Jack Daniels - SA Tattoo Artist

SPECIALITY: Open to all styles

INSTAGRAM: @tattoosby_jack

Hi Jack, can you give our readers a little tattoo history about yourself and your background?

I got my first tattoo when I was 15 from a family friend who had a decent set up at home, and from then on was hooked on the thaught of being a

tattoo artist but never thought I was good enough, it wasn’t until a few years later that my pop brought me an eBay kit to tattoo him with, and after trying one on myself I got the drive to put together a portfolio and start the process.

As a kid, what type of stuff did you draw and what art were you inspired by?

As a kid I would just draw whatever we were focusing on at school at the time, it wasn’t untill mid to late primary school I’d started noticing graffiti a lot more and taking interest to that. I remember drawing a random shape, colouring it in different colours and calling that my graffiti.. from then on everything I drew was based on graffiti I’d seen around the area. I don’t know what exactly it was that attracted me to it but I’m still hooked on it to this day!

What was the first tattoo you ever inked and how much do you feel you have either improved over the years?

Working in a walk in studio first up I was taught not to specialise in one style, so have always had an open mind when taking on clients. From the start I wanted to specialise in script but after doing my first script piece on something other then an arm or leg I realised how difficult it actually can be, and knew I needed to learn the fundamentals first before specialising in anything! Now with a bit more of an established client base I have been trying to include as much of my graffiti art style as I can but I also enjoy the challenge of coming up with something new at the same time.

Was there a particular style you picked up straight away or did you experiment a lot to find your niche. Also how do you describe your style and where do you feel it fits in industry?

Over the years of my apprenticeship working in walk in studios I have often taken the easier approach to things and replicated exactly what the clients wanted, to a certain extent. But since growing as an artist meeting new people learning new things and experimenting I am slowly finding my groove in the industry. I’ve still got so much to learn and a long way to go and look forward to every day in the studio!