Brandon's Tattoo Journey (Long-form)
I have been tattooing professionally since the fall of 1997, and an artist all of my life. In the beginning I was nothing more than a punk ass kid, and started getting into trouble at really young age. The truth is I don't know why I chose tattooing as a career, it just seemed to happen, a string of cause-and-effects I suppose. All I wanted to do with my life was to make a difference using my artwork. I think the first time I became interested in tattooing I was probably around fourteen years old. I recall seeing a tattoo on this guy when I was in juvenile hall. I remember this tattoo like it was yesterday, and actually I might have been younger than fourteen. This guy had a gigantic black and gray skull with red flames on his rib cage. Upon seeing it I was thinking to myself, "That is so awesome, but I know I could do better job than that." At that point in my life I told myself, "I must learn how to paint in the skin. Tattooing is something I have to do." I made up my mind and there was no going back, I was going to become a tattooist. All I wanted to do from that point on was to learn how to tattoo; it was the only thing I thought about. I had to find out how to get the career to land into my lap, and it took much dedication, persistence, and time for it to materialize into reality.