Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Khaliq ‘Liq”. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Khaliq, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I think I always new that I “wanted” to do something creative professionally, but it wasn’t until I was alot older that I actually saw that path as something I could actually take on. I grew up in Inglewood, I was always smart when it came to grades and test scores. When people see that at you from a young age, the consensus is never, “Oh go and do something creative to earn a living.” Its the classic, “Oh go be a doctor, or a lawyer, or a business person,” one of those classics that is stable, and earns good money, and that whole thing. Initially, thats the route that I went, going to Yale to study economics, gearing up to go off and be a Wall Street banking type or some other sort of finance guy who worked long hours for somebody else but made good money. I was never really interested in that beyond being good at that sort of work and thinking that that was just the route that people like me took in life if I wanted a better situation for myself and my family. Like I said, test scores and good grades in school came easy to me, and I definitely excelled in those areas; but what always got me excited was anytime I was making things with my hands, or creating, or playing basketball (which was definitely a creative outlet for me). I think the first time that I really saw someone that I knew pursuing a creative path professionally and excelling at it was when I got my first few tattoos. I was in highschool, and I met Nene, who was tattooing out of a private studio in Downey, CA at the time. We hit it off, and through all the sessions I would just watch him work when I could and ask him questions about his life and his work. He would tell me about how he’s his own boss, and he sets his own schedule, and does whatever he wants the rest of the day, and gets paid well for it. I remember thinking to myself that that right there was the life I wanted for me. But, I never thought that kind of life was for somebody like me because like I said earlier, I didn’t see myself as somebody who supposed to make a living being creative or that that was even something possible for me. So yea, thats a long winded way of saying that meeting Nene and talking to him was what first opened my eyes to the possibilities of the path that I’m currently on. As a side note too, everything really came full circle because he ended up being like a big brother to me; and seven years later, when I started my apprenticeship as a tattoo artist, he was the one who took me on and became my mentor.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Id start by saying that Ive always loved tattoos. As a kid I would spend hours stamping those fake tattoos on myself. I dont know what my kindergarten teachers must have thought because I would show up to school with two full sleeves of fake tattoos plastered all over my arms. I was the kid who would come home from school covered in sharpie, and a couple of times in elementary school, I got in trouble trying to poke tattoos into my arm with tacks and things like that, just out of curiosity. In high school I taught myself photoshop with a friend just to collage images together and see what they would look like on my body before I got them done in real life. Even as I got older, I would design tattoos for friends, but for whatever reason, didnt think about actually doing them; so I kind of got into tattooing in around about way. As I had talked about before, I went to Yale, studied economics, and thought that I was going into a wall street/finance gig. I actually did my first tattoos at Yale. Every now and then I would be over that place and would just sit in my room wanting to get back to the west coast. It was during one of those times that I decided it would be a good idea for me to buy a cheap tattoo machine off of the internet and try it right on my leg. I did a few more over the years, just as a hobby, never thinking much of it. Fast forward a few years, I graduate from Yale, play a little bit of professional basketball overseas, and I’m 24 years old, back in LA between seasons. It was around this time that I started playing around with the idea of tattooing again, started spending alot of time at the shop that Nene started, and met one of my best friends Noah (an incredibly talented tattoo artist) who was apprenticing with Nene at the time that I met him. I’d show them the tattoos that I would do on myself and my friends/family at the time, and they could tell it was something that I was really into. I was hesitant to jump into tattooing as a profession, but over the next few months they convinced me; and after injuring my foot and not being able to go play basketball in Australia, I decided that I would take that leap from a hobby to a career.
When I first started tattooing I was focusing more on larger scale pieces, similar to the ones that I had on myself, like the ones that Nene (my mentor) would do. When I first started I was working six day weeks, putting in eight, ten, twelve hour days with the rest of the guys. At first, there was alot I had to do in terms of learning, and building my resume, and learning how to promote myself on social media and things like that. When I wasnt tattooing myself, or finding other ways to work on tattooing, I was just watching Nene and Noah tattoo for hours.; literally sitting right next to them, asking questions, and trying to learn as much as I could through the process of their tattoos. As I continued, Noah began doing smaller and smaller scale pieces, and when Nene would be away tattooing celebrities and traveling to other countries to tattoo, I was spending alot of time watching Noah tattoo. It was during this time that he would help coach me up as well (since he was already learning Nene’s techniques and was nearing the end of his own apprenticeship. I remember him telling me that small, fineline tattoos were going to be the next popular thing in Los Angeles, and that I should learn how to start doing those as well. So I started trying to hone in on the smaller scale pieces, and eventually that began to be where alot of my tattoo business was coming in from.
Nowadays pretty much everything that I do tattoo wise is small scale tattoos, thin, single needle linework with soft shading, and sometimes alot of detail in a small space. I enjoy doing them especially because not everyone can do such small pieces and pull them off. And I feel like thanks to Nene and Noah, and my drive to really get tattooing down, I was able to get going fairly quickly. Almost 5 years later here I am; and I always feel like there is more to learn and progress with in this industry, but I’m really proud of where I’ve come in a short amount of time.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I think the most rewarding aspect of taking on the creative pathway that I have is that I’m the one in control of wether I sink or swim. At times it can be stressful, but I also feel like thats the tradeoff. When I feel like I need to kick it up a notch, I can go harder. If I feel like I need to pull back a bit, I can do that as well. The freedom of schedule is definitely a huge part of it for me. I love what I do, but it can still be tiring and parts or all of it can still feel like work. Some days I’ll get up in the morning and surf, roll on into work to do a few tattoos, and then head home and play some basketball. I couldnt think of a better way to spend a day. Its the ability to balance my work and life however I see fit that is a huge draw for me.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I feel like all throughout my life I’ve pivoted around, moving in the direction that I see fit even when it might not make sense to everybody else. From Inglewood, to Yale, to overseas basketball, and now tattooing; Ive done my fair share of pivoting. The ability and willingness to pivot has been a huge part of my life. Im a big proponent of doing the things in life that you want to do when possible. Not to say that we dont have responsibilities and commitments that we have to take care of; but at the end of the day, all we have in this life is our time and how we spend it. For me, that isnt something that I take lightly. Ive been in situations in my life where I maybe shouldnt have made it through, and those experiences have taught me that life can be fragile, and that we should try to enjoy it wherever we can. Life and circumstances and we as human beings are always changing, so that ability to pivot when we need to is a vital component in our evolution. When we’re tied to things because other people think we should do them, or because thats simply what society says we’re “supposed” to do or be, and they arent in line with our own thoughts and ideas about how we want to live our life, then we miss out on alot of chances and moments to be happy and enjoy our lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.LiqfromtheWood.com
- Instagram: LiqfromtheWood
- Other: email: appointments@LiqfromtheWood.com