Today we’d like to introduce you to David Parrish
Hi David , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Really it started at a young age for me. I grew up seeing people with tattoos around me and my dad playing darts and pool in a local bar that was right next to a tattoo shop. Fast forward to being 16 a family friend who had moved to California knew I was super into drawing and art. One day I received a letter from her with a clipping from a local Orange County newspaper clipping about tattooing and it becoming an increasing opportunity as a career. I was already into skateboarding and hardcore and tattoos are def a huge part of the subculture and in 2008 a friend of mine was learning and I ended up being offered my first apprenticeship but unfortunately it didn’t work out and took two more to find a good fit.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There have been multiple struggles along the way. As I said it took 3 apprenticeships to learn to tattoo. I was dead set on on learning but I wanted to make sure I did it in what I consider to be the right way and finding a true traditional apprenticeship. As far as Big Cat Tattoo goes it was opened with my last mentor as a partnership but it was just a lot with him running another shop so he had to step away. Left me kinda learning to run a business on my own but I’ve always thrived under pressure and am getting there. We are going on our 7th year and I haven’t ranked it yet so even with all the bumps in the road I think we are doing ok. I really couldn’t have done it without the support of all of our clients and many of the artist I’ve had work with me over the years. Specially I have to give a huge thanks to one of my best friends who worked with me Emily Madden. She’s been with me from the start and we have grown together as artist and just bloomed into an incredible friendship and truthfully the shop wouldn’t be here without her.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My favorite style of tattooing is American traditional with a little bit of a European twist to it. I love the muted pallets and thinner lines that are being used in a lot of euro trad. I think that is one of the things that sets Big Cat Tattoo apart from other shops and I feel that we have created a space that you get the traditional tattoo shop feel and vibe from without a lot of the ego you find in tattooing. We constantly hear from clients that they had been nervious because past experience in tattoo shops where they had been made to feel stupid or that they had a bad idea. I think that as a tattooer part of the job is to educate people on why the tattoo they are looking to get may not work and help find a middle ground on what they want and what works and most of the time they are super happy with the approach we take as well as the product they end up leaving with. I think that’s one of the things that makes Big Cat tattoo one of Atlantas best tattoo shops.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Hell best advice I can give is find someone you look up to like their style and start getting tattooed by them. Don’t email or call walk in show that you really want it and are willing to do what it takes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bigcattattoo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigbelliedrudeboy/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/bigcattattoo/
Image Credits
Artimio Black
AJ Sanchez
