Carving Out a Career As a Tattoo Artist ft. Patrick Sweeney

Chats and Tatts

In this episode, host Aaron Della Vedova introduces a talented tattoo artist, Patrick Sweeney, known for his unique and progressive neo-traditional, sometimes psychedelic style. The artist's work is described as beautifully warped and full of interesting uses of color, easily recognizable, and highly respected in the industry. The episode also includes a humorous anecdote about a tattooed ankle🍆. Tune in to hear more about the artist's journey and creative process.

The Chat breakdown:

[00:00:10] Tattoo mishap.

[00:04:02] Driving as meditation.

[00:08:03] Raising kids in this generation.

[00:09:43] Video games and eye-hand coordination.

[00:14:31] Finding true happiness in hockey.

[00:17:01] Enjoying creative expression.

[00:20:12] Tattooing experiences.

[00:23:14] Becoming a tattoo artist.

[00:26:25] Tattooing as a career.

[00:30:11] Genuine expression in tattooing.

[00:33:05] Long-lasting emotional impact.

[00:37:18] Composition in tattooing.

[00:40:19] Absorbing different tattoo styles.

[00:45:13] Drawing inspiration from nature.

[00:47:00] Surrealism in art and life.

[00:51:07] Classical tattooing aesthetics.

[00:55:49] Large-scale tattooing techniques.

[00:57:36] Using squared-off photos for tattoo stencils.

[01:02:01] Marriage and work balance.

[01:05:07] A joke tattoo.

[01:11:23] Life on the road.

Quotes:

"We can make pottery way better than like the average kids that like do really well in math class, but we can man we can make a bong real easy." - Patrick

"I could just trace fucking Sailor Jerry tattoo flash all day and like this is my job." -Patrick

"End of the day, if you're not having fun and being very genuine with what you're making, it's gonna fall flat." -Patrick

"Have fun with whatever you're making, you know, and be kind to the people that are paying you" -Patrick

"That's why we all started doing it. It's what made us smile in the beginning and yeah, I guess we've been kind of dancing around the new world of tattooing with social media's involvement and how it's changed that." -Aaron

"To get cool art onto someone's skin, there's a little few more things you've got to figure out than just how to draw something cool." -Aaron

"if you don't have any understanding for what makes classical tattooing look the way it does, then you're going to keep drawing gelatinous, shiny splashing water that doesn't actually look like water. It just looks like weird goop." - Patrick

"You don't need to show these poor people who know nothing about your industry that you have a dick tattooed on your ankle." -Aaron

Connect with Partick:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/patricksweeneyart

Book a session: https://www.gurutattoo.com/patrick-sweeney

Connect with Aaron:⁠

Website: http://www.chatsandtatts.com⁠

Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chatsandtatts

IG: http://www.instagram.com/chatsandtatts

Chats & Tatts YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/chatsandtatts

Aaron IG:⁠ http://www.instagram.com/aarondellavedova⁠

Guru Tattoo: http://www.Gurutattoo.com