Conversations with Simon Lee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Simon Lee.

Hi Simon, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story? 
My father is a storyboard illustrator and inked comic books back in the day, so I grew up in a really artistic household. I got into tattoo and body art at a really young age and just be some obsessed with all types of body modification. I started my apprenticeship in 2012, right after graduating high school. I got pretty lucky with the shop I was in the artists were very nice but still gave me the old-school initiation. Hazing was always a part of apprenticeships, but I got like a light version of that, which I was more than happy to accept. I worked at another shop with my mentor when he decided to open up his own shop and really cut my teeth there with walk-ins and custom work. I moved to another shop called Clandestine Rabbit which is where I am currently working, and I feel that I have grown and learned so much from everyone here. I am even working with one of my friends from high school, so I’m am super happy with how things came full circle for us. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In between my apprenticeship and where I am now, I took some time to move away to San Francisco and go to art school. I studied illustration and had to work a grocery job. At one point, I had to leave the house I was living in and hop around on couches for a while, just not having a good time and not doing what I really set out to accomplish. I knew I had to make a change and just jump head-on into the career I was really meant for. So, when I moved back to the San Fernando Valley, that is when I felt like I really set my life back on track, tattooing full time and just making my own way and not waiting for things to happen for me. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I love American traditional tattooing and painting. It has been my first love in the tattoo world, and it has continued to resonate with me. I am always drawn to the folk-art side of American traditional and outsider art; I feel so connected to the people who don’t create to make something realistic but people who are compelled to create. When it’s a compulsion, the feels and emotions are so much more raw, even if the technical side may be lacking. I am also a huge horror movie nerd; I’m big into all things horror and spooky. So, I’ve found myself mixing my two passions, taking monsters and ghouls and making them into traditional tattoos. I am always trying to make my art stand out as its own, so I use bright colors and bold statements mixed with these horror creatures or villains. 

What were you like growing up?
I was always into strange stuff even from a young age, my parents introduced me to a lot of classic horror and fringe movies. We would watch universal horror like Dracula and the Wolfman, but my mom showed me Ed Wood movies and Cardinal of Souls at a pretty early age, and that really set my interest in horror from a young age. My mom also had a lot of circus books with tattooed people and sideshow performers that I became very fascinated with; the man that really set off my interest in tattooing was known as The Great Omi; he was a great tattooed man and was famously tattooed head to toe by George Burchett who is one of my favorite tattooists from that era. I also grew up listing to metal and heavy music, so I was always kinda a weird kid in school, but I found my tribe in middle school. I made lifelong friends with all the other weirdo kids, and we’ve all found our place in artistic and creative jobs. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Gorecheese

Image Credits
Joey Magallanes