NEIL ROBERTS

Just a family man who loves his craft; I am an avid fly fisherman and get on my skateboard from time to time.

Who or where do you get your inspiration from? I appreciate the classics. Cap Coleman, Sailor Jerry, Ed Hardy, Greg Irons, etc... I pull inspiration from current tattooers like Tim Lehi, Chris Garver, Chris O’donell, Grime, Tracy Lambright, Dan Martin, and Gabriel Massey.

one, but I had a tragic situation that wound up making me not follow through with it at that time. I started tattooing though around my 18th birthday when I was still in high school, mostly just on my close friends and a little on myself. I did that for about a year and then landed my first job at a shop in Salt Lake City. That shop is still there; it’s called Anchor Ink and owned by Steve Tippetts. I wasn’t there super long, about 4 months maybe, but I learned a lot in a short amount of time there, and I’m still grateful to him for that helping me get my foot in the door. After that, I bounced around the country.

What do you think is in store for the future of tattooing? I honestly don’t know. In reality, everything has pretty much already been done. No one is reinventing the wheel here.

What would you say is your favorite part of the job? Meeting new people, honestly. This job is very social, and thankfully I enjoy being social with my clients. My wife says I could talk to a brick wall!

I love hearing my clients’ stories of where they come from and what they enjoy doing. You learn so much about the world from these encounters.

Was it hard getting an apprenticeship? How was yours? I honestly didn’t have a formal apprenticeship. I did have an opportunity to have

Have you ever had a bad tattooing experience, and what was it? I have had several over the past 17 years, either with artists I got tattooed by or with some unruly customers or co-workers. There are assholes everywhere you will go in the world; we can’t control how people will act.

What is the most important advice you can give someone new to the art of tattooing? Draw and paint your ass off. Study art and art history. Pay attention when you are getting tattooed, and listen to the advice that’s being given to you. And above all, make sure you walk before you try to run. ✕