Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Butcher
Hi Steve, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
From early on in my life I was always interested in art, and I could draw as a kid due to my Nana always drawing with me, after we’d go to the movies or watch something at home, we would sit down and draw pictures from the movie using the popcorn cup or drink for reference. Then once I hit high school nothing but art seemed to keep me there, so I graduated a year early and went straight to Whitecliffe university for fine arts where I studied for 4 years and achieved my bachelors of fine arts. During that time I was going to the train station and an old acquaintance saw a painting I was working on and suggested I try tattooing. I really didn’t think much of it at the time, but soon after, my Nana passed away from lung cancer and I felt like I needed to fill the void inside me so I decided to contact this acquaintance and get a portrait of my Nana. It was during this process that I thought to myself, you know what I can do this! So I bought myself a kit off the internet and started tattooing my friends at my home. A year later I had a job in a busy street shop in Auckland New Zealand where I worked for 2 years before landing my dream job at the time, a spot at matt Jordan’s shipshape tattoo.during the 4 years I spent there I started traveling a lot for tattooing and exploring the world. Making new friends that I call family everywhere I went. After traveling for several years I got my US visa and moved to California where I now reside and work in my private studio in Huntington Beach.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have definitely been a few bumps along the way. This industry is very small and very social, so when we see each other around the world it’s like a little reunion, well a lot of things come with that. Drug and alcohol abuse is very prevalent in our industry and I allowed myself to become engulfed by it. I am now 4 years clean and 1 year sober and it was the best thing I could have done for me and the people around me. I now appreciate the people around me so much more and have a much better outlook on life.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a tattoo artist that specializes in hyper realism. I love trying to recreate a photo to the best of my ability. I’d say right now I’m most known for my nba portraits and action tattoos of dunks and stuff like that, which I absolutely love to do as I’m a huge basketball nerd. What I’d say I’m most proud of and what sets me apart from the others is my use of bokeh, where the subject is very sharp in focus and the background or foreground is out of focus and blurry, I think this effect really helps to force the question, is that a real tattoo? And I love that!
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
The only way to achieve your goals is to put work every other competitor so that you know there’s nothing more you could have done to achieve it. Always be the hardest worker in the room. There’s no shortcuts to greatness, greatness is achieved with perseverance and hard work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.stevebutchertattoos.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevebutchertattoos/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/stevebutchertattoos/
