An Interview with Shane Baker of Hope Gallery Tattoo

Today I had the pleasure of sitting down with Shane Baker of Hope Gallery Tattoo to talk ink, art and what his plans for the future are. His colourful artwork is reflected not only in his own tattoos but his personality as well. It was amazing being tattooed by him this past December. We talked a bit, shared some of our hobbies and got to know each other a little better. To see the work he did on me, visit the link below. Links to his social media and contact information to make appointments is also below.

How did you get into art? Was it something you always used to do as a child or did you discover you enjoyed drawing later on? 

I think I’ve drawn since I could physically do it. As far back as I remember I’ve been drawing, and my earliest memories are like from 3yrs old or so. I wasn’t super into colouring, I liked creating my own pictures. If I was going to colour, it was gonna be something I drew. 

What is your favourite medium to create in? Are you a pencil and paper guy or a paint and canvas man? 

I do a little bit of everything! I’ve been heavily into digital, to create my tattoo designs, stickers, business cards, and prints. I did just recently buy a new sketchbook, though to get back to my pencil and paper roots. Nothing feels quite like it. (Plus then you have originals you can sell.) I also paint and prefer oils over acrylics. But I’m not nearly as experienced with paint as a pencil. 

What drew you to tattooing? You have a background in art, so I'm guessing it was just the natural progression of wanting to take your art to the next level? And how many years have you been tattooing now? 

I studied animation and illustration in art school and had no real solid idea of what exactly I was going to do when I got out. There were lots of potential career paths and ideas, and tattooing wasn’t even a seriously considered one at that point.

My first apartment I had out of my mom's house was in the Virgin Islands, and one of my roommates was a scratcher turned apprentice... he had his own machines, some ink and supplies. He always dug my art and suggested I should get into tattooing. Up to that point, I had done art school for four years at Rhode Island College and the Art Institute of Boston ... but left without a degree and was basically doing odd jobs and freelance art gigs. 

I tried to get an apprenticeship at Virgin Ink and Jimmy Buffham where my roommate had worked- they were uninterested after a rocky go with him. And virgin ink had an artist with a mere 3 years experience, and she baulked at the idea of teaching. (I thought it was a blowoff but 12 or so years into tattooing, I think I’d still be cautious of taking an apprentice.. it’s a big responsibility.)

Those were the only two shops in the island at the time as far as I know.

 So when my friend was moving to the Bay Area in California and needed a roommate, I eagerly joined and tried my luck on the west coast. I inquired at many shops, and as Brandon from Jimmy Buffham’s had told me, “you’re going to need to be persistent. You’ll hear a lot of no’s before you get your yes.” 

This was 2004, and tattooing was still nowhere near as open about things as it’s become now. 

Eventually, after moving back East, I found an apprenticeship at a Biker shop, which didn’t last due to crazy biker related drama. Then I met my friends and future mentors Dave Racci and Christian Perez at Elm City Ink and they have me a shot as the 3rd or 4th apprentice in that shop... and one of 2 to actually make it as a tattooer.

What are some of the most challenging pieces you've done as an artist? 

I’ve done a ton of pieces over the years that I found challenging at the time- then, later on, realizing some bit of technique, realized how I could have made it way easier on myself. 

Portraits and coverups tend to be some of the more challenging tattoos, for vastly different reasons. 

Portraits, especially non-celebrity ones are difficult, especially if the person is dead. Available photos are limited, so getting one with usable lighting, expression and size is not easy, but those are all crucial to making a great portrait. 

If the image is too small or grainy- when you blow it up, it’ll look shitty. 

If the lightings bad, it’s not a good reference and you can’t fake it.

If the expression isn’t on that the person usually made- as great a tattoo as you do? If gramma Tilly never smiled, and you tattoo her with a cheesin’ grin, it’s not gonna look like her to those that know her. Not capture her personality, you know?

Cover-ups are tough because you’re not working on blank skin. Your options are automatically limited. You’ve to be sneaky, and efficient to use what’s there, disguise what you can’t use, and distract from the old covered piece on what blank skin you have. Colour theory, drawing and composition become more difficult but absolutely crucial to a solid cover-up.

What are some of your favourite pieces you've done over the years? 

Tattooing wise? 

Anything that I’d label as a “Bakercreature” immediately becomes an instant favourite. It’s a wide-ranging catch-all term for my new school-ish illustrative creatures. They can be colour, or black and grey, and are infinitely customizable. Scary, creepy, cute or a combination of- sometimes people give me an animal they’d like one based off, or a job, hobby etc... and I try to encapsulate their personality, or wants into an original creature design. 

These are fun for me from drawing through the whole tattoo.

Art wise?

 I was pretty stoked on my oil painting for the “Metamorphosis” show, at our shop. it’s a sphynx cat depiction of the Egyptian cat head goddess Bastet or Bast.

And the digital design I did for my latest business card is pretty fun too. A suicide king inspired playing card, with a bakercreature king - holding a giant magnum needle on one side and an old no. 2 pencil on the other. 

Do you feel that as an artist you're always learning and trying out new techniques that help you to not only grow as a tattooist but as an artist as well? 

Totally. I think oil painting is great for informing colour choices, and blending... plus it’s a place to experiment where it’s low-stakes. If a blend doesn’t work out, just paint over it... on the skin, it can only take so much beating in a session, so you may have to wait till a subsequent session to be able to fix a mistake or change colour. And the clients paying.. not a time to get experimental if you can help it.

Besides creating pieces that both you and your clients are happy with, what is your ultimate goal with tattooing? 

I didn’t get into tattooing to get rich or anything, which is great cus I’m nowhere near it.. Hahahaa. I’d love to be doing strictly my custom work if it were skulls and creatures every day? I’d be thrilled. 

Outside of that, I don’t need to be famous, but I’d like for tattooers to know me- and be like “fuck that guy!”... because that’s a tattooer’s greatest compliment.

You're an artist outside of tattooing and you have merch stickers, have you ever thought about branching out or maybe even creating a book to celebrate your milestones in tattooing? 

Not necessarily to celebrate milestones in tattooing, but I’ve thought about creating either an illustrated book or comic or sketchbook or something similar to sell... but I’m also a bit a.d.d. And a procrastinator. So I’ve got a lot of great ideas that are started but nowhere near finished. Eventually, I’ll do it! 

What are some of the challenges you faced as a new tattooist and what is the hardest part about learning to tattoo? It must be pretty nerve-wracking at first knowing that you're creating something on someone's skin that they are going to have forever. How'd you put that past you and become the amazing tattooist you've become? 

The early days of my career were terrifying. Anyone that tells you otherwise is lying. There’s just so much you don’t know, from how to position your client, stretching the skin, pulling clean lines, saturating skin without overdoing it and making your client into burger. Stencil management? So important especially to a young tattooer, dry towel, dab -don’t wipe. The first time you wipe a fresh stencil that you didn’t let dry, with green soap that’s you didn’t dilute enough and half of it just wipes away? 

Instant sweat. Just so much anxiety. You can feel the ulcer developing. Haha

I remember every time someone was like “someone’s upfront looking for you.” My first thought was always, damn. I fucked up a tattoo, they’re either going to demand a refund or punch me in the face.

So far, I’ve been doing this 12 or 13 years all told- no refunds, no beatings! 

What are some tips you'd share with your younger self or artists who want to learn to tattoo? 

Fundamentals are fucking important. Learn to hit singles before you start swinging for the fences. clean lines, smooth shading, and solid colour saturation and blending are the building blocks of your tattoos, the art stuff can be learned before or during. Try everything before you decide you’re a new-school guy/girl or a realism tatter, or a trad wizard.

I didn’t have a traditional or structured apprenticeship at all, and I was tattooing my own drawings before I knew how to compose a good tattoo. So it took at least a couple years before the stuff in my portfolio of tattoos looked kinda like my sketches. 

I know most tattooers are in a rush to “find their style” or start tattooing “their style”. I’ve been asked where mine came from- the short answer? 30 something years of drawing. It doesn’t happen overnight. So my advice? if you don’t have a style of your own, don’t just jack some other tattooer- it’s obvious, and it’s lame. If you appreciate someone else’s work, it’s ok to be inspired, it’s ok the borrow elements. (I don’t mean like an entire face, or flower...) Look at the way someone does hair or eyes, or backgrounds... then interpret it your way. That's the key to finding your style - it’s your interpretation of whatever. Draw things the way up draw them.. the mistakes, the quirks, the decisions- those are what become your style. You can steer it, a little but it’s mostly a building process that happens over time!