Jacob Sheffield is a young (24 years old!), hungry, rapidly progressing tattooer who has been blowing many top name artists minds lately with his incredibly innovative and original concepts, impressive layouts, and unique/solid execution on each and every piece.
I first heard about Jacob from my inspiring tattoo collecting buddy Tim who fell off of a 90 foot building and had the story/interpretation of it tattooed on his back by Jacob a few years ago. I had never heard of him but Tim was ranting and raving to me about Jake at the NYC Empire State Expo in 2017 saying “This kid is next up man he’s ridiculous”.
I checked out his work and thought that it was pretty solid initially.
At the time, my taste for tattoo artists work was still developing (as well as Jacob’s skill level), but now, having seen a solid majority of what’s out there these days on the internet, I can honestly say he is one of the 10 or so individuals that I feel I absolutely need to give a solid amount of space of my body to tattoo. He is elite, world class, and he’s just getting started.
I got the chance to ask him some questions, I hope you guys enjoy the interview below.
You have been killing it for awhile, but in my opinion you have fairly recently stepped up to the absolute top of the game and are tattooing out of your mind right now. I have seen a mindblowing amount of progress since I’ve been following you. I have a feeling that you are so humble and focused on creating and grinding and evolving that you don’t even take the time to think about and notice the massive strides you’ve been taking. What would you say has most contributed to this crazy amount of growth?
Thanks a lot man, I really appreciate that. I would say traveling to do guest spots and conventions. I feel like there is always something for me to learn to be able to create better art, so getting to meet other artists is really inspiring and makes me want to be better.
When did you realizing that tattooing was for you and that this was what you were born for? Do you have any idea what you’d be doing if for some reason there was no such thing as tattooing lol?
I was either 16 or 17 when I realized I wanted to tattoo. Whenever I was in school, I was always drawing on my papers and a lot of my friends had tattoos so I found out that there was such a thing as an apprenticeship, and that’s how it all started.
Since you first stepped onto the tattoo scene up until now, what are some of the biggest positive and negative changes you’ve seen happen?
Positive wise, I think that it’s a lot easier to gain knowledge about tattooing. Whether it’s watching someone’s DVD, or traveling to someone else’s shop to do work, or going to all of these conventions. It’s an awesome thing to be able to meet so many people that love to do what you love. Negative wise, I don’t really know haha. I have only been in the industry for a few years now and I have really only experiences positive growth.
Does social media help or hurt the tattoo culture? Why?
I think social media definitely helps the tattoo culture. It allows artists to display their work to the world and allows us be able to see other work being done and easily communicate with each other, which I think is inspiring and motivating. I think It also allows our clients to find the right artist for them and not have to just wander into a random tattoo shop and hope for the best.
Who are some of your biggest inspirations in the industry? If you could swap tattoo-for-tattoo with any artist tomorrow who would it be?
There are so many, but Dmitriy Samohin, Bob Tyrell, and Guy Aitchison have definitely been some of the artists that I have looked up to and tried to learn from since I started. If I had to swap tattoo for tattoo with someone tomorrow it would be Dmitriy Samohin for sure.
Favorite part of being a tattooist? Toughest part?
My favorite part of being a tattooer is probably being able to travel the world while doing what I love to do and meeting new people all the time. The toughest part is probably that it’s just on my mind 24/7 and always trying to do better on my next tattoo then I did the last one.
Describe your ideal client.
My ideal client would be someone that understand the entire process 100% and someone that will allow me to have completely creative freedom.
What helps keep your mind so fresh/focused/sharp? How many days do you prefer to tattoo per week? What would you say “suffocates” people’s creativity most?
My days off haha being able to just relax and not sit in a chair for 8 plus hours a day multiple days in a row and play video games . I just recently got into oil painting too so that’s what I really enjoy doing and relaxes me when I am not tattooing. I really prefer to do one tattoo a week. My ideal schedule would be focusing on one tattoo a week. To be able to meet with my client, really get the perfect design, draw the stencil, and then have 2 -3 days to tattoo. I mean everyone is different but for me it’s working too much. I hate to feel rushed on a design because then I feel like I am not going to produce my best work. Also, I think clients not allowing artists to use their creativeness.
The first tattoo I ever did was when I was like 16 or 17 and I did a pick n poke cross tattoo on my buddy with a safety pin and burnt plastic soot mixed with toothpaste. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures to share with the world. My first real tattoo was when I was apprenticing and I did script on a co worker of mine and completely butchered it hahah! As far as my favorite goes, I don’t know if I have a specific one. Every time I finish a tattoo I always see flaws so I have yet to really perfect anything. One that I really love though is on my wife, Racquel. It was my first big piece, an arm sleeve, in my first year/2 of tattooing
I would just say to work hard, learn as much as you can, don’t be afraid to talk to other artists, stay humble, and make sure you’re doing it because it’s what you love to do.
Thanks for your time Jacob! It’s been great getting to know you a little more. Give this talented guy a follow @jacobsheffieldtattoos