We recently connected with Rowan Magennis and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rowan , thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I moved to the US to obtain a degree from the university of Texas at Dallas in Arts and Technology. My focus was in creating 3D assets for Games and Animation. It was this knowledge in combination with my passion for tattooing that have begun my journey into breaking the limitations of the human skin.

There is only so much detail that a tattoo can hold over time because of the healing process and aging process. These limitations are biological in nature. However, if we, as a community of tattooers, were to collectively research ways to push designs into the virtual / 3D realm, the possibilities could be endless. This is what drives me to work harder, create new goals and learn new things.

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?

I first got into tattooing in South Africa during the last two years of high school. Our Life Orientation [LO] teacher gave us an assignment to job-shadow several different industries, and write up our experiences. I drew on myself a lot as a child, so we thought it would be fun to try out a Tattoo Studio. We found a good quality studio called Iron Candy Tattoo nearby to where we lived at the time and decided to make an application. My later boss and mentor, Mark, accepted the application and allowed me to observe the process with parental consent. After the first day, I fell in love with the art form and began my first apprenticeship immediately.

I am now working at Dark Age Tattoo studio in Fort Worth, which has been an absolute dream come true. I had the incredible opportunity to relearn under Rember and Frank, who taught me about discipline and using fine art skills to make creative design and tattooing decisions. The studio has both inspired and pushed me to determine my goals as an artist, and have provided guidance and knowledge in finding ways to achieve them. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to be a part of such an incredible shop.

Over the years, I have refined my area of specialization to realistically-styled fantasy art. This stems from my love of games and stories relating to Lord of the Rings and Lovecraft.

In terms of technique, I use both black and grey, full color and black and grey/color fusion. Each technique has its own methodologies to manipulate the medium to create mood and creative appeal. I thoroughly enjoy jumping between each style to create different designs in new and challenging ways.

With respect to my process, designing is one of my favorite parts of the tattoo. I use several software packages to allow for flexibility around digital painting, photo-bashing and 3D workflows.

Tattoos are a unique form of art in that they carry meaning through creative choice, and interaction between the client and artist for multiple sessions at times. Some clients use tattoos to express themselves creatively, and others use this art form to express their history, struggles, successes and losses. Some clients have used their appointments to mourn loved ones because family and work obligations denied them the time. My job as an artist is to allow the client to determine what their experience means, and provide a service to them that is customized to their needs.

All of this being said, I am still young in my career and will be spending many years optimizing time, workflows and knowledge to create the best experience for my clients. My journey as a tattooer and 3D artist has just begun, and my seemingly over-ambitious dreams drive me forward to keep trying harder every day.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a tattoo artist is the incredible projects, stories and ideas that I get to be a part of. I am lucky and grateful to have creative clients that trust my design process and style enough to make permanent art for them.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Something that we all perhaps have in common is an appreciation for innovation and beauty. The fun part of both is that each individual gets the opportunity to define what this means to them. Being a ‘creative’ is finding ways to explore the meaning of beauty, push those boundaries and find new and unique ways to marry them with meaning, however complex it may or may not be.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rowan.magennis/?hl=en
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UChCn8NTEyfDxpV9K_7mTydw