Mitchell Dean Philadelphia, PA

My name is Mitchell Dean. I work at The Séance Tattoo Parlor in Pennsylvania ⸺ Who/where do you get your inspiration from? I draw most of my inspiration from my friends and the people I surround myself with. The cooler the stuff I see them putting out, the more I want to do cool stuff as well ⸺ What do you feel is the hardest part of being a tattoo artist? The mental battle you go through daily. With any type of art, there’s this cruel part where the more you understand something, the more you see flaws in your previous work. So each day you learn more or study more, the standard you then set for yourself gets higher, while the confidence you had about your previous work gets lower ⸺ What do you normally listen to while tattooing I listen to a lot of deathcore and nu-metal while tattooing. Bands like Darko us, Lorna shore, Slipknot, and Marilyn Manson ⸺ What advice would

you give to someone about getting his or her first tattoo? (A

tattoo virgin) They don’t have to have a meaning. Just get something you like. No need to explain yourself; if you like something, go for it. Find an artist that does a style that you like and get something custom from them. Be you ⸺ What would you say is your favorite part of the job? My favorite part of the job is that I get to create a piece of art that someone will have every day until their last day and even a little while after that. It’s one of the things people actually get to take with them to the grave ⸺ What was it that initially sparked your interest in tattooing? What sparked my interest the most in tattooing would just be the environment of the job. I saw these dudes come into work at noon, listen to their favorite music all day while tattooing skulls and wizards all day, and thought this was the greatest job out there. Obviously, I later realized there was a lot more to it than that, but at 18 years old, it definitely was everything I wanted to do with my life. ✕