Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrian Knight.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m a 21 years old, self-taught tattoo artist and my journey has and continues to be a story to tell and live in. It started when I was 19, a sophomore in college. I had just finished my first two semesters and learned that I would be in school for 12 years (Bio Pre-Med Major on an OB/GYN track with a specialty in Dermatology). Initially, I didn’t mind the idea of being a student til I was 30 at all until I started working at a tattoo shop on my breaks from school. I started as a receptionist and began to see, first hand, how free and exciting life as a tattoo artist is. I also began to realize that being an Artist wasn’t this “starving in the valley” scenario that I often heard. I began to start sketching in my little art book again as I scanned I.Ds and checked clients in. Then, eventually, began drawing custom tattoo pieces for clients before their appointments. I was almost certain, at this point, that I couldn’t possibly starve in a valley… right? I mean… The funds were funding for a little commission, so I’m thinking I must be a little Picasso up in here. So I end up changing my major to Art and slid down my bathroom wall, gripping the tiles, trying to figure out how I’m going to tell everyone who last heard that I wanted to be this baby popping, no stopping OB/GYN to a cool, laid-back Tattooist. The support was there, but the confusion from the sudden change was, also, sitting on the couch staring at me, so I definitely had to come up with a substantial life plan to support my artist dreams.
I then grew an interest for not only the art commissions I was doing at the shop but the actual art application itself. However, I was not ready at the time to begin tattooing. I wanted to wait until I understood the way skin healed with ink and how different products, voltage, ink, needles, etc. affected the tattoo quality and skin. Tattooing takes a lot of confidence and an incredibly strong mentality; two of the things I struggled with at the time. I also didn’t want to be responsible for “practicing” on people and them wanting to amputate a body part because I was a nervous wreck, so I just wanted to do it right if I was going to do it at all, ya know? So, I began surveying clients as they checked in and out of the shop, asked about their go-to tattoo aftercare products, and was always met with a petroleum jelly answer. I put months into my research before I finally understood the key issues surrounding fresh inked skin and created TooBalm.
TooBalm is an organic tattoo aftercare balm that not only aids in the healing of your skin but also maintains the beauty of your tattoo. Many clients were surprised to know that our body fights against the ink after it’s applied into our skin. It is considered a foreign substance and our body will constantly try to push the ink out into the surface (scabbing process), which eventually falls off, and often causes fading/ink leakage. The petroleum jelly products that have been recommended for years do not apply directly to wounded skin caused by tattooing. It is often used and manufactured for cuts, scrapes, burns, and everyday shenanigans, as we all know and love. It is also used to assist your body in pushing the ink out of our skin. So after all of this research, I thought of creating an organic product that can relieve the skin of irritation and itchiness, heal the skin efficiently and safely, AND maintain adequate skin health at the same time.
Being the CEO of an organic tattoo aftercare business gave me an amazing insight on Tattooing. I ran the business for about a year before becoming a licensed tattooist. I consider myself to be beginner-level tattooist, but my portfolio is still in the making. I studied needle depth, hand stability, patience, certifications, and everything under the sun of tattooing because I really wanted it to be my life and career path. Many artists believe in apprenticeships (and so did I for a little bit), but I knew what direction I wanted to take tattooing in, and I wanted to do something different with my talent vs. following the path of someone else.
Starting this tattooing career independently a year ago has, honestly, been the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. I have a private shop, my own custom tattoo art signature, and a crazy, wild future ahead of me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t been the smoothest road, but that’s what makes my journey fun. Bump in the roads gives me something to talk about, look forward to, avoid, plan ahead for, and be grateful about once I’ve gotten passed them. I’ve had my share of bumps, and they only made me steer in better directions.
However, being a young woman will always be a bump I won’t simply get over or around. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing. I will always face a problem derived from my gender. It was so hard being taken serious in the shops I tried to create in, and even harder being left alone. I understand the beauty I so often possess, but it was starting to hold me back from seriously committing to tattooing. It was exhausting just knowing I had to be there everyday, but in my mind at the time, I thought I was supposed to be grateful for the opportunity because apprenticeships were really hard to come by unless you paid with money or your personal services (being on-call for your mentor for any given task). I, obviously, wasn’t paying anybody to sit around, pretending to teach me something nor was I going to be an errand boy, hoping one day, I’ll finally learn something about tattooing. So… I dipped. I started feeling like I was never bound to learn anything; just at the shop to be cute and I couldn’t even begin to imagine my life if I actually went through with working as a full-time artist in shops like that. All of the masculine weirdness pushed me into a private shop faster and taught me not to allow anyone to feel like they can talk to me or treat me any kind of way because they think I need something from them nor that I need to prove myself in order to learn something I can google and teach MYSELF. Okay?
I do my own thing, on my own time, in my own lane, and that’s just how it is.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a custom stipple artist and “stick & poker” (a stick & poker is a tattooist who specializes in dotting. The entire tattoo, from lining to shading, is dotted/stippled).
I’m known for only drawing and tattooing original (1 of 1) artwork.
(you can check out my drawings and paintings on my digital art gallery @ toobalmcosmetics.co/art-gallery. :))
(BTW: I, 100%, support asking artists for their permission before tattooing or using their artwork for anything other than what the artist intended.)
I am mostly proud of how far my art has come. I finally stopped comparing my artwork to others and just let my fine point pen glide. I used to have the worst creator’s block in the crew, but once I tapped into my stipple (and occasional wood grain line) work, it was so easy just drawing what ever came to mind. I wanted a style that people can instantly recognize as my work without even seeing my “AK” signature on it. Now that I’ve finally found my voice, I cant wait to see how loud it gets.
What sets me apart from others is my pure dedication to creativity and originality. I didn’t get into tattooing for money. I just want to see my art being appreciated on new levels. I’m in this career for the love of art, and not too many people can relate to that. When all you do is stencil, trace, and copy, you don’t really feel any connection with the piece nor person you’re tattooing, in my opinion. And when you’re saving other people’s tattoos from google, you are taking a sentimental and/or original idea from the original receiver of the tattoo. I offer so many random drawings for tattoos that it is bound to speak to someone, which makes my tattoo appointments so much more meaningful. I even offer to customize drawings if clients still want something from a reference picture. I encourage artists and clients to be more original in their tattoo designs vs recycling art. Which is another reason why I draw the crazy things I do. I try to make my artwork almost impossible to duplicate.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I don’t know why this was the first thing I thought of, but when I was in elementary school, my family had this small, fluffy dog named Charlie. One day, I tried to give him a kiss on his head, and he bit me right on my eye. I remember being shocked at first, but then I started laughing because THE NERVE of Charlie. I’m not going to lie though, I respected Charlie after that. It taught me to understand boundaries, even when it came to animals. Charlie, eventually, came around. One tiny, dry lick, here and there, to let me know we were still cool. I believe it’s my favorite memory because it’s one of my first memories of having a fur friend and thinking about it now, I’m really glad I reacted the way I did. Most dogs are automatically deemed aggressive or “bad”, when they simply don’t know how to communicate well enough to establish a boundary. Ever since then, I can recall always asking if it was okay to touch animals before I just rushed in touching them or allowing them to show me their personality vs expecting a certain one out of them. My love and interest for animals of all kinds and wanting to help them in any way I can stemmed from getting my eyebrow snatched.
Contact Info:
- Email: artistryartidri@gmail.com
- Website: www.toobalmcosmetics.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asapdri/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toobalmcosmetics/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/artisdri
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2a6aWrrq2wxOuYYX2QRbQg
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/dridotcustoms/?hl=en
