Mark Wade is a tattooist who I first discovered when I was building my list of the best realism artists across the country.
I was immediately blown away by his ability to create such vibrant, saturated, and detailed floral work (though he is amazing at many subject matters).
I shot him a direct message and right off the bat he seemed like a genuine, humble, hard working guy, somebody I would love to be friends with.
Mark recently moved to New York, so if you’re in the area he is definitely one of the top people to consider getting tattooed by.
I got the chance to interview him and I truly enjoyed reading all of his answers to the questions I gave him.
I hope you all enjoy the read.
So I saw that you recently visited Black Anchor shop and did a guest spot there in LA … How would you describe the experience being in there?
Yes sir! Lucky you for getting in his (Nikko’s) books hah! They have a beautiful shop. I had the opportunity to guest spot there when they first opened the place, and coming back this last time i got to see the shops evolution into an incredibly badass place! Ricardo, Emily and Nikko always take care of the guest artists incredibly well, plus there’s plenty of stuff to do around the area! Cant wait to get back out there!
You are tattooing at a world-class level these days of course, but as you were making your greatest strides of improvement, what would you say were the three or five most beneficial things as far as your growth as a tattooist?
- Man I truly appreciate that! Im honestly honored that I get to tattoo in the same shop next to some of these heavy hitters I’ve looked up to since my apprentice days!
- Granted, I think the first main thing that has really helped me grow is who i listen too. I remember hearing a story a while back talking about Michael Jordan. He was obviously an incredible player and was at the very top of his game. People would call him cocky and the guy had every right to be, but when it came to doing what his coach Phil Jackson said to do, he literally. Just. Applied. It…… without any question. Thats an important aspect to instill in yourself. Who you listen too is going to make a dramatic impact on how you perform. Thats also one thing to understand that this can work for you or against you. A true version of a double edged sword. Im not going to go to a plumber for medical advice, im going to seek out a doctor. Even on the off chance that the advice the plumber gives you is actually correct, its statistically unlikely. Also in this same scenario it could mean your death if you listen to the wrong advice. Obviously this scenario is exaggerated but i do think its important sometimes to frame things in an extreme perspective to try and see the worst possible outcomes of the philosophy youre applying.
- Second would be what my parents taught me, and thats a strong work ethic. For this you’ve got to understand where you are in life. By that I mean, what are your circumstances currently. Write them down so you can frame it for yourself. Then, and this is equally important, you need to ask yourself where it is you want to go. I knew a few kids, hell…. probably more than I really remember. What they would do is they would say that wanted to be a cop, or say they wanted to be a nurse or something of that like. Then they would get tied up in life and never actually take any steps towards their goals. They would stay working at the same cafe or bar for years….. When you understand where you are in life, then you set an aim for yourself, you’ve got to start pushing yourself somewhere in that direction. If you leave it up to chance, you are risking throwing yourself out in no-mans-land. The reason I say no-mans-land is because by military definition, that is the area in between where you and your enemy are waging war. NO one survives there. No one will have a happy life there. Without any aims you’re just inviting misery into your life. So ideally you write this all down, you’ve got your sitiuation understood, you’ve got your aims. Now you’ve got to really put in the time and effort to learn about where youre going and what it is you want to do. This is why a strong work ethic is important. I’ve seen almost all of the people who are the best in the industry really bust their ass and put in that extra work. That’s exactly what youve got to do.
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Thirdly, and probably what I will stop at because I’m really putting a lot into these hah. Try and be persistent. Life is gonna hit you hard and that’s just a given. Dale Carnegie said he could lose everything he has built, but because of the knowledge he has, says he could always rebuild it. So always trying to learn and stay current with your industry is also a key factor. As Abraham Lincoln said, “Im a slow walker, but i never walk backwards.” So things may happen in life that can really hit you hard, but if you adapt to the circumstances you can overcome.
Anything you’ll never get sick of tattooing? Anything you wish you never had to do again (or that you are currently choosing to never do again)?
Haha well I don’t want to do any old school tribal work or cherry creek flash. Most people that email me are incredibly open for what it is they want to get and give lots of artistic freedom. Definitely blessed for that! I’ve really been getting into doing color to black and grey transitions with surrealism. It’s hard to pull off correctly but it can look so damn cool.
When would you say you really got submerged into the tattoo scene? Are there any huge changes you’ve noticed between that time and right now?
Its’ a whole new world now, I got really into the tattoo scene in 2008 when i realized the pictures in the magazines I was seeing of portraits were actually tattoos. This blew me away. I started researching constantly to learn how to even start attempting to do this style. And as a community its grown so much for the realistic side. When I was first starting, people kept saying that realistic tattoos would never last,( some people still say this) but its great to see the public really embracing the art side of it now! Beautiful time to be an artist.
What do you predict will really shift in the industry over the next five to ten years?
That’s a hard question! I hope we can improve the tattoos even more. Maybe start structuring the ink to where it can stay even more vibrant. Make tattoos more for the individual a regular thing. Possibly bring artist together as a community where we can share results openly with one another and really push the boundaries of knowledge and what works for what. Have the public more involved and open to doing longer sessions and more passes over tattoos so they really look incredible. I’d love to see beautiful work walking around consistently, but these may be a bit extreme of dreams.
Any artists you’re hoping to get tattooed from in the near future?
I’m getting tattooed by Phil Garcia, Dmitry Samohin soon, there’s a couple collabs I’d love to set up with a couple of my favorite artists. I”d like to see Rember and Sivak do one, that would be so kickass!
Favorite part of being a tattooist? Any major pet peeves in the industry?
- Hah easiest question so far! I love the people man, we get to change peoples lives on a regular basis. In the 1940s, after world war 2, europe was absolutely demolished. They chose to put a ton of money back into their architecture to simply make the place beautiful. At the time the investment might have looked irresponsible but now its paid itself back 100 times. People travel from all over the world just to look at the damn buildings! Tattoos are the same way, people treat you with so much more appreciation and respect when they see you covered in beautiful work. It’s a weird thing to see, but its also great to see!
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- With all of that said the only thing that pet peeves I could think of is people not understanding there’s a process to how tattoos are built. They dont look incredible right away. For example color tattoos dont look good at all until its about 90% there. So just have patience with your artist, we care alot how this is going to look and we want it perfect just the same as you do! They take a lot of time but its worth it.
Ideal client? Have you had any nightmare clients thus far? Three things you wish every client understood without you having to explain it all to them (even if the things aren’t realistically common knowledge).
Man most of my clients if not all are really damn good people. I’ve only had a couple stories where people were a nightmare but Mom always said if you don’t have anything nice to say its better to not say anything at all! Haha, but as I was saying in the last question. Tattoos take a lot of time, at least to do them well. So prepare to sit for the whole day. Bring a pillow, bring a blanket. Even bring an ipad for netflix!
Toughest lesson you’ve learned being a tattooist?
Way too many to count. Be patient with people, have compassion. You never know what people are going through. Try and help make their day better and if you cant do that, then sure as hell dont make it worse for them.
I’m always conflicted these days as far as mimicking custom tattoos because I know that there can be all kinds of asteriks and variables that may possibly go into some scenarios, but what is your personal opinion on the decision by artists that copy original concepts and also choose to post the piece they created/copied?
That’s tough, Picasso said good artist copy but great artists steal. You can interpret that a lot of different ways. I think if you can take an idea and make it your own then that speaks volumes. If you’re going to straight rip someones design than you sure as hell better make it much BETTER. Even then there’s a social element of its being in the wrong but its really too complex to make it a black and white topic. I personally stay away from doing a design from a tattoo.
If for some reason you ended up not being able to tattoo (or at least not as frequently), are there any other careers that interest you in the slightest way?
I’ve actually been thinking of this a lot, I’d probably gain 5 or 6 hundred pounds and get into being a stripper. I’d make a killing. Jokes aside though I know I would be involved with the creation process in some way. If I lost my hands I’d at least try and teach what I’ve learned or write it down so someone else can grow from it.
Do you have a personal overall goal as a tattooist? Any milestones that would mean the world to you?
I have several artists I would love to work with. I want my art to be better. I’d love to work with some top car companies to really make a clean sleek vehicle design. Even my own shoe or clothing line. Even work with some of the companies to make shoes kids could wear or clothes that just look clean and nice but are affordable. Also I’d like to get into sculpting and painting murals on buildings that way we could improve the art around cities. Hell even having time to paint more would be great! I guess that all comes across a bit vague and im aware i need to specify them alot more in detail. But im still focused on mastering the craft of tattooing and there is still so so much about it that I really don’t know.
Thanks so much for your time Mark! You have such an interesting perspective and it was great to do this interview and get to know you a little better. Defintely give this guy a follow @markwadeink
