Taylor Hagerty Wilmington, DE

TAYLOR HAGERTY

I grew up constantly drawing, as you would imagine. I was constantly in trouble for drawing Hentai and anime girls (it’s all I drew) since 5th grade. My mother was a wreck, lol. I wanted to be involved in all things rebellious. Go figure; I ended up tattooing.

Who/where do you get your inspiration from?

Otaku culture/lifestyle and all the old-school tattooers. Even music and video games.

What would you say is your favorite part

of the job? For me, it’s when you and your client are both stoked about the project at hand and the feeling you both feel when it’s done. I have the ability to bring someone joy every day. The gift of giving. What could be better!?

What was it that initially sparked your interest in tattooing?

Imagine telling a child they could play with a fire extinguisher in the middle of a grocery store. Lol. It was truly amazing to me! I learned a lot about history before I even picked up a machine. I loved the shock value of it also (back then). I just thought it was cool, and I wanted to be a part of it.

5 Years

Tattooing

Wilmington, DE

Location

Independent Artist

Color/Anime Fine Line

Specialty

@tattooed_by_taylor

Instagram

taylorhagertytattoos

@gmail.com

taylortattoos.weebly

.com

Who and what influences you to create your work?

Those who came before me and those who are doing it better than me now! I’m heavily influenced by Anime/ manga/Otaku culture. Also, traditional American tattooing. The history, all of it. Years before anime tattooing became a thing; I found Bunnymachine and Lil Tat Mama (and now a dear friend) just CRUSHING that shit. People still made fun of me for liking anime at that time, and I was like, wow, there is hope for me! Lol.

What do you think is in store for the future of

tattooing? I2 years ago, I couldn’t wrap my head around why someone would use a rotary machine. Now I’m using a rotary, lol. People are really putting out some crazy good work these days, so who knows? I will say social media has made tattooing that much harder on everyone. It’s a shame. Having to keep up with an algorithm and or artists worrying about how many likes they are getting as opposed to the beautiful tattoo they just did for someone and made them happy. ✕