We were lucky to catch up with Nicholas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicholas, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I first knew I wanted to pursue an artistic path when I was 6 years old. My first grade teacher gave everyone a daily journal and wanted us to write a few sentences and make use of the rest of the page however we wanted. It was 1999 so of course I had to draw Pokémon. My teacher always wrote notes about how much she enjoyed my drawings. I still have those journals, and there was nothing special about my drawings. But I thought they were amazing at the time, and her small notes about them really pushed me to continue drawing every chance I got.

Nicholas, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

For those who don’t know about me, I started my tattooing career in March of 2020 and have been learning ever since.
I specialize in creating large scale, custom black and grey realism designs. Ranging from quarter sleeves to full back pieces.
I owe everything I have to those artist I came in contact with that gave their time and knowledge when they didn’t have to. But even with them, it is not ever easy. I have seen too many artists fall because they lack the discipline it takes to continue growing in this industry.
I believe that a great artist is one who is never fully satisfied in the work that they produce. I am constantly looking for ways to improve techniques, experimenting with different ways of mixing my inks, and studying other great artists work. My goal is to really focus on the quality rather than the quantity. I think that is something that I will always be proud of, and what is able to stand out to a lot of clients.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

If I create the best piece I possibly can, my art will live on someone for the rest of their lives. And most will live long after I’m gone.
Each client gets a little piece of my heart and soul with every piece I do. Each tattoo holds a memory, an emotional release for some, healing for others. Most people share a lot of their lives with me because I’m with them for so long. And I also get to watch so many people grow in their lives, starting new jobs, starting families, the ups and downs.
Just making such deep connections with so many great people. I would say that’s the most rewarding aspect of doing what I do.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

About a year in a half into my career I left the shop that I had apprenticed at. And it was not easy at all because I was going off on my own. I had zero clue how to do advertising or run any sort of business. And looking back, my art was not where it needed to be at the time of going off on my own, even though I thought it was. But life has a funny way of testing you to see how resilient you are.
About 6 weeks of being in my own, and struggling, my wife had gotten pregnant. Not only was I having to navigate a new career, running a business, trying to learn advertising, and grow as an artist but I was now having to figure out what was going to be best for growing family.
I decided to go back to my old job working construction, and tattoo when I was able to. I decided that I was only going to take on projects that aligned with the direction I wanted my career to go. After about 6 months I decided to take another chance on myself and leave my construction job again to fully get my tattooing career where I knew it could be. Since then I have worked at Skin Design and some amazing artists that all taught me things that brought my career to where it is today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Nonametattoos.com
• Instagram: NonametattooLV