anthropology, archeology, and psychology all have strong enough pulls that I’ve considered dropping everything to choose another path entirely due to my desire to be really good at whatever I choose. It’s hard to imagine I could be a Renaissance man and have each of these categories of interest polished off to make me a well rounded person in each category without the risk of becoming a jack of all trades. So sometimes, I feel less intelligent or even engaged in life than others who may have multiple skills and passions such as these. Also, this even comes up when trying a slightly different style of art and starting at the beginning of a learning curve with new patterns or mediums. So a constant critical look at what I want to do and have energy/time for is necessary for me to avoid burnout by overdoing one thing or starting something new before I really fulfilled my desired result with the last. This feeling alone can make me feel paralyzed and scatter brained if aloud to go unchecked for too long. The reigns on my focus are the most important relationship I have. I can pull one way but that is no guarantee my mind and body won’t throw me off, so being self aware of this constant balance has been integral for me to be confident at any medium/style/etc.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @justin2pain