We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mars Fitch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mars, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’m still a very young tattooer, but I learned to tattoo thru an apprenticeship in Midtown. It was a small, brand new shop so it was different from other apprenticeships in that the business was slow to begin with and took a lot of personal effort to grow interest/clientele, whereas getting an apprenticeship at a shop with a lot of hype/business throws you into the mix faster. That being said I was taught very thoroughly the basics of being in the skin, and how to be a walk-in tattooer tattooing a bunch of styles. That was the way that all tattooers used to learn, being thrown into it at a busy street shop and taking whatever comes thru the door. It’s not very glamorous by Instagram standards, but that world is what taught me to be a tattooer, more than a person who makes tattoos. I had to learn how to build my
own machines, how to use them and what they’re capable of, how ink sits and heals in all skin types and shades, how to do many styles not just what I feel like doing (which is where the world of social media has taken most of tattooing these days). I had to deal with conflicts that arise from
working with other people in a shared space, clients and coworkers alike. Because my mentor was really old school and didn’t focus on social media a lot though, it swayed me from really putting care and effort into my social media presence as well as my actual tattoo/artwork. I thought that it didn’t matter to have a super curated online presence as long as I was working hard on the artwork in person, but that has been a big challenge to learn and something I wish I took more seriously/started learning about sooner.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a trans-masculine lesbian trained in old school machine tattooing. I love tattoo history just as much as I love making tattoos, being a part of a culture that’s “as ancient as time and as modern as tomorrow” (Stoney St. Clair). I got into tattooing because I was getting heavily tattooed, the best way apart from learning from a parent I’d say. I got my first classic Cap Coleman lady head tattooed on my arm by Tony Kaplan, a third generation tattooer in Queens (grandfather Big Joe Kaplan of Mt. Vernon, NY), and I was instantly hooked. Being from Brooklyn, getting tattooed by someone also from New York and so entrenched in the history was so special to me. Not to mention he was a rad dude who could make a rad tat and was so great to talk to. We became friends and I kept going back for more. Eventually I asked him what books I should read to know about this thing, whose work should I be following, who should I get tattooed by etc. After redrawing and painting classics for a few months while I worked another job, I shot m y shot for an apprenticeship in Midtown, and that was my in.
It wlasn’t an easy process there’s no qulestion, although I know it wasn’t anywhere near the trauma stories of apprenticeships’ past. My mentor tested me a lot, not just as a tattooer but a person, and I often feel those lessons in everything I do in this industry. No one wants to hear it, especially people my age, but I do find value in what I was taught while being apprenticed. Those lessons are not anything I could ever explain to someone, they just have to be lived.

I have a unique experience being a visibly queer tattooer in the old school traditional world. Working in shops hardens you haha, not in a bad way in my opinion, but in a way that prepares you for whatever comes your way in tattooing. I’ve often felt that the old-school dudes I’ve worked for have seen me as a young, relevant person in a tattoo world that is changing rapidly and probably scares them a little, if we’re being honest. I’d be scared too if everything I knew about my industry was shifting faster than I felt I could keep up. But that being said things always change in every industry, and everyone has to find ways to adapt. I feel lucky to be at an intersection of New World and Old World of tattooing. I can honor the past, respect what came before me, and build upon what’s existed to make the world of tattooing open to more people, especially people like me.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a tattooer in New York City for me is meeting the people I do, and getting to adorn them and make them feel more confident/satisfied in their bodies. I’ve always struggled with existing in my own skin and getting tattooed was so empowering and fun for me. My favorite thing in the world is when someone writes to me to say they can’t stop looking at their tattoo and they’re so in love, or they love taking pictures now because they can see the tattoo poking out. Cute stuff.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I can’t say there’s one backstory, more like a thousand tiny instances all woven together into a tapestry of “never doing that again”, Lol. One thing that comes to mind is being a Yes Man. People pleasing in any aspect of life is difficult to overcome, but when it comes to tattooing and putting art on people’s bodies, the best thing a person can do is to learn the art of saying No, or boundaries with Yes. Many times we as tattooers just want to make a person’s dreams come true, and it can be very hard to learn to reject ideas you know (from experience or otherwise) just won’t work well. It’s so much more rewarding and worth it to tell someone what you honestly think will or won’t work, instead of trying to deliver on a difficult promise. Of course more often than not the client will still like their tattoo and might even feel extremely happy that you’ve agreed to a request and followed thru on it, but you are the professional, and tattoos are more than just what they look like the day you do them. If you think something will work better, say it! It’s your portfolio too, and it’s important the work aligns with your vision somewhere along the line.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.electriclotustattoo.com/jae-portfolio-new-1-1
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myfitchbad/
• Other: BLUESKY: @myfitchbad.bsky.social

  TIK TOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@myfitchbad?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Image Credits

@niaphotography
@jamisdaddyy