Daily Inspiration: Meet Kyle Dean

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Dean.

Kyle, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in a small town located in the heart of Iowa. I was never a very artistic kid growing up, in fact I would watch my bestfriend draw and I would think to myself “I could never create something that good” so I never tried.. and therefor I never did. Yet I was sooo intrigued by art and tattooing. Fast forward to my 17th birthday, I beg my parents to allow me to get a tattoo and they finally said yes. I ended up getting my first tattoo “Dean” on my right outer bicep, to say the least, I became obsessed with tattoos. So I am still in my senior year of highschool at this point and I’m spending every dollar I make on getting tattoos. By the end of my senior year I had two half sleeves and a tattoo behind my ear. I end up graduating highschool and with 2 college grad older sisters I definitely felt the pressure to pursue college. So that’s what I did I moved 3 hours across state to start an automotive technician program that I wasn’t all to excited about, all the while every weekend I’m traveling back home getting tattooed. I eventually meet a tattoo artist and shop owner who was looking for a front desk “secretary” type position to fill, answering phone calls, scheduling appointments etc. I took that opportunity to ask if they’d take me on as a tattoo apprentice instead. So, he asked me to bring in 2 of my best drawings the next day and him and his artists would evaluate them and give me an answer. What did I do? I went home and picked up a pencil and did my first two drawings since kindergarten and took them back to him the next day. To say the least they were not impressed and denied my apprenticeship, but still offered the front desk position and told me they’d help me learn to draw and if one day in the future they think I’m ready for an apprenticeship then maybe it will happen, they made sure I knew I wasn’t ever promised an apprenticeship ever. So I took the job and quit school after one semester, moved 3 hours back home and started working for tips as a tattoo secretary. For the first year and a half I worked 3 days at the tattoo studio and 4 days at an Ace Hardware, learning to draw and studying the art of American Traditional Tattooing every day and eventually I earned my badge as an apprentice tattooer. Now this meant I needed to be at the tattoo studio 7 days a week, 3 days working the front counter and 4 days apprenticing and learning the proper cleaning and setting up procedures all the while still studying and practicing my drawing and painting. I had to quit my job at Ace Hardware and dive 100% into this industry. I worked 7 days a week for over a year, learning to properly set up and tear down my mentors station, watching them tattoo, and still practicing my drawing and painting. I was also given 100s of drawing and painting assignments throughout this year. Eventually it became time for me to do my very first tattoo and it was on myself. After that I slowly started tattooing close friends and family over the next year and as I became more comfortable I was able to do larger pieces. After about 4.5 years total, of working front counter and then apprenticing I finally graduated and became a full time tattoo artist. At this point I was so thankful I truly did not know if that day would ever come. While I was going through my apprenticeship my parents moved to Arizona and I met my wonderful girlfriend Javin and she moved 10 hours from Denver Colorado to Des Moines Iowa to be with me and support me through my apprenticeship. Javin graduated from college with a business degree in 2018 and about 6 months after I graduated from my apprenticeship Javin expressed to me she wanted to pursue her art career and no longer wanted to be working a corporate job so we sold all our stuff and moved into an RV and relocated 1,500 miles southwest to Phoenix Arizona where we found a small business suite on Craigslist that looked perfect for our future tattoo studio. That was back in February and now we are the proud owners and artists of Happy Daze Tattoo Co. taking appointments and tattooing the wonderful locals of Phoenix Arizona every day with the beautiful sun shine!!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It is never going to be a smooth road! Everything had its own challenges from me dropping out of college, to working 3.5 years at a tattoo studio with no guarantee they’ll teach me the trade. It will all be a challenge and you must be patient and persistent. Selling all our belongings and moving into a camper was very hard for us, we developed a rule if we hadn’t used it in a year throw it away or give it away. It also took us 3 days to get down here driving a truck hauling everything we own in a trailer behind it and Javin drove our second car with our cat Dennis. We slept at truck stops and casinos every night in our camper.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a professional tattoo artist that specializes in American Traditional and Neo-Traditional tattoos. Black and grey or color doesn’t matter to me although I’m most known for my color tattoos. I am capable of tattooing any style except for hyper-realism. What sets me apart from everyone else is my creativity, my efficiency, and how clean and solid my tattoo work is.

What were you like growing up?
I was very free. I played a lot of baseball because I was good at it, and I skateboarded a lot. I grew to hate playing sports because they always told me what to do when this happens, or you have to do the exact thing the playbook tells you to do. I loved the freedom of skateboarding, nobody could tell me what was right or wrong, there were no rules only creativity and what you’re capable of, it’s total freedom much like drawing and painting. I didn’t get into drawing and painting until I was 18yo but I feel like it has always been apart of me. I was just always scared to draw because I believed I wasn’t good at it and was embarrassed, when in reality I was just learning..

Pricing:

• $150 an hour for all custom work
• $550 (4 hour) Half day session
• $1000 (8 hour) Full day session
• $100 shop minimum
• Flash and predrawns priced from $100-$500

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=happy%20daze%20tattoo%20co.%20phoenix&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happydazetattooaz?igsh=MWt3bnZib2xuMHFyOA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happydazetattooaz/
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/tattoos_kyle?igsh=MTBoYnZna29ucGp2dw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr