Joe Veevers - WA Tattoo Artist
Can you give our readers a little tattoo history about yourself and your background?
As a child my uncle’s taught me how to make homemade tattoo machines and they would let me practice on them. Then as a teenager I got into graffiti until it landed me in jail. I then became an automotive spray painter by trade and got into custom painting and that lead to airbrushing, the airbrushing then transitioned into tattooing.
As a kid, what type of stuff did you draw and what art were you inspired by and why?
My art style as a child was mostly based on skulls and flames and anything car related and from there that lead onto graffiti and wall murals.
What was the first tattoo you ever inked and how much do you feel you have either improved or learnt over the years.
The earliest tattoo I remember was the flames I did around my wrist with a single needle jail machine, that my uncle taught me to make.
Was there a particular style you picked up straight away or did you experiment a lot to find your niche. How do you describe your style and where do you feel it fits in industry?
I was always inspired by the LA Chicano lifestyle, the tattoo’s, the cars, the fashion and so my style just developed from that.
Depending on the concept you are working on do you go to your reference photos and design from there or are you more working freehand from a design in your head?
Everything is based off reference photos and put together with photoshop to create a design that my customer and I are happy with.
Looking at the detail you put into your work how far you have evolved over the years as an artist?
I’d like to think I’ve evolved a lot, but I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go.
What artists have you looked up to over the years and how have they inspired you?
Mr Cartoon and Freddy Negrete for sure as they are the OG’s of LA Chicano style. Nixx SnC as an overall inspiration as an artist, clothing designer, businessman and as a person.
Where did you end up doing your apprenticeship and tell us what studio you ended up being your main home and why that one?
I’ve never done a traditional apprenticeship, I just spent a lot of time in tattoo studio’s watching and observing and then going home to practice on my mates. Through the automotive scene I became friends with the studio owners of Obsidian Ink formally known as Execution Ink. I started on a three day trial and have been flat out for over six years.
Your designs go from many variations of skulls to zombies to Day of the Dead girls or horror characters. then you move into the scope of musician portraits. What was the most complicated and challenging of these to be Inked on someone and how many sessions were needed?
Most complicated tattoos I find are realistic portraits as there’s no room for errors.
What type if any after care products do you recommend to your clients and what is it about them that makes them stand out above others?
I prefer Dr Pickles because that’s what we have in the shop.
What’s your favourite tattoo on yourself and why?
This would have to be my home job flames around my wrist because this is a daily reminder of where it all began.
The other side of Joe Veevers is your Dirtbag designs, tell us your story about the air brushing side of your life.
I was a spray painter before a tattoo artist, where I won best graphics and murals on some of my cars and I also managed to have bikes that I painted make covers of magazines.
But it’s not just cars you air brushed and back as early as 2014 you were air brushing skateboards. Describe the most wicked design you did on a skateboard?
The best skate board I painted was for Cervena Fox, that was also a custom candelabra which also lit up the image.
Back in 2016 you won the Best Graphics and Murals at Motoplex, how did it feel to be acknowledge for this and what was the competition like that you were up against?
At the time it was my biggest achievement. The competition was high as some of the cars that I was up against, had been painted in LA by spray painters that I look up to.