We recently connected with Marc Draven and have shared our conversation below.

Marc, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

There’s quite a few different projects that I would say stuck with me over the years, for different reasons.

If we’re looking at a achievement level:

I created the Ink Fusion Empire in 2007. Never before had anyone crossed over professional tattooing into the Comic Con / pop culture world, so everything I did was new, fresh, and uncharted territory. Quite nerve-racking as well, but exciting! Within the first three years of putting together the programming and relationships with Health departments across the Country, we established the first licensed tattoo program from Lucasfilm LTD. I’m a nerd, and especially a Star Wars Nerd. So it was very surreal walking into the convention to set up, and have George Lucas stop over to shake my hand, thanking us for being there. Yes, I did my best not to geek out )
During the same time, we also established a tattoo program that the Godfather of Comics, Stan. Stan is legendary in the creation of the likes of Spiderman, The Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and several other Marvel Universe characters. He created the ideas and back stories, while the likes of Jack Kirby would bring the images to life. Stan and I would offer a Tattoo raffle, where people had the opportunity to win a tattoo of Spiderman, designed by him on site at the event. Literally a one of a kind design, live, at these events. He was always very supportive of the tattoo program, even though he was an older gentleman, with no tattoos. ( to the best of my knowledge lol ) Not only did he endorse our program, but also allowed me to create my first licensed product with him. It was an 8 inch figure of Stan, with Ink Fusion Branding. We only made 200 pieces world wide, and Stan would sign them at events that we worked together. With Stan’s help, it catapulted our exposure in both the Tattoo and Pop Culture Industries.

Since then we’ve also established the only tattoo license agreements with the likes of Star Trek / Paramount, The Halloween Franchise, WWE wrestling, and a few I can’t announce quite yet. 2025 we will be ” rolling the dice ” into new license agreements. This will make much more sense in a very short time. So keep your eyes on our Socials.These are all major brands I’ve grown up with, and getting these opportunities and achievements has made all of the work involved worth it. For licensed Product, we’ve created figures of Stan, Robert Englund ( known for Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy), Ricou Browning ( the Creature from the Black Lagoon ), Lance Henriksen ( from Aliens, Pumpkinhead, Terminator, Millennium ), and working on Kane Hodder ( Friday the 13th’s Jason )

On a more personal level of meaning:

I had a female client come in to the studio. She was a breast cancer survivor who had been through hell dealing with a double mastectomy, chemo, and radiation treatment. During that time of treatment, she had also found that her husband was not being faithful, and she was shattered. She no longer felt like she had any value, and no longer felt complete as a woman. She had implants after her treatment, but the scar tissue from the surgeries and treatment was pretty heavy. The Dr. at the facility had tried reconstruct the nipple-areola area and tattoo pigment to make them look more natural. Long story short, they’re not tattoo artists and it didn’t end up looking natural at all. Her and I sat down and went over the different options as to what would help make her feel complete. With the heavy scarring from the procedures, she wanted to see as little of it as possible. So we went with a floral design, that would look like a sheer brazier. She sat like a rock, and had about 4 appointments to get to the finished product. The last time she came in, she had said that she felt complete, and like a beautiful woman again, emotionally and physically. This woman is stronger than most I’ve ever seen come into my studio, and I feel very grateful that she trusted me enough to take on such a task, and be part of her healing journey.

Not all projects have to be financial gain or in the camera’s of social media. Some just make you feel like you’re making a lifelong difference in a personals world.

Marc, 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?

I got into the industry as a teenager. I started to tinker around with tattooing at the age of 16, but I wouldn’t call myself a professional until I was well in my 20’s. There was no internet, or much reference out there to learn from, and there wasn’t any ” Tattoo schools” or very friendly apprenticeships. It’s a whole different world now. It’s all at the fingertips of the internet. So my title these days would be “Global Body art director” for many of the Comic Cons and Entertainment shows. I handle all of the logistics with contract negotiations, health department requirements, talent booking for the events, and everything in between. Creative marketing aka ” The Idea guy “. I’m not really huge on social media, as that in itself can be a fulltime job. When I’m not at the events, I’m pretty low profile at home. I have a wonderful family, but I don’t put much about them on social media. My private life is just that, private.

As far as products and services. My company is sponsored by @rockstarreadytattoosupplies, who’s been supporting us for years in the industry. They provide us with many products used for our temporary events from ink, needles, to sanitation and medical supplies. Great product and great people to work with.

Problem solving is a daily task. Making sure clients are taking care of their tattoos after events, following directions, to making sure the artists at these events are licensed and conducting themselves to the stardards we’ve established as a team over the years. We have a code of conduct that all of my team have a voice in. If there’s something that should be addressed for the Comic Con / Entertainment show atmosphere, we all have a say in it. These types of shows are very different than Tattoo conventions, so it’s important that we treat is as so. Family friendly, and safe environment. I’m strict, but it’s what kept us as the leading tattoo program at these types of shows for 18 years now.

Our brand offers many different artists, with many different styles. I think it’s important that clients do some research about the artists attending the events, and know what they’re looking to get done before hand. Some artists may specialize in some styles, that may not be what the client is looking to achieve, so it’s good for both the artist and the client to know if it’s a good fit before the client sits down.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

There’s a whole new generation of artists out, and this shifts every few years. I’m of the ” older generation ” as I’ve been doing this for 30 years, but I get to work with new artists all the time. I don’t bring in new artists if they’ve not been tattooing for at least 3 years as a professional, and licensed. Apprentices email me all the time, but as talented as some of them are, they need more time to learn the business side of things, and how to deal with people. There is new trends set every few months it seems, but trendy doesn’t mean the tattoo is going to hold up for long, and a true apprenticement should teach artists for a few years before they start tattoo people on a regular basis. Traditional design tattoo artists differ from photorealism. Animation is different than graffiti style tattooing. Cosmetic tattooing/ permanent makeup is MUCH DIFFERENT than illistrative tattooing. I put the emphasis on that last one, because we’re seeing several new artists that have taken a 3 day course is cosmetic tattooing, trying to tattoo design work on people. It’s not enough education or time to know how to do the other. You don’t go to a eye Dr. for foot problems, right? they’re both Dr.’s but in different fields. Artists are the same way, so I think it’s important for people to do the research.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Oh for sure! If the Internet was available back in the day, us older artists wouldn’t have libraries full of art books! lol.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.inkfusionempire.com
• Instagram: @marcdraven , @inkfusionempire, @theentertainmentink, @geeksterink
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inkfusionempire
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGF4w5Hd2IUfL2VzID0BJHg