My name is Aaron Walker. I'm a professional tattoo artist. I do a lot of watercolor tattoos. I've got a private studio in downtown Little Rock, and I'm about to tattoo a rose on a hand.
 
Yeah. Okay. How long have you been tattooing? Uh, nine, almost 10 years. I started tattooing. 2014.
 
Is this your only career? Did you do something else before? Um, before this, I worked as a barista in coffee shops. Um, but this is my only actual career, I would say. Before that, I was in school for ministry for a bit. And that didn't last too long.
 
Did you grow up?
 
I've been doing art ever since I could hold a crayon. So yeah, pretty much my whole life. I, uh, had way too many coloring books as a kid. And I've just always kind of fell in love with drawing and the whole process of color and coloring in general. Um, I started to kind of take my art more serious in my early twenties.
 
Um, I started drawing more traditional tattoo flash and stuff like that. Tried to work on a portfolio and build that up and then sought out an apprenticeship. What made you first realize that you could do this as a career? Um, I had a lot of friends that worked in tattoo shops as like piercers and different things like that.
 
Just kind of hanging around tattoo shops I realized that's pretty much what they did was draw and do things that they loved like that. So I, uh, tried to bunker down and take myself serious enough to do this. I figured that, you know, if other people could do it, so could I.
 
How did you figure out the style that you wanted to do? Um, that kind of weirdly came naturally. Whenever I first started tattooing, I did a lot of just color tattoos in general. I wanted to do a style called New School, which is very cartoony, almost based off of graffiti. And, I still love that style. It's a lot of fun to tattoo.
 
But, uh, I got asked to do a couple of watercolor tattoos. And, I had a lot of fun doing them. Um, I was probably in like my first few years of tattooing and then one day I thought to myself that I had a lot of fun doing them and just wanted to keep doing them so I told myself that, you know, some styles aren't for everybody and there should always be somebody that wants to be good, you know, at certain styles.
 
Like for example, there's people that Started doing tribal in the 90s, and they still to this day do it. I, um, just started thinking to myself, you know, my style isn't for everybody, and that's completely fine. Um, but you know, I necessarily don't want to be a black and gray artist. Or, you know, any other kind of style.
 
You could name any style, really. But, while I can do black and gray, it's not what I want to specialize in. You know, there's people out there that definitely can do watercolor, but it's probably not what they want to do every day either, so, you might as well have somebody that's gonna want to do it and try their best to be really great at it, and that's what I sought out to do.
 
I don't know if it's a foolish thing, but I have always told myself that one day I want to be one of the best in the world at doing this painterly kind of watercolor style. I try as hard as I can to do that. So, something that you explained to me really well, I think at our first session together, was the different types of watercolor, because there's a lot of talk online about how you shouldn't do watercolor, it doesn't last as long, but there are different techniques.
 
How do you build out watercolor on the skin? Um, I go from a, from a very traditional tattoo standpoint. I put a lot of black in my tattoos. I still outline tons of it in the black and make sure that it has contrast just like any other tattoo would. Um, a very common misconception that people think to do with watercolor or maybe how it's done is to actually dilute your ink or your pigment down with water and you should never ever do that.
 
The only time that's ever necessary is doing like a gray wash for black and gray. With watercolor you can get the same kind of translucent effect just from knowing how to do certain techniques or hand speeds and things like that with what you're doing.
 
These are cartridges, needle cartridges. I use a lot of different ones. On average just like a smaller to medium sized watercolor tattoo I'm probably gonna use at least Five to six different needle sizes and configurations. It's kind of like different sizes of pencils and paint brushes. You use different things for different techniques.
 
Um, I use some stuff for like really small dots and lines. I use stuff for more bold lines that I can sculpt. I, uh, use different sizes for mags for coloring. Um, I like to use bigger ones usually just because they... They blend easier, they saturate really well, and in my opinion they're a little less traumatic on the skin.
 
What is something that you wish you'd known when you first started as a tattoo artist? To not give a fuck what other people think. I would have given anything to just get head first into this style that I do a lot quicker. I wish I would have tried to stop impressing other people just for the sake of having their respect.
 
Because I feel like being more true to yourself, people will desire to be around you more so than just trying to kiss ass in a weird way. What skills do you need to be a tattoo artist? Um, I would definitely say drawing. Uh, you gotta have a very big passion for it. Um, Art in general, I think you need to be a pretty patient person.
 
Patience is never something that has come easy or natural to me, but things like tattooing definitely taught me how to be a lot more patient of a person. Um, it definitely taught me how to take critiques more to be able to become a better artist, which, you know, Early on I would, I guess, get defensive whenever people try to critique or give advice, but you know, now I see the majority of them were coming from a good place.
 
Um, and I really think you just have to have a love for people in a weird way. I think that realizing that having this kind of a job is definitely a gift. It's a gift. that we get to tattoo at all. So I think it should be taken very seriously. And I think that if people realize, you know, their job is literally to make somebody more comfortable or more happy in their skin, then they come from it from a, almost like a more humble perspective.
 
So what is the process of becoming a tattoo artist? Generally, um, , the way it's always kind of been is you usually ask a tattoo artist to you, like their work and respect their stuff, um, to teach you to tattoo. Um, most of the time they require to see, you know, skills of art. So they want a portfolio usually of different things like drawings, paintings, flash art, uh, you know, the more kind of designs that you have.
 
That could be attachable design, usually the better.
 
Um, they do have tattoo schools and certain places like Oregon actually requires you to go to a tattoo school rather than earn an apprenticeship under somebody. Um, and there is a lot of speculation on stuff like that in the tattoo industry and generally people that do that aren't nearly as respected as somebody that actually sought out a real apprenticeship.
 
It's not just buying your way into it. Plus, they don't usually spend enough time with you or teach you, like, how to do stuff. So... That's the age old question of education versus experience, right? Because it's great to have education, but if you don't apply education to the experience, you're going to come at it a very different way.
 
And learn some harder lessons, I think, along the way. Yes. Like, I did not have the best apprenticeships. Um... Um, I actually kind of got in and still was mostly self taught along the way, uh, just because a lot of times in tattooing you don't always get the best teachings, or your mentor doesn't really know how to explain what they're doing, or sometimes they just don't care.
 
Like uh, the first mentor I had, I really looked up to for a long time, I had been getting tattooed by him. I had been tattooed by some previous apprentices that he had that were doing well, but unfortunately by the time I got to learn from him, he was going through a lot of just bad things in life and it definitely affected how everything was going, if that makes sense.
 
Yeah. But I still had the drive to never stop, never give up. Actually, he told me when I first started, my very first day, that, you know, I had been asking the same guy for a few years to just give me a shot. And whenever he finally did, he said, you know, I know you're the kind of person that as long as you can hold a tattoo machine, you're never going to want to stop because I see how hard you've tried just these past few years just to get a yes or a in, you know, a foot in the door.
 
So, that's also interesting to me because you were just talking about school versus apprenticeship, but you had two apprenticeships and they didn't teach you anything. So, is that really better than going to a school? Um, it can be. So, my issue with a tattoo school is generally they're just trying to make money off of you.
 
Um, I feel like in a proper apprenticeship, you actually do learn a lot of, you know, what you need to be doing. Now, you do learn a lot of hard lessons. You go through almost weird hazing, which I don't know if you want to call it that, but you go through a lot of shit in order to be able to have the right and the respect to be able to tattoo.
 
It's not something that, you know, you start apprenticing and, you know, A couple days or a couple weeks, even a few months go by, and generally you're not going to be tattooing for a long time, like, most apprenticeships last at least a minimum of two years or so, and usually the first year you're just doing, you know, the grunt work of the shop, working on drawings, and, you know, what they used to call you were the shop bitch, actually.
 
That's a pretty common term for apprentices. And then whenever they feel like, you know, you've done well enough with your art, you've kind of earned their respect, they're going to actually take the time and teach you properly is how it's supposed to go. Sounds a little toxic. Uh, it can be. There's a lot of old things in the tattoo industry that thankfully have started dying out.
 
Um, a lot of that, like, Old school mentality of like, well, I went through it. So you have to go through it, too. And a lot of cases is dying out. Like, I even heard of one artist that, very, very respected artist, very great at what he does. He, uh, even was telling people, you know, try paying your apprentices.
 
You know, like an actual paying them. Because you're doing work. Yeah, you're definitely doing work. And, you know, a lot of people started to ridicule him just for saying why don't you pay your apprentices because they're like oh that's not how it goes they're supposed to pay us or basically you know just be a slave to the shop so that way we can teach them and from his standpoint he was saying that you know try doing this and see how much like more work ethic they actually have whenever they already feel respected because for me You know, one of my apprenticeships that I went through, I had to work a secondary job just to pay bills and rent.
 
So, I was usually up at 4 a. m. every morning and, you know, finally back at home by like maybe 11 o'clock at night. And that was just an average day for me, five, six days a week. That's not sustainable. You do what you have to do if you love it and you want it. That's what I was always told. I think that if some people were You know, actually in the mindset of treating their apprentices differently, like they're actually doing work and paying them.
 
Then, you know, you might actually have somebody that respects you, what they're doing, a little bit more as a whole. I think that it could be beneficial if it was done correctly, you know. There's a lot of value in it. It's a very beautiful art form. It's a very healing art form. Yeah, I mean, not just for the client, but I feel like, you know, when you have a tattoo artist that truly loves what they do, I know, me personally, I can be having the not the best day sometimes, and if I start tattooing, I can just literally get lost.
 
It's a very meditative thing because the process of how you do it, you've got to be very self aware in everything that you're doing to make sure you're doing it correctly. I think that along with the breathing techniques that you have to do, it's just very, very methodical and it's calming in a weird way.
 
Yeah. What's the process from start to finish of getting a tattoo on someone's skin? Uh, you typically start with... You get a design, um, it can be something that either you just draw, or somebody might ask for like, you know, a custom piece of work that you, it's almost like a commissioned kind of thing, but, you know, you're not necessarily paying them just for the drawing, you're paying them for the tattoo, so, somebody books an appointment with you, you get a design, they agree upon the design, because obviously you don't want to put something on somebody they're not going to want, and then...
 
After that you, uh, put on a stencil. It's usually done from a carbon transfer. We have machines and stuff that do them. Some people still make them by hand or some people even just draw straight on the skin with sharpie markers or whatever kind of markers I guess you got. Um, it just depends on the artist.
 
Everybody's got a little bit of a different way to do it. But the most common thing is put a stencil on and, you know. Use needles and pigment to put it in the skin with a tattoo machine.
 
Did you have to learn how to like, not, cause you can force the ink in too far and cause a blowout, right? Yes. Did you have to learn that process? Yes. Uh, whenever I first started, um, and I was actually allowed to have a tattoo machine in my hand. Uh, they made me start practicing on things like grapefruits and melons and stuff like that because you can actually judge the depth of a needle doing that.
 
Um, after doing enough of those, they let me tattoo myself and then I learned really fast, really hard how to not mess up somebody's skin because I definitely did it on myself and I had to rework it. Months later, after it finally healed and stopped scabbing, but, yeah, you definitely have to learn how to do it properly and not go too far into skin.
 
Normally it sits in about the first and second layer of your skin. If you push it too far, then you get what's called a blowout, where, you know, the color or the lines, which is typically where you get blowouts, will start spreading under the skin, kind of like how markers do on paper. Or like a hematoma.
 
Yeah. It's just not a good thing. It will ruin your tattoo. It doesn't look very flattering, and I mean, it's not what you want to give people. Even this looks really cool so far. I think if it stayed like that, it a tattoo only has black and it still looks good, then you're doing good with it. Yeah. So, I feel like we're on a good path.
 
Good course for it. Absolutely. I'll start some of the background green now, and then we'll do the rest of the rose.
 
So is it possible to make a living as a tattoo artist? Very possible. You just have to really put everything you have into it. You definitely gotta usually either be at a busy shop or find a way to stand out. I mean tattooing is This is literally how I take care of my family. I think I tell every single one of my clients that and just how grateful I am because we can actually, you know, live off of art, which so many people, you know, I've always heard the term starving artist, but I, I don't agree with that.
 
I think that, you know, if you actually put yourself out there, you can make it work. It's just how hard do you want it? How bad do you want it? Was it hard to build a loyal clientele? Uh, Cause you've been all over the place too. Yeah, um, yes and no, like I, I try to be a very genuine person. I try to be the same person to, you know, everybody that I tattoo, everybody that I come in contact with.
 
So, I have a lot of people that are loyal because I am a genuine person to them. Um, Building the clientele over the years definitely can be hard. Uh, it, you know, depends on your area that you're in. It depends on what kind of style you're doing. You know, tattooers are almost a dime a dozen at this point.
 
So, you've gotta either do something to stand out, or, you know, you just gotta be a frickin awesome stand up person usually for people to keep coming back. Hopefully I'm a little bit of both on that. Well, I think so. Thank you. And I do want to point out the magic, because I'm someone who owns my own business.
 
Now you own your own business. There's magic in being able to do this, because it's not easy. It's not easy to do what you love and follow your passion. Yeah, it takes a lot of work, but, you know, at the end of the day, I would much rather be working for myself. for my family, um, so that way we can, you know, we're not rich by any means, but we are actually able to take care of ourselves, and it's because of art, and a lot of people can't do that, working, you know, their corporate jobs, their 9 to 5 office things, and, you know, I get to do something that I truly love.
 
I have this desire inside of me that I can't console unless I'm creating something, so this definitely is. Clenches the thirst for that, if that makes sense. Yeah, it does. It does.
 
We're in the hard stage right now, with the knuckles. Yeah, it's not fun, for you. It's surviving though. Um, what are your goals for the future? Um, honestly, I want to be able to buy my family a house one day. I mean, that's almost... That's even unheard of for a lot of people, but I think with enough time and hard work that I can do that.
 
Um, I really would love to be able to travel more, um, I've kind of traveled a good bit doing this already, which was never an option for me, you know, growing up kind of in a poor household. Um, anything good that I have in life is because of tattooing and because of tattooing. I want to be able to do a lot more conventions, kind of get my name out there, push this style hard, and, uh, eventually I want to be able to do, like, international guest spots in other countries.
 
Because most of my favorite artists that do watercolor tattoos are not in the U. S., most of which are over in, like, Europe, Spain, um, Greece, places like that, and I would love to be able to, uh, You know, get tattooed by them, learn from them a little bit, and maybe even get lucky enough to collaborate pieces with them.
 
You know, they were into that. Yeah, and you had said that before, that everything good in your life came from tattooing. You even mentioned meeting your wife Katie through tattooing. Yeah, I, uh, we met back in 2015. I, uh, was working at a shop in Alabama, and she came in. Wanting to get a tattoo, and like I mentioned before, I really wanted to do a lot of colorful, like, new school tattoos at the time, and that's exactly what she came into the shop for, and she got a paint palette with paint splattered all on it, which is kind of funny to me now that most of my stuff looks like it's been painted on.
 
But we met with me tattooing her, and The minute she walked into the door, I kind of was head over heels for her. I was even listening to one of my favorite bands at the time, which a lot of people don't listen to or know about. She named them, you know, immediately. Oh, is this the Gaslight Anthem? I, I was hooked.
 
We became best friends. We just started hanging out a lot. It was a very innocent kind of thing at first, and it still is innocent I guess, but... One child, one marriage later. Yeah. A whole life together. Yeah. Pure intentions, yeah. Yeah, we, uh, just became the best of friends and, you know, still are. It's something that I never thought that I would meet such a genuine soul, and it happened doing something that I love.
 
And to me that shows that... I feel like if you're being true to yourself, and being honest about what you want out of the universe, as long as you're willing to work for it, anything can happen for you. I truly believe that.
 
What has been the biggest challenge of being a tattoo artist? Um, that is a big question. Multiple parts? Yeah, I think that, Being able to juggle any type of a normal, like, social life is always really hard. Um, because one of the biggest things with tattooing is it's not a clock in, clock out job. It's never going to be a nine to five job or whatever set hours you want.
 
Because even when you're not tattooing, you're constantly answering messages, you're posting, you know, to try to make more appointments or availability, you're drawing for appointments, you're drawing. Flash designs, or just pre drawn stuff, like it's, it's like it never really stops, so it's hard to maintain a normal life, and also to set like, I guess, boundaries.
 
Um, cause I mean, there's times whenever, you know, I'm at home that all I want to do is hang out with my wife and my kid, and I'm literally sitting there stressed, because I've got a half sleeve appointment, you know, that I haven't been able to draw anything for, and it's in 12 hours, and I'm just, Never want to be rushed or give my clients less than what they deserve, but at the same time, I still have to, you know, be there for my family because they will always come first.
 
And I think that's not unique to having a family, too. It's like, I struggle with boundaries, too, and I don't, I don't have a kid in my life, but it's just, it takes practice, I think. Yeah, it's, I've always been a very big people pleaser. It's hard for me to... Say no to a lot of things, so like I, I will kind of work myself to death a lot.
 
Um, while I enjoy this, I definitely still need to not work every single day. Um, other than that, I think that one of the hardest things is really, um, staying consistent. Staying busy doing what you're doing. I feel like I'm constantly always... You know, posting stuff, trying to make more appointments, trying to post the tattoos that I've done.
 
So it's just, there's never gonna, I don't ever want to lapse in my work where there's just like a lull or anything so I can keep, keep going, keep pushing to do better, keep staying busy. I just love how you built that color out, wow, just the shading is good. Thank you. I uh, color just makes sense to me. I...
 
I have a weird obsession and love with it. Um, I don't know if you've ever heard of something called synesthesia. Yeah, we've talked about that before. Explain what it is. So synesthesia is, I may not say the best thing, so if you're listening to this, look up synesthesia. There's different forms of it. But, um, in general, it's when your brain makes a certain type of connection in a different way than normal.
 
Um, for example, a lot of people when they hear music... We'll see color, um, or certain people will, you know, see a color and they like taste something in their mouth. And it's just a connection that their brain has made over the years. And I have a form of synesthesia that whenever I see a color, it has like a number to it and has a, you know, adverse effect.
 
So when I see a certain number, it has a color, almost like a sign to it. So whenever I see that, I. Just in my head, I guess I know what numbers, I guess, look good together. I also have a weird feeling, like, I feel like colors have emotions to them almost. And it's, to some people, that may be crazy, but I... But that's literally color theory, though.
 
You can tell, like, certain colors prompt certain people to feel a certain way. More hungry, like the red and yellow from McDonald's. Yeah. I mean, there's like... Like, certain shades of blue that will make people feel more calm than any other color. Yeah, there's definitely color theory that can play into it, but like, I don't know.
 
For example, like, my synesthesia always tells me that, you know, the color green is the number three. Um, and like. You know, the number six is always yellow, so whenever I see 36, I automatically taste like a lemon lime flavor in my mouth, and it's, it's strange. That's wild. So you have two different forms.
 
You taste things, but you also associate with numbers. Yes, uh, it's, it's only certain things, you know, taste certain ways, I guess, um, but most of it for me is like a numerical kind of thing. Um, some people even do that with certain letters and stuff like that. It's, there's no one, I guess, true form of synesthesia.
 
It can vary from person to person, but I, I'm a very proud synesthetic. What's a superpower? Essentially, yeah, I feel like I almost get to cheat a little bit doing this and just kind of go with what I feel will be right and it usually works out pretty well.
 
So what are some of the ways that you make, um, the tattoo experience to be as pain free as possible? Because, I mean, there's pain involved. Don't get me wrong. This is, this is not fun, but, uh, what, what are some techniques that you use? Um, I always, always recommend, uh, taking stuff like ibuprofen, um, Tylenol, uh, stuff like that.
 
Um, it works really well for the inflammation. Um, I'm a big believer in using stuff like Bactine, which has like a small amount of a lidocaine spray, so you can use that during your process to kind of help with the swelling, let people sit a little bit better. I'm not a big believer in the numbing cream, the pre numb stuff, because there have been many, many cases of people having Uh, almost like allergic reactions and having like open wounds happen to their skin.
 
A lot of those aren't FDA approved, um, so they, uh, are not the best thing to do. Um, I've had people use them, I've had mixed results, mixed feelings on them, but my general thing would stay not to breed on it. Breathing techniques are always wonderful, they can get you through a lot of stuff in life.
 
Besides tattoos. Yeah. Uh, having a tattoo artist with a light hand like I do, I guess. That's what people usually tell me. Um, you know, different things like that. I think that determination more than anything is a good thing for getting tattooed. You're gonna have to know going in that it's gonna hurt. Um, usually the people that sit the worst are the ones that think that they won't be phased by it, or think that they're just too tough for it, and like, yeah, some people, you wouldn't be able to tell it even bothers them in the slightest, like, you've actually been sitting really well this whole time.
 
Thank you. But, yeah, yeah, congrats to you, you're sitting better than I did when I got my hand done. Do I get an A in being tattooed, Aaron? Oh yeah, you get a gold star for it today. But yeah, I, I definitely think that as long as you know going in, it's gonna suck, um, and you know what you're capable of, like, the human body can go through a lot, not saying like just to torture yourself or put up with something bad, but I think that people are a lot stronger than they sometimes want to give themselves credit for.
 
Yeah. I'm a big baby when I get tattooed. I feel like if I can do it, pretty much anybody can do it within reason. Yeah, for sure. So that's also why I like working with you too, because you're like, Yep, I'm a big baby too! We'll get through this together! Oh yeah, I mean, you gotta, there's give and take with tattoos.
 
Like, you should never, ever be in a position with your tattoo artist where you feel forced through something, or that you feel unsafe or uncomfortable. There should always be a very clear line of communication of Like, what they're doing, what they're going to do, hey, this is going to hurt a little bit.
 
Like, I've heard of, you know, and actually seen tattoo artists, like, mock people and stuff and that's not necessarily the best thing to do. I've had clients where they sat horribly and I still try to be very, very patient with them because, you know, people go through it and it's just part of it, but at the end of the day.
 
We're nothing without our clients. You better treat your clients well, or else they're gonna go to another tattoo artist who cares more. Yeah.
 
Yeah, I'm just like obsessed with the layering.
 
That's fine. Alright, we're gonna suck a little bit. It's gonna suck. Try to be quick with it over here. Feel it in the bones? Yeah. It'll rattle a little bit. You're being a champ, so it'll be okay. That's all I want. I want to be so good at getting tattoos, Erin. You don't even know. Unfortunately, I think the more you get, the more they start hurting.
 
Yeah. Because, uh, your body's like, Oh, we're going through this again? I'm gonna stop sending off the endorphins like I used to. And I need to slow them down a little bit. No way! Get covered. Get completely covered. We're gonna tattoo your face next, I think. So as far as healing, I typically use a like second skin type of bandage.
 
I like to use a company called Recovery and they have a bandage called DermShield. It's essentially the same kind of thing they use in medical settings for like holding ports, IVs, things like that. And the way it works is I put a bandage on your tattoo after we're finished and it stays on. up to like 24 hours.
 
Um, it fills up with a lot of plasma. A lot of people on TikTok and social media like to call it an ink sac. I'm not really sure where that came from, but that's just what they call it. Ink sac? Yes, because it holds the ink after the plasma gets started. Yeah, I guess I don't I don't know It's just a it looks really gross But honestly, it's all good.
 
That's what's supposed to happen because having the plasma actually helps with the healing process In this type of setting yes, like if you were not using a second skin type of bandage plasma in my opinion Is not a good thing on your tattoo because it actually is what causes scabbing And using this type of bandage for me personally has always yielded better healing results and less scabbing.
 
Um, people usually leave it on, you know, for up to 24 hours and I have them change it out. Uh, clean their tattoo and reapply a second bandage on it. And that second bandage can stay on up to about 5 days. Generally if you leave it on for the 5 day kind of amount. Your tattoo is generally pretty healed whenever you first take it off.
 
It's going to definitely be a little dry, a little peely, um, maybe flake a little bit, but all that's supposed to happen. I just feel like while that bandage is on, it's doing all the hard work for you. Uh, you don't really have to wash it a ton, which I feel like a lot of times washing it too much almost can cause like irritation and just things that you don't want for a fresh tattoo.
 
So... They're almost dummy proof, in my opinion, because if I can make them work and my tattoos heal on myself really well, then they'll probably work well for other people, too. And washing a fresh tattoo sucks. It burns. It's literally like having road rash that you're cleaning over and over. It's not pleasant for anybody that's never had a tattoo.
 
Not to discourage anybody from ever getting a tattoo. Go get the tattoo if you want one. There's ways to work with it. And so there's different types of healing too for tattoos. Is that right? Yeah, so that's one of the more newer kind of ways like using this type of bandage that I do It's gotten really popular maybe in the past like I don't know five years or so A lot of other people like the old school way was wash it Put something like aquaphor or A& D ointment on it Which I never suggest to put those on a fresh tattoo because a petroleum based product doesn't let your tattoo breathe properly.
 
Um, I think that if you're going to wash it and everything just to do antibacterial soap that's non scented and then use a non scented lotion on it will yield a lot better results. There's even some people that do more dry healing, which just means you wash your tattoo with the soap, you pat it dry, and then you leave it dry, which I personally don't like.
 
Uh, I feel like that's... That's going to cause a lot longer of a healing process, a lot more rough of a healing process. You're definitely going to be scabbing a little bit more. And I feel like usually that, for me, has always had to do more touch ups and everything, which touch ups are definitely part of the business, part of it.
 
But I think that, you know, if you can get a good heal the first time around, it's going to be better on your client's skin rather than having to go back over and go back over it. We're finishing it up. Almost done. Thank you so much, Aaron, for all this work and for chatting with me. I appreciate it. You're very welcome.
 
So, I'm going to do a little sign off and then I have a question for you to end this. Alright. This has been Sustaining Craft with your host Elizabeth Silverstein and my guest today Aaron Walker as we chatted as he gave me a hand tattoo. Um, music has been provided by Jim Tiago of 7 Second Chance. Catch his music on Spotify and around Denver most weekends.
 
Aaron, before we sign off completely, what advice do you have for someone who would like to consider making tattoos their career? Um, the joke answer is usually don't. Don't do it. Um, But, you know, all seriousness, uh, I guess it would be, how bad do you really want this? For me, tattooing isn't just a hobby, it's not something I would ever do part time, um, whenever I actually have ever heard somebody say, oh, I would love to tattoo, but I don't think I would make a career out of it, I think I would just do it part time.
 
And it genuinely pisses me off. This is something that is, it, it's something that breathes life into me and to the people that I get to be around. Um, I think that if you really want to do this, you have to first ask yourself, how bad do you really want this? Um, for me, I picked up and moved across country with absolutely no guarantee to be able to make this.
 
And, uh, I somehow made it work for me. Um, I think that if you're serious, you need to develop skills of drawing, make a portfolio of different kind of flash designs, things like that. I think that you literally have to give it your all. This is not something you can ever half ass. You have to literally go full ass on it.
 
Um, I think that there needs to be some kind of a burning desire in you that can't be quenched until you get to this point. I think that's the craziest answer I can think of, but it's, it's probably the most honest.
 
I'm just gonna do it like this for a second. Oh, poor boy. I'm gonna try to be real quick. It's looking pretty though. It's looking so pretty. That's gonna be a bomb ass tattoo when it's healed. I mean it's a bottom ass tattoo now, but I'm in pain. I'm heartin I know. You got a bigger hand tattoo than I did.
 
Oh really? I mean yeah, yours goes up to there. Dang.