Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lindsey Andrew. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Lindsey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?
Tattooing is crazy, there are new trends popping up constantly. With trends ranging anywhere from embroidery and holographic sticker tats, all the way to some insane micro-realism, the possibilities are quite literally endless when it comes to tattooing. It’s amazing seeing what people are capable of with a needle to skin.
With these tattoo trends being so new, there isn’t a lot of pieces that have been healed for multiple years to be able to see how these designs hold up over time. Tattoos naturally spread a bit over the years, that’s just the way of the human body. Take those micro-realism tattoos for example. So a lot of tattoo artists look at these amazingly detailed tattoos the size of a quarter and while thouroughly impressed at the itty bitty details, they’re also extremely curious to see what they’ll look like in 5, 10 years.
While the longevity of some of these trends is questionable, it doesn’t take away from the fact that they’re really cool looking! Embroidery tattoos are ones I’ve taken a particular liking to. I just stared at a lot of patch tats for hours trying to figure out how they’re done. I tried it on fake skin and was pretty happy with the result and learned a lot about what to/not to do and soon after put one on myself. It’s about 4 months healed now and it’s holding up great! It makes me really excited to put more of these on people.
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?
Hey there, my name is Lindsey! I’ve been an artist since I was a kid. Crochet, painting, drawing, baking, you name it, im in. No matter the craft, I love detail work and fun colors!
I got into the tattoo industry in September of 2021 when my friend, Christine, who was an apprentice told me to apply to the same apprenticeship. Tattooing is something I’ve thought about doing a few times but anytime I tried to bring a portfolio into shops or ask around for apprentice positions, I got turned down. So I was super excited when I got accepted into this apprenticeship program! I was there for only 2 months because it just wasn’t a good fit for me. I don’t have the “Hustle your way to the top” mentality required for that shop.
Christine also left that shop and mentored me with tracing and fake skin for a while. She ended up getting a job at Lucky 13 Tattoo and put in a good word for me there. I got an apprenticeship position at Lucky 13 in May of 2022 where she, and other artists in the shop, continued to mentor me.
Tattooing is something that I really never expected to love as much as I do. It’s a huge passion of mine because with everything everyone’s taught me and what I continue to learn, my art has improved a ton! I’ve never felt as proud of myself as I do in tattooing because my growth is definitely showing.
I feel like my style is a big cocktail of different styles, but leans towards Neotraditional. I love tattooing anything cute, colorful, or cartoony.
I’ve always loved tattoos in general. Currently I have 51 of them and each one of those has helped me love that specific part of my body. As someone who’s struggled with self confidence issues most of my life, my tattoos are a way to help me love the body I’m in. That’s the feeling I hope to give to my clients after I tattoo them. I just want people to feel amazing in their bodies! Tattooing is absolutely an energy exchange between you and your client and I consider it an honor to be a part of that process.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Instagram has been a huge part of getting new clientele. I’ve been doing random flash sales and boosting the posts for them. That’s gotten me a good chunk of my clients! I also always carry around my business cards or stickers to hand out to people. If someone comments on my tattoos, my instant response is “I actually do tattoos! I’ve done a few on myself! If you’re interested here’s a card, you can check out my work if you want.” Networking like that has also been a good way to get your name out there. Even if passing out your cards or stickers doesn’t bring a client into your shop, there’s still a good chance they’ll check out your work or follow you on social media.
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?
Throughout my whole life with art, baking, etc., I’ve always had people just openly try and take advantage of me and get my products for free or discounted because I have a skill that they don’t. The thing that I always try to explain to people when that happens is that just because I don’t work a desk job or anything doesn’t mean I’m not working. As most creatives know, art takes a lot of time and energy to produce! On top of that is an aspect that I think people don’t ever consider, and that’s all of the hard work and education it took to be able to produce that art.
I find this to be especially true with tattooing apprenticeships. With a proper apprenticeship, you start at the very bottom and have to earn the respect of the people above you to move forward. That can take a few months or a few years, and you don’t become an artist until they say so. It’s usually hard, unpaid work to help the artists around you and trying to learn the craft in the process. Tattooing is a well earned honor.
That being said, it’s kind of offensive when people ask for free or super cheap tattoos, especially if you don’t even know them. This is because (1) you worked yourself to the bone to get where you’re at, (2) designs can take hours to draw up for people, and (3) tattoo supplies are honestly super expensive. Setting up for even a small tattoo still costs at LEAST $10-15 for the supplies, and even more for bigger tattoos. So to ask for tattoos for such a low price is completely discounting the hours of work that goes into that process. Imagine working a full 8 hour day and not getting paid for it. Doesn’t sound fun, right?
Even though what tattoo artists do seems like a fun and easy job, it’s absolutely not easy. Creatives need to pay their bills too, ya know? I think that deserves more respect than it’s given at times.
Contact Info:
- Website: Lindseyandrew.journoportfolio.com
- Instagram: @LindseysTattyTats
- Email: [email protected]