Daily Inspiration: Meet Ken Yin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ken Yin. 

Hi Ken, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
I was always an artist when I was young and studied arts and animation. The studies were life and realism drawings, anatomy studies, painting, graphic designs, and 3D Computer animations. I was perusing a career in the video game industry as a 3D artist and I got into the tattoo industry by chance where I was designing artwork for friends that wanted my designs for their tattoos. I realized there was a demand for tattoos so I decided to order a tattoo kit and tried it for myself. I wasn’t serious at first until I educated myself about the industry. Eventually, I realized that it was a respectable industry where it was growing rapidly from the norm. There were artists coming into the industry from different fields of other art industry. You see this in the different styles of tattoos out there. So, I decided to make a career shift and went into the tattoo industry. The only thing was where do I start? That would be to get into a shop and get an apprenticeship where you have a mentor to guide you over the years before you become a professional. That was easier said than done because not everybody was available or they already have an apprentice under them. I found this out by going to every shop in town with my best sketches looking for one and did not get it. Instead, I went into online forums and chat with professional artist to learn. There wasn’t many avenues to learn at the time compared to today. Even YouTube didn’t have much lol. So, over the years I kept at it until I got into a few shops and gained experiences. Now I have my own shop with my daughter as a junior tattoo artist under my wings. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It was a rough road for me because I was self-taught and it took forever. There was a time when I decided to just leave it and go back to my gaming career. I did that for a bit and wasn’t as happy as I was when tattooing. It felt like I didn’t give myself enough time to make it into tattooing. I felt my tattooing skills was not at a level compared to my drawing or design skills. It felt like there was unfinished business in my head lol. So, I went back into tattooing and this time I was going to focus 100% of my energy on it. The struggles of learning to tattoo is one thing and the other is the designing aspect. You can never stop learning when it comes to designs. What can you do differently to separate yourself from the crowd. At the moment I’m still learning how to. Lol 

The other struggle is I’m a one-man band when I opened up my shop called Golden Koi Tattoos. I did the unthinkable and setup shop during 2nd lockdown during COVID and opened up the business once restriction was over. The commercial location was perfect and I didn’t want to lose it to anyone else. Plus, it was during a pandemic so the cost was obviously lower than usual. After 2nd lockdown the business was thriving, my client list was 3-4 months ahead and I was rolling… then 3rd lockdown hit. Lol. Before I was just a tattoo artist worrying about completions of my client designs. All of a sudden, I’m an artist, the entrepreneur, the accountant, the front desk person, and the janitor at the end of the night. The good thing is I love that, I love the business side of operating as well. I love working under pressure for some reason. It keeps me on my toes. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a tattoo artist that came from the 3D game artist. I specialize in stylized realism / Asian neo-Japanese tattoos. I’m proud of the progress I made for a self-taught tattoo artist. When I started, I went to every tattoo shop with my sketches looking for an apprenticeship with not getting any. Now I run my own shop teaching new artists. I’m known for my creative custom tattoo designs and that sets me apart from other artist. I put a lot of thought in the design in itself where there is a story to the designs based on my client’s needs. 

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I like best about Hamilton is the geography and landscape. It’s a city where we have beaches, lakes, bays, ponds, rivers, and over 100 waterfalls. Also, the escarpment provide a nice view of the lower half of the city. Where else can you stand on a cliff and look down onto hi-rise buildings. And of course, the ppl. 

What I like least about the city is the slow growth. I don’t know if it was too much red tape in city hall but it took a while until recently you see growth. 

Contact Info:

• Email: Goldenkoitatt@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golden_koi_tattoos/