Thursday 27 February 2014

Interview with tattoo artist Sir Lexi Rex


Name : Sir Lexi Rex
Location : Olympia, WA, USA
Who : owner of at Lo and Behold Tattoo
First of all, please name tattoo shop where you work, and it's location. Or you're travelling artist?
Sir Lexi Rex : I own and work at Lo and behold Tattoo in Olympia washington, usa. I'm also a guest artist in Holland for some time each summer. I hope to do more guest spots in the future. I'm keen on visiting Norway and Sweden. I really like the tattoos I see coming out of that area.


How long are you into tattooing?
Sir Lexi Rex : I've been tattooing since 1995 but I didn't start taking it seriously until 2005. I grew up around bikers which introduced me to tattoos. Though it was mostly skulls and motorcycle themed stuff, to me as a kid I thought it was really bad ass.



Who was your first customer? 
Sir Lexi Rex : When I was 14 I constructed a jailhouse tattoo machine with a motor from a cd player, a bent spoon, a case from a marker and a guitar string. I think this was my freshmen year of high school. My peers all knew I was into art so when they heard I had made a tattoo machine they were all lining up for me to practice on them.
  I cant really remember my first paying customer but my first tattoo I made was a fix-up/cover-up of a skull with a name above it on my friends chest. I covered up the name with a black top hat and refreshed the skull. I still have that home made machine in a box somewhere.

Few years ago was a big scandal about tv show Tattoo school. Have you watched all that (La, Miami) Ink shows and whats your opinion about them?

Sir Lexi Rex : I have to admit that I don't watch television and have never really seen any of these tattoo shows.. I have mixed opinions of the "idea" of the Tattoo school show. Being that television has become such a powerful social tool for education as much as disinformation. 

On one hand it aids in making tattooing become more widely socially acceptable thus increasing a customer base for tattooers.
 But on the other, it spreads the idea that one could just take a two week course to become a tattoo artist and that a license or a certificate is enough to go out in the world and start marking people. In other words. It portrays the art and craft of tattooing to be something requires minimal time and effort to be a successful tattoo artist. In fact the reality is the opposite. 
I did see some clips from La ink and Miami ink and honestly I think it's just like any other tv show carefully crafted with the latest sensational topics to keep your attention and lull you into a state of mindlessness whilst suggesting ideas and opinions of an obedient consumerist society for you to unknowingly adopt and share as your own original thoughts.
In short, I'm not really keen on tattoo shows or TV in general. 


Whats your favorite tools for sketching?
Sir Lexi Rex : I really enjoy sketching with red pencils on 7lb. tracing paper. I work out drafts with different colors for efficiency and make my final drafts in black. 





Thank you so much for an interview! And sorry that haven't posted for soooo long
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