Meet Nathan Philips

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nathan Philips. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nathan, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

Keeping creativity alive is definitely one of many, if not the most, struggles artist face daily and in my opinion one of the hardest things to sometimes maintain especially in my line of work.

Staying creative for me, helps to do different things, being creative doesn’t have to be locked into one specific trait or art form.
Trying different hobbies and different art forms can bring forth creativity you never knew you had. You have to broaden your horizons if you want to break the creativity block.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I was born and raised in beautiful South-Africa, started my tattooing career back in 2009, which marks 15 years of growing in and learning the ever growing form of art and tattooing.

2021 my wife as of 10 October 2024, (fiancé at the time) and I, decided to take the plunge and make the big move to the united states.

Anyways, we sold all our belongings, took our life savings and contacted a great company called Tattoo Visa Immigration and put down the deposit to start the process of obtaining legal work visas and successfully got the O-1 & O-2 visas. This was and still is a very expensive and tedious journey.
We got our fur babies legally transferred to the states with us, taking two days flying over three legs and a three day roadtrip from Los Angeles to Colorado.
After 2 years of living in furnished houses, saving up funds building up new credits etc we jump to 2024 and we are living happily with our two dogs and two cats in sunny Colorado Springs, sleeping on our own bed, finally, makes it all worth it in the end.

I am currently a full time artist at Fallen Heroes Tattoo & Piercing, on Colorado Ave. I am surrounded by many talented individuals who push me every day to better than I was yesterday. I predominantly do black and grey realism with splashes of color. I specialise in my ability to translate a collectors ideas and thoughts into a visual artwork and then ultimately transfer that art to skin. My skills thrive when I am given the freedom of creativity and the chance to just be me. I would love to do more color realism pieces in the future. What makes my work special is being able to creative everlasting art on awesome people.
I am currently working on bodysuit project pieces for my portfolio, so keep an eye out for discounts and deals coming in the near future.

As for non-profit, I work with an organisation called ‘Redemption Ink’, it’s about giving people a second chance on first impressions dedicated to covering or removing tattoos based on hate or racism. I also participate in the yearly fundraiser, for Sue’s Gift, in raising funds for ovarian cancer. One of the largest tattoo fundraisers in the USA, which has raised over $270,000 so far.

I am currently touring the country one convention at a time, getting my name out there in this big vast world of ours.
Ive joined many Villain Arts Art Festivals and even took home a Third best Black and Grey prize at the 2024 Charlotte Festival, which was a huge honor for me being featured amongst some of the industries best of the best!
I hope to be taking home some more prizes in the near future and cement my way into America and hopefully get our Greencards sooner than later.

Im slowly venturing back into other art forms such as sculpting, 3D printing and painting, as we get more and more settled here. I hope to make a successful business of my other skills as well. I will be selling merchandise, limited artwork and products soon, so keep an eye on my socials to keep up to date with convention dates, product launches, project pieces and more.

You can go have a look at my work on Instagram, TikTok, Threads & Facebook under @np_art & @nathanphillips_art.

If you’d like to get in touch with me, visit my linktree in my bio on instagram.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Firstly my mother is a big artistic influence in my life, from very early on, she would put a pencil or brush my hand, and make me try different things and pushed me to practice, practice, practice…

Secondly the master Leonardo da Vinci has always been my silent mentor and biggest inspiration for how one could be so diverse yet so masterful in all areas.

Thirdly, life, life inspires all. Just look around you, you will find beautiful compositions in simple every day things, see the magnificence in the flap of a bird wing, or the rustle of leaves on a changing aspen tree, as they seem to wave back at you, theres inspiration in everything around us,

It just takes some time to still the mind and see the beauty that is there. Take inspiration from the world and create.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

A great book I would suggest for any beginner to master artist, if you haven’t worked through this program yet, its definitely my number one suggestion, Drawing on the Right Side if the Brain, by Betty Edwards, just do it you won’t be disappointed in the results.

And the great thing about it is once you’ve done it, you can do it again and again and every time the results just improve more and more as you understand your own skills better and better.
Its safe to say that some of the exercises seem idd and out it of this world, but all makes sense in the end.

I don’t want to spoil it for anyone but draw what you see and not what you think you see, this will improve you over and over!

First hint, everything consist of shapes, form, shadows and light. Combine those four and you can create the world.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Mirror Photo – Immortalized Moments – Jacob Sandors

Tattoo Photos – NP_Art

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