Fireside Articles

Wrong on Paper, Right on Skin | 3 Minutes to Better tattooing

Dan Pushcarich

Published on: 23/04/2025

Shape is king in tattoo design. When I recently had a client come in wanting a blue jay that would wrap around multiple angles of his shoulder, it perfectly illustrated why we need to prioritize designing for the body rather than the stencil paper. This is exactly the kind of challenge that separates good tattooers from great ones - understanding that what might look "wrong" on paper can be absolutely right on skin.

Drawing for Tattoo DesignTattoo Techniques

Balancing Intuition & Technique | Levi Hilton | EP 295

Dan Pushcarich

Published on: 09/04/2025

What's up everyone, I just had the opportunity to sit down with the incredibly talented Levi Hilton, a recommendation from our friend Patrick O'Neal, and it turned out to be one of the best episodes we've recorded in quite a while. Levi shared his journey from Louisiana to San Diego, diving deep into how animation influenced his unique tattoo style and the importance of understanding how designs interact with the body as a canvas.

Drawing for Tattoo Design

3 Days to Smarter Tattooing…Hint It’s a Process | Cooper | EP 250

Dan Pushcarich

Published on: 04/04/2025

Today we have a real treat with some great knowledge drops from killer artist and tattooer, Cooper. Coop is very much about his process; he's very thoughtful, plans very thoroughly, and is extremely process-oriented. So, if you're curious about how really high-level illustrative style tattooers plan their tattoos out and execute, this is the episode for you. Cooper has a very specific kind of order of operations that he goes through with each and every tattoo and was kind enough to lay it out for us.

Drawing for Tattoo Design

Keeping Recurring Themes Engaging | Rich Wren | EP 248

Dan Pushcarich

Published on: 04/04/2025

Continuing our Illustrative Tattooing Series this week, we talk with one of our favorite and certainly one of the most prolific tattooers, Rich Wren. Rich puts out a lot of great work and always finds ways to keep his subject matter fresh and engaging. There are tons of nuggets and interesting stories in this one; we think you'll enjoy it!

Drawing for Tattoo Design