We at Tattoo Marque had the opportunity to sit down with Aaron Coleman, owner of Immaculate Tattoo in Mesa Arizona Since 1998. We asked him a few questions while he tattooed and here is what he had to say: Helm: When did you know you were going to be a tattoo artist?
some equipment. I started marking up all my friends and taking pictures. I probably did that for three or four months and then I met my first boss, Jim Watson and he gave me my first job. I worked for him the first four or five years and then met some other people like Tim Lehi and Grime and those guys and kinda jumped around. I worked at the Crawling Squid and then they offered me this place and I’ve been here ever since.
Aaron: I never really planned it. I always knew I wanted to do something in art. There was a girl that I grew up 6with Nov/December tattoomarque.com that was doing it. She gave me
Helm: What is your tattoo style? Aaron: I like Traditional American. I like cartoons a lot too, I think they make really good tattoos. I try to do whatever people want. Whatever they ask for. Try to be kind of diverse. Helm: Where do you like to travel? Aaron: I like to go to new places. I love going to Italy, they have a really cool scene. We went to Amsterdam a couple of years ago and did the
convention. It was in an old prison and they gave everyone a cell and it was a music festival too, called Jail Break. Amsterdam was really cool because it was a lot cheaper there and it wasn’t as fancy.
Aaron Coleman
Helm: Did you have a formal apprentice? Aaron: I didn’t really do it the right way. I just started tattooing and all those people helped me out a lot. This girl Colleen helped me out a lot, Jim Watson helped by letting me work in his shop and then I met Tim Lehi at artistic and he helped me out a lot and just meeting a lot of good artists along the way. I think I would have been a lot better tattooer a lot quicker along the way if someone would have just taught me but I was a poor ass punk kid and I already had a kid. I just went about it the wrong way. Helm: What advice would you give a tattoo collector? Aaron: Look at portfolios, look at tattoos. Research the People you are going to. I think it’s better to see the tattoos in person, since so many people look at the internet now. A lot of times they don’t look the same in real life. The internet can be kinda misleading. Helm: What tattoo conventions do you recommend? Aaron: I think the New Mexico tattoo fiesta is fucking great. The only ones I do now are in Europe so I can see all the shit. The only ones I do in the states are NM and Texas too. I love going to places I’ve never been. I did one in Columbia a couple of years ago and it was fucking cool. Follow Aaron Coleman: @clam13 immaculatetattoo.com
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