Episode 11: Myongki "Tony" Yi - Tattoo Artist

Career Closeup

Myongki “Tony” Yi is a tattoo artist in El Paso who owns his own tattoo studio, 3Tattoo. Tony's studio is as unique as his style, and this keeps him booked months in advance. In this episode we discuss how he started in Fine Arts at a design school, and just before completing the program, he came to find tattooing as a viable career option, despite the stigma it carries. Specifically for Tony, being of Korean decent, such a field is considered taboo. Tattoos have become very mainstream today as people from all walks of life have tattoos, and $1.6 billion dollars are spent in the US annually on tattoos. Tony explains the ways to get started in the field and then the process for setting up a studio. In addition to getting all the required licenses and training, Tony recommends working on communication skills, as much of your time will be spent one on one with the customers. Tony is an artist who chooses to use skin as his medium of choice. He sees the skin as a blank canvas, and appreciates how people who have tattoos can tell you who created each one and that you create a bond with your customers which will bring them back to you. Some customers see your work and then seek you out, so you can create something special for them. 49% of people getting tattoos think that the person tattooing you or the studio is the most important factor, and 43% think the personal meaning of the tattoo is the most important factor (See Tattoo Statistics - Statistic Brain in Related Links). Looking through the photos from 3Tattoo, it seems Tony has created every style of tattoos, from tribal to watercolor, black and white portraits to the colorful Japanese style. He enjoys going to expos and conventions to not only show what he can do, but also to gain exposure to new techniques, new equipment and to network and grow as an artist. In addition to being something to admire, tattoo ink may be able to help monitor the glucose levels in diabetics and monitor other health conditions in the near future. Check out the related links for more MIT studies and potential ways to make body art functional.

Time Line:

0:00 Intro to Tony Yi

1:37 How he got started in Fine Art/Fashion design after high school

3:00 The tattoo artist that made an impression on Tony and caused him to rethink Art degree and realize there was money in tattoos, and he could be still creative artistically

5:27 Getting into tattooing/apprenticeship search

6:18 Seeing how people would from around the world come searching out a tattoo artist

7:15 The process from the start, find artist you like and apply to be their apprentice (clean shop, practice drawing, draw for artist, find out about machines, take blood borne class for license, and slowly start getting comfortable with tattooing skills)

10:17 Finish program and ready to start tattooing, what's next? Multiple licenses...

11:41 Opening his studio expenses and machines/equipment needed

13:30 Typical Day, best parts of his job, freedom to make his own schedule and be his own boss

15:12 More difficult parts of his job, not being able to help everyone

16:17 Tattoo expos and shows are great for showing off work, meeting and networking with other artists, learning techniques and finding out about new technology

17:50 Favorite style of tattoo or thing to do - something really meaningful to customer

18:36 Times he has said "No" to doing tattoos

22:00 Tattoos to help reconstruct after surgery

23:54 Advice to those interested in the field of tattooing

26:28 Summary

Related Links:

Bloodborne Pathogen license

Tattoo and Body Piercing requirements in Texas

12 Cool Tattoo Styles

Check out Tony's work at his website, Instagram, and Facebook.

Tattoo Statistics - Statistic Brain

Tattoo Takeover - Harris Poll

In the future:

MIT study of Dermal Abyss and Health Monitoring through Tattoos

Disappearing ink, tech tats and 3D printing?

Duo-Skin and MIT collaboration with temporary tattoos