We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lucas Zimmer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lucas below.
Lucas, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
My name is Lucas and I am a tattoo artist working out of Iron Rhino Tattoo in Roseville. After years of looking I was able to find someone willing to teach me to tattoo. I’ve been drawing close to my whole life and had compiled a solid drawing portfolio to show my work. Going through my apprenticeship was challenging but very rewarding. Fortunately tattooing is a trade that takes years to learn and even more to master- something that I find very appealing due to liking challenges. Because it is a trade that takes so long to learn, the only way to get to a certain level of skill is to work hard and dedicate yourself to it wholeheartedly. Having years of drawing and painting under my belt before getting into this is probably the most essential thing that let me become successful in this industry.
I did the majority of my apprenticeship during covid. That means doing consultations for every appointment over zoom or video calls. Unfortunately this leads to miscommunications of the specific details that someone may have wanted. Now that things have opened up a little more, many people still want to video call instead of talk face to face about their idea. I and the majority of artist would wear masks if it makes people more comfortable but getting back to a more personal level when it comes to something permanent like tattoos is a must for clients. I believe talking in person about your tattoo idea directly translates to how well the design will fit with you.
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?
My name is Lucas Zimmer and I am a professional tattoo artist working at iron rhino tattoo. After a 3 year long apprenticeship I’ve just completed my first year with my full professional license. I started out as a graphite artist and specialized in realism and surrealism. I fancy Japanese styles and you can see the heavy influence it’s had on my style.
Being a new professional in this industry I’ve been incredibly lucky to have the trusting clientele I’ve gotten to tattoo. Recently I’ve been doing larger scale Japanese thigh pieces and leg wraps- something I didn’t think anyone would let me do until at least 5 more years into this. The fact that I’ve gotten these opportunities hopefully speaks to the quality and care I put into my work and designs.
I’m not the most keen on social media and because of that I’ve gotten a lot of clients organically by word of mouth. I do have a light presence on instagram and Facebook but I’d rather have my work speak for itself instead of getting clouted up for a few edited tattoo pictures.
That being said I’m out here trying to solely make killer tattoos and have the people wearing them to feel great about them for the rest of their lives!
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I think any time you hire an artist you need to be sure you like their style. Being willing to fully share your idea and letting go of the creative reigns will almost always get you a very unique and special piece of art. Also being sure of the idea is an absolute must. Nothing will kill a creatives inspiration like making a complete design change after they’ve spent 5 plus hours working on the design they spoke with you about. It takes a long time to compose, rough draft, tune and then final draft every design artists create. Patience and understanding that artists are usually working on many designs at the same time is something to keep in mind. We know you are excited! We are too! Messaging us every day for a design update WILL stress your artist out. Something that I’ve noticed with certain individuals is that they think this is the service industry. Yes we provide a service but we ourselves are not the service. Unlike a restaurant, if you are disrespectful to your “server” in this industry, we reserve the right to refuse our services.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Getting to see how much body art can change someone’s opinion of themselves. It can be a very empowering process and have seen it boost peoples self esteem to new heights. I don’t think there’s enough self-care in our society and too many people beat up on themselves for the smallest things. Some even haunted by horrible happenings. For some, a tattoo has brought a sense of closure and made them feel stronger about themselves. -starting new chapters.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: mn_sloth
- Facebook: Lucas Zimmer