We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ty Hawn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ty below.

Ty, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I’ve been full-time tattoo artist for closing in on seven years now, it’s through a love of the craft and the constant drive to make it a successful endeavor that I’ve gotten this far. I’ve done some form of art pretty much my whole life and though I had a connection to tattooing at a younger age through friends that were in the industry, it wasn’t until later that I decided that it was a passion that I wanted to pursue myself. I was lucky enough to have a friend willing to teach me how to translate my art skills that I had already acquired into tattooing, and from that point on I was hooked. I think it’s an art form that takes time to understand as you can go down many paths with it, but having a drive and taking the time necessary to grow and learn how to work with different situations, helps you.

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

I’m a tattoo artist, by trade and I work out of Dovetail Tattoo in Austin, Texas. I specialize in Blackwork, and a collection of different styles of tattooing. Additionally, I am also an artist and designer in other mediums, metal fabrication, and I build motorcycles as a hobby in my spare time.

I’ve done some form of art for the majority of my life, and have transitioned from one medium to the next over the years, as I find inspiration and interest in a multitude of different disciplines and love learning and growing as an artist.

As far as tattooing, my focus in custom blackwork allows me to create individual pieces for my clients, allowing me to meet and work with people from all walks of life- which is nice. It also allows me to work in many different styles. I recently have been working on starting a new collection of work as I would like to have a little more influence on the direction of my current artwork heading into the near future.

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

I think the ability to constantly grow and evolve since the art/tattoo community is constantly changing. Also, I think this is good for life, it kicks you out of routines and allows you to reinvent or rework your process and forces growth where it might not otherwise happen if someone was able to just do the same thing forever. Of course, there are disadvantages with some disrupters like social media, if one takes too much time to evolve, a tool like that can become more of a hindrance than a benefit, but I think if you are constantly willing to grow and learn there is no stopping you, if you have the willingness and drive to make it work.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The goal to not be satisfied and to constantly strive for excellence. This doesn’t mean to not appreciate your current work, or be happy with what you’ve done in the past or where you’ve come from, but to recognize that you have the ability to grow from where you are currently and to not let yourself be bogged down by the unknown or even to just take the extra time needed to make something amazing where others may have given up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dovetailtattoo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblacksandcoyote

Image Credits

Portrait photography by: Aidan Parker