Meet Stefan Farrera

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

Stefan, 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?

Creativity and artistic skill are like a muscle, and they need to be exercised. I’m lucky that illustration and painting are hobbies of mine before my career, so to me it’s not always work, it’s still fun for me, Even when it is work, I still enjoy it, of course that depends on the design or project; but for the most part I enjoy any opportunity to be creative.
I consider myself lucky in that I have a wonderful partner who is also creative, and we can endlessly be inspired by each other, without copying one another because we have our own styles. I also draw a lot of inspiration from media, like books, video games, horror movies, and toys from my childhood. I feel like there is an infinite well to pull from as far as content for my craft, and I make lists to revisit when I need some ideas. I’m also a fan of storytelling and world building, and I like to create universes and lore within my tattoo designs that reference each other and tell subtle stories.
All that being said, I still experience burnout from time to time, and I have to take breaks, although brief, then something will come along, and I’ll be inspired to get back at it.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m an artist, first and foremost. I tattoo as a career because I love tattoos and drawing, and it just makes sense. I started like most traditional artists with an apprenticeship, but my original goal was always to simply work for myself, so I opened my own shop. Now I try to provide a space for new artists to explore their passion for art and tattooing, learning new styles and building a portfolio.
Tattooing isn’t the only thing either, just a good starting point to explore my other interests like screen-printing, sculpting, and painting, which I hope I’ll be able to explore with time.
With Black Sun Tattoo, I want to give my artists a space for exposure to present and sell their stuff too, and now we have shirts and zines that display artists works in a different medium than tattoo.
The goal is to continue growing so that we may all explore art in a variety of mediums, and have them all on display and for sale in our shop space, but also to cultivate a safe, professional environment for creatives to express themselves.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Artistic Ability, drawing and tattooing go hand in hand, and that much should be obvious. However there are a lot of tattooers that limit themselves early on to one style, that’s different than finding your niche. I think versatility is important and will set you apart from other artists, because you can do what you do, and what they do.
That being said, to new artists, I think in time you will find the style that most appeals to you, and that best fits the content you want to tattoo. I started as an illustrative/blackwork tattoo artist, and now I prefer to work with color, in traditional tattoo styles.

2. Risk, you should be challenging yourself as an artist. Maybe you don’t know how to do something, the you should look into it, do some research, ask questions. Learn that technique that will push your skill and career forward, open doors to other styles. If you’re not growing as an artist then you might be doing something wrong. Push yourself, both in and outside the shoo.

3. Passion, these all go hand in hand. Tattooing shouldn’t be about the money, because it isn’t always there, but if you love tattoos and putting art on people’s bodies, then maybe it is the right job for you. That being said, it isn’t just a job, this is work that goes home with you, and even when you’re not drawing for a client, you’re drawing for yourself, to practice and keep that skill alive. If you love what you’re doing, then when the times get tough, or you have a slow month, you’ll stick it out, not simply give up.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

Ideal clients are people who want your designs, and who aren’t afraid to get it done at a proper size, pay what it’d worth, and let you do color! Small things like names, and little bangers are fine, but every artist wants to do their original pieces, that’s why we got into this, that’s what we want to be known for.
I appreciate every client I’ve tattooed, that’s how I built this business and made my living, but the clients who chose my originals because they liked the artwork will always be my favorites. It feels good to have people come in and want your designs, those are the clients I think I end up having the most in common with, they like the ideas and content behind the tattoo designs, and that’s where we can relate.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @blacksunxiii

Image Credits

All photos taken by me, Stefan Farrera