Meet Cody Taylor of Immortal Art in Scottsdale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cody Taylor.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born in Southern California and moved to Arizona when I was 13. I was always interested in tattoos but music and sports held priority until the day I turned 18. By that point, I’d abandoned sports and went as full force as I could into the punk scene where everyone is pretty heavily tattooed which encouraged me to finally start getting them done. I played music for a long time then my focuses shifted to tattoos completely. I initially started as the counter guy at a shop in Gilbert called black lotus tattooers. I worked there for a few years and managed to pick up a lot from watching and imitating. Through that job, I met my mentor Daniel Stella who when he moved shops agreed to take me on as his apprentice. The apprenticeship itself was fairly uneventful and lasted about a year and a half. It was still difficult trying to work two jobs and be at the shop as much as physically possible. I learned a hell of a lot from Danny and my other coworkers like Andrew Crystal. Now, I’ve been tattooing full time for a little over a year and things are going great

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I had my bumps along the way but I feel like getting into tattooing shouldn’t be a smooth road. I’ve been really lucky with having great people around me to make sure I would get through whatever fun stuff came up

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Immortal Art – what should we know?
I tattoo in Scottsdale, Arizona and I specialize in Japanese tradition that is heavily rooted in American tradition. I also love doing blackwork tattoos. I’m proud of the progress I’ve made in tattooing in a short time but I still have a long way to go. I don’t feel that I have a style that’s very set apart from others because I’m doing my best to work with a style very rooted in tradition. My designs are slowly starting to have a stylized look that is unique to me but I’m always trying to push further down that line until my tattoos are uniquely my own.

Do you feel luck has played a role in your life?
Luck at the beginning played a very large role in terms of me getting into tattooing. If I wasn’t at the right place at the right time, I probably wouldn’t have been able to work at black lotus which led to me starting to tattoo. I owe the guys at black lotus so much for giving me the chance to even work around tattooing. That job, luck and hard work got me to where I am now.

Pricing:

• Shop minimum is $80
• For large scale work, I charge 100 an hour
• Other than that price is by the piece

Contact Info:

• Address: Immortal art
  10255 n Scottsdale rd #1
  Scottsdale, AZ 85253
• Phone: 4803489418

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