Conversations with Jing Huang

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jing Huang

Hi Jing, 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 backstory with our readers?
Hi! My name is Jing, and I’m a tattoo artist based in the Arts District of Los Angeles. Before becoming a tattoo artist, I was an art student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China and also attended Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland, where I studied style and design. Growing up, I have always been interested in the field of art. To me, art is one of the best outlets to let your creativity flow and design something that not only expresses your thoughts and feelings, but also to convey a story behind the artwork itself. I studied art under my uncle and I also had a part time job as an assistant art teacher while I was in school! I originally came to the United States to attend graduate school in arts and design, but before I started going to school, I learned how to tattoo as a hobby. I actually never intended to become a tattoo artist at all! It all started one day when I was with a friend and we walked into a tattoo shop together to check it out. As I was looking around, I thought to myself “this could be a fun hobby,” and here I am today – five years later! I didn’t end up going to graduate school, but I did pursue a traditional apprenticeship and then quickly finished my apprenticeship in a few months. Fast forward to today, I now own my own private studio in a hidden, tucked away spot in the Arts District where I work 3-4 times a week and host not only my friends, but also artists from around the world.

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?
I personally think it has not been a smooth road at all. When I first started in 2019, there weren’t many fine-line and color tattoo artists in LA. Around this time period as well, Instagram was beginning to help artists build their careers and seek new clientele. Everyone started to slowly use Instagram to gather more attention for our respected works in hopes it would peak the interest of others. Then, the year after, COVID hit and we had to shut down everything. My shop was closed for a year and a half and this also made it difficult to not only attract clientele, but also for me to work on my tattooing skills. However, after the lockdown was lifted, a lot of clients had money saved so they started to get more and more tattoos – which boosted the market in 2021-2022.

When 2023 arrived, the tattoo industry was becoming bigger and a lot more artists came. A lot of foreign artists started to come to LA, and the USA in general, making the tattoo pool a bit wider. It allowed people of LA to have ‘more options’ to choose who they would like to get their tattoo from. The tattoo industry always has its slow periods with bookings which is another challenge too. I’ve known a lot of artists who either travel for work or a resident artist in their shops, and booking is sometimes slow and hard for them. I think it happens to all of us and it’s a lot more common than people think.

Another thing that emerged recently is the Instagram algorithm. Lately, and with the influence of influencers and social media content, we [tattoo artists] need to also make additional content [reels, fun videos, post daily, etc] to stay ‘afloat’ and ‘in trend’ on social media in order to stay in the algorithm. I realized that we need to consistently work on our social media skills to continue garnering an audience, all while continuing to gain and increase our skills.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I like to think that my clients book with me for my detailed and elegant fine-line designs, as well as for my watercolor tattoos. I get a lot of first tattoo clients, so I feel extremely honored and grateful that they trust me to do their first piece. When I’m designing my tattoos, I tailor each design to my clients and have it fit their personality too, so each piece I create is unique for every single one of my clients and there is never a repeat design. Besides tattooing, I do traditional Chinese paintings on paper and silk and by doing this activity weekly, it brings more artistic and creative works into my tattooing skills, and it also inspires me to further elevate my skills. I think this sets me apart from others because of my background in traditional Chinese painting. After my studies and taking further classes, my work and color work look a lot more oriental than most artists. One thing I am most proud of is studying Chinese philosophy – called Wuwei. Wuwei means surrender and especially with today’s economy and the tattoo industry today, the teaching of Wuwei has helped me learned a lot and also helped me navigate my career field day by day.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
A lot of people in my life deserve credits as they guided me to who I am today! I think a huge person who deserves a lot of credit is my Chinese painting mentor. I learn a lot of skills from him weekly in our classes, and without his support and guidance, I don’t think my artwork and skills would be where it is today without him. My friends and coworkers also inspire me to work better everyday as we challenge and encourage each other to move and grow forward. We are each other’s peace and getaway. My studio manager, who answers emails, interviews, and is the face of my studio in terms of greeting clients and artists daily help me a lot as well. She’s very social and friendly so whenever anybody in the studio is on a break, she’s talking and checking in on everyone to make sure they’re okay – which I really appreciate and I’m sure the clients and artists do too. My clients also deserve credits because they chose to get tattooed by me. They personally chose to have my art on their body forever, and it means the world to me that people travel from all over the world to get a piece done by me. Everyone I named inspires me to work harder each day, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Pricing:

• half day session: $1,000-$1,500
• full day session: $2,000-$2,500
• multiple sessions: $2,500 flat rate for the first day, and then $500/hr for sessions after
• pricing can range in between a half to full day session depending on: placement, size, and level of detail of the design

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.firstjing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstjing