Giant's interview with Adam Hathorn, a tattoo artist based in San Diego, California. Recorded in Giant's studio in Miramar on Wednesday, February 19, 2020.
Topics discussed: Big Trouble Tattoo, the totem pole of talent, humility, photos of tattoos, Instagram portfolios, growing up in New England, skateboarding and drawing, filming friends, ollies and slap pies, Kien Lieu, Pushead, copying logos, mail order, herbs and druggies, Dogtown skateboards, difficulty with art teachers, ADD and meds, marry rich, Boston, Savannah College of Art and Design, good teachers, BFA in illustration, graphic design, paid to learn, magazine covers, The Hustle, postcards and envelopes, meeting Shepard Fairey, wheat pasting posters, client work vs. personal work, remembering tattoos/clients, tattoo tech talk, acetate stencils, no sketch tattoos, Sam Parker, Hardcore vs. Punk, violence at shows, skinheads, SHARPs, nazis from New Hampshire, trauma from violence, Olde English tramp stamp, underwater welder/tattooer/mentor, Chris Houfek, John Cantrell, graffiti writers hitting the tattoo scene, Grime, Timothy Hoyer, Chris Trevino, Guy Aitchison, graffiti clients, Beat Non Stop, Tommy Target, Twist hates tattoos, self tattooing, Kodik Joe, apprentice phase, National Tattoo Supply, cartridge needles, big hand problems, electric vs. rotary, changes in trade technologies, automation, CNC vs. handmade, dictating your own business values, The iPad Debate, digital output vs. handmade work, tool history, digital fronting, adapting to change, limiting editions/output, The Bottom Line, Alien Arts Tattoo, Art Crimes, Atlanta, Third Eye Tattoo, Tattoo Artist magazine, Gunnar, Crash, Rollo, packages of real media, San Diego, Wynn Body Arts, Guru Tattoo, Giant vs. Giant show, gang fight, opening Big Trouble, the “Don’t Be a Dick” rule, on-street vs. off-street tattoo shops, shop ownership.
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