Daily Inspiration: Meet Danny Dunbar

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny Dunbar.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started as an apprentice in a tattoo shop in Mobile, AL in the year 2000. Originally from Alabama, I’d dropped out of high school and had no idea what I was going to do with my life. After tattooing for a few years, moved to Pensacola, FL and continued the tattoo career. Around 2003, I started working tattoo conventions around the country and made some connections the old-fashioned way. Elbow rubbing, portfolio pushing, traveling type of networking. Found myself tattooing n Denver, Co for a few years before moving to New York for a while. I moved to Los Angeles in 2008 and have been making tattoos full time the whole way.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
In the beginning, I think tattooing wasn’t very mainstream. Maybe even a bit stigmatized. I was lucky to find myself in a handful of great shops, usually surrounded by more talented artists who would become mentors and provide plenty of inspiration. Tips and tricks were hard to come by. It seems to me there’s been a boom in this business in the last decade or so. I consider myself lucky to have gotten in early. To have 20 years of experience at this point pays off.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a tattooer, I specialize in the classics. I especially like to take classic concepts and modernize them a bit. Staying true to the roots of the medium and using modern techniques to bring old ideas into the modern era. There are so many classic concepts that have been around for ages. Traditional Americana like: hearts, anchors, ships, skulls, roses, panthers, eagles, snakes, tigers, anything in the old grab bag of traditional tattoos. Also, traditional Japanese motifs like: dragons, koi fish, flowers, flowing wind and waves and all that good stuff. I try to pay respect to the classics but don’t mind doing these timeless concepts in a more dynamic, modern style.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Tattooing has been shut down in LA since March 2020. If anything, I’ll never take for granted the time I’ve gotten to spend with my clients. I’ve been spoiled by constant positive interaction with people from all walks of life. It’s always a great day in the tattoo shop and it’s uplifting to complete projects that people are proud to wear. I found myself a little depressed in May (when the stay at home order kept being pushed longer week after week) and my wife mentioned the idea that I was probably missing the social interaction with my clients that I was so accustomed to. It hadn’t occurred to me in so many years that it was such a gratifying element of what I do. I’d say that’s the biggest take away for me.

Pricing:

• $200/hr is the standard going rate for most professionals in the area.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.dannydunbar.com
• Instagram: @dannydunbar
• Other: www.studiocitytattoo.com

Image Credits
Blake Gardner (photo of me) Danny Dunbar (tattoo images)