Today we’d like to introduce you to Jorell Elie.
Hi Jorell, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
It was undoubtedly a lucky one. In the sense that it wasn’t planned at all. Tattooing was never even on my radar. However, once I was in, it was something I loved and felt I had to be really good at.
Back as a child, I had always loved to draw. Notebooks and loose leaf papers would be strewn across my shared bedroom with my crude attempts to reimagine what I had seen on the latest Saturday morning cartoons or the last Disney movie my younger sister made us watch for the 3000th time. Back then, It was always something I did for fun, there wasn’t really a goal in mind, rather a passing of the times. This would continue until my college years. My workbooks, notebooks, and homework would have margins that were filled with patterns and caricatures that would entertain me through the mundane subjects at hand.
Through all those years, drawing or art was never something I thought I could use as a career. Fortunately for me, contrary to most traditional parents, mine had always encouraged me to follow my love for the arts. They would safely recommend career paths that they knew to be lucrative or mainstream. Careers in which they knew, or rather, thought an artist could “earn a living.” Mainstream paths like a graphic designer or architect. Although intriguing and admirable careers those would be, for me, being told how to create or what to create wasn’t going to be the way I would want to pursue work. Years of being in retail management and working in large corporations would tell me that. The idea of being an artist fizzled before it could even start as I would drone along in the world of retail and school.
It was when I got my first tattoo at 18, in a little biker shop in CA that I really began to appreciate the world of body art. This underground culture imbedded itself in me with each prick of the needle. I would slowly gather smaller, less meaningful tattoos through the years up until I had the novel idea of trying to design one of my own tattoos. It was the .357 revolver on my left inner bicep. Of course, I had no real clue as to how to design a proper tattoo but I still gave my novice attempt to my artist for application. He kindly complimented my feeble attempt and then proceeded to rework it, to make it his own as any good tattoo artist would. During this process, he passed along the idea that I should consider an apprenticeship since I could draw. I didn’t think much of it but I really enjoyed the process of concept to design and ultimately to application that I went through with the artist and the shop. The hooks were in, I would accept the apprenticeship with no real intentions beyond trying to learn as much as I could, as fast as I could and make this “career” work! My apprenticeship was extremely short but intoxicating. I fell in love with tattooing.
Since then I have worked in several phenomenal shops, alongside some super talented artists. Throughout those years, I worked diligently to create and develop my own style. Something that is uniquely me and is recognizable as such.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
How long do you have? Haha. I am not sure that anything worth having comes without its own challenges and obstacles. Having a career in the arts isn’t any different but that’s what makes it worth the while.
Tattooing, to me has always been a “club.” It can be part of the charm. You know, when a heavily tattooed person looks at another stranger that is heavily tattooed, there is an unspoken acknowledgment between the two. They both understand that the other has sat for several grueling hours “earning” those tattoos. They both know they have probably committed a serious amount of income into the adornments on their skins. They both recognize the dedication and discipline that the other had to have to amass that collection of work. IYKYK. Conversely, as charming as the membership is in this “club” it can also be extremely exclusionary. As a Biracial (Black/Asian) male I have often been on both sides of this exclusive membership. The old school traditions of western tattooing were rarely considerate of anyone who didn’t fit into the times. Smaller groups like Women and Black tattooers have rarely been seen as the norm and thus had to carve out space for themselves in the industry. Albeit slow, It’s refreshing to see the growth in diversity in tattooing. We still have a long way to go but with a younger generation of tattooers becoming the seniors and with the help of the internet we are seeing these less heard voices being uplifted and brought to the surface!
Every industry goes through its ups and downs but for me the biggest obstacle comes in the form of time. There is never enough of it. Time is fleeting for everything that is important to an artist. I have had countless late nights up until the early morning trying to put the finishing touches on a sleeve or extra early mornings trying to get that stencil perfect before the presentation. As a result, I’ve missed sitting at the table for dinners, or breakfasts, or dance recitals or jujitsu belt promotions just so I could serve my client and my career. I know my family has had to sacrifice substantial amounts of time together in order for me to build this career. That’s still something I am challenged with regardless of how many changes and adjustments I make in my schedule.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have been professionally tattooing for 13 years. Through those years I have worked extremely hard and dutifully to become a one-trick pony. I do tattoos that are uniquely my own and hopefully recognizable as such. I don’t have a style because it is a mashup of several styles and techniques. However, If you had to narrow it down to layman’s terms, I would call it Unrefined Illustrative Watercolor.
Although several attempts have been made to replicate and reproduce my tattoos, I can safely say that my clients get to own an original piece or work that comes from years of playing into my talents and shortcomings to produce something that is uniquely custom to them and impossible to genuinely replicate.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Unapologetic ownership of my own strengths and weaknesses. As a husband, father, artist and individual. Accountability.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.thejorell.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/thejorell
- Facebook: Facebook.com/THEJORELL
- Twitter: Twitter.com/thejorell
