Today we’d like to introduce you to Jingyue Huang.
Jingyue, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My name is Jing, and I’m a tattoo artist located 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 Arts, where I studied style and design. 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 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. I’m so grateful I always had clients from the beginning and with the help of Instagram, the social media app really helped me expand my career and clientele as my designs and work piqued many people’s interest constantly. I currently own a private tattoo studio located in the Arts District of Los Angeles. My clients book with me for my detailed and elegant fine-line designs as well as for my watercolor tattoos. Besides tattooing, I’m also very proud of myself for just not creating work on people’s skin, but I also paint regularly. I do traditional Chinese paintings on paper and silk and by doing so weekly it brings more artistic and creative works into my tattooing skills, and it also inspires me to further elevate my skills.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think one of the biggest challenges at this current moment of time is social media. Social media has always been popular, but especially after the pandemic and the rise of influencers making content for their careers, it has affected us as artists as well. It’s kind of like another full-time job for us as artists. Trying to see what song is currently in right now but also what song may be popular next to use for our postings. We always have to constantly post and make content to continue garnering a crowd and keep our page active as we try to branch out our clientele field. It’s like a new wave of technology and publicity as well. To me, videos tell more of a story and information that pictures can’t. As an artist, I think we need to be more open-minded and embrace change to find a middle ground when dealing with social media!
Another challenge that I’ve realized is that Los Angeles has so many talented, and maybe even some of the best artists in the city, and that most definitely motivates you to meet them and share your work with others. In my mind, I don’t see this as a competition at all, and I think some people tend to forget about this! We’re all so talented in our own ways that we don’t need to be competing with one another. Instead, I think we should learn from each other to create a positive workspace and mindset. Instead of viewing this industry as a ‘Hunger Games’ type of energy with only one survivor at the end, I see it as rather a more of a cooperative game that we all play to collectively work together to improve our skillsets, mindset, and us as human beings in general to be a better version of ourselves day by day.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve been in the tattoo industry for five years now. I started doing thin, fine-line tattoos first, and I fell in love with it. My clients book with me for my detailed and elegant fine-line designs as well as for my watercolor tattoos.
Besides tattooing, I’m also very proud of myself for just not creating work on people’s skin, but I also paint regularly. I do traditional Chinese paintings on paper and silk, and doing so weekly brings more artistic and creative works into my tattooing skills, and it also inspires me to further elevate my skills.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I think the one thing I get surprised about the most are my clients. I am extremely surprised by the amount of people who fly out to see me and get a tattoo from me. It’s such a surreal feeling, and I feel so many things about it, but the one word I can definitely say is that I feel so thankful towards them. All of my clients, whether they are local or they travel extremely far, motivate me to do better with each session and become a better version of myself as each day passes on.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.firstjing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstjing/
