Meet Andrew Garinther | Tattoo Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew Garinther and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew, what are you inspired by?
I’ve always been inspired by medieval and Renaissance era engravings. Not only do they contain powerful symbolism, but the imagery itself is beautiful because of how it was made. All of the depth and shadow is conveyed through linework, since the design had to be carved into a material before being inked on paper. The imperfections created during the printing process are the icing on the cake. I try to emulate this aesthetic in a lot of my tattoos.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As of this writing, it has been 2.5 years since I left Baltimore to start my life over as a tattoo artist in LA. People ask me all the time what got me started, and I don’t have a great answer. This has always been my passion and I wish I’d started sooner, but I’m happy with where I am now. I always felt like something was missing, and while that feeling is a lot of what drives my growth and I don’t want to lose it completely, the answer was pretty simple. Tattooing.

If you take a look at my work, you can see I have a particular way of tattooing an image that is really starting to come together into my own style. I love getting references from old engraving books, vintage illustrations, or maybe just a cool design from a t-shirt. Then adding some elements and tweaking it to make it your own and turn it into a custom tattoo. I am always grateful to clients who come to me with the beginning of a vision of what they want, and trust me to take it the rest of the way. When a tattoo becomes a collaboration, we both end up happy.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We would have to take a drive up the PCH around sunset. I’m very spontaneous, so I’d just stop at whatever beach is closest when the time is right. Burgers and fries at Heavy Handed, probably walk around the Santa Monica and Venice boardwalks, if only to see the spectacle. And definitely make it to the abandoned zoo at some point.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I wouldn’t have gotten my foot in the door without the help of my friend Josh Gray. Everyone at Costello Tattoo Studio- Ozzy Lima, Shay Nir, Yakir, and Costello himself-were really instrumental- that’s where everything started to click and I learned how to tattoo. And now I’ve settled in at Black Serpents with the help of Julio and Rocky, who create a great atmosphere for creativity and growth. I’ve been really lucky to meet a lot of great people in the tattoo community.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewg.ttt?igsh=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Image Credits
David Alfasi