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

Hi Tyler, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. My father is a painter, he and my mom encouraged me and my sister to try any artistic outlets we were interested in. I learned to tattoo at Dana Brunson’s shop Designs By Dana, a busy walk-in shop that had been around for decades by then. I had a 2 year apprenticeship and I was fortunate that there was a real and in-depth curriculum in place to make sure I knew everything I would need to make solid tattoos that would last long term in the skin. Learning in a face paced sink-or-swim environment forced me to learn the basics of a good tattoo quickly and the standard was very high at the shop. My boss had been doing single needle tattoos for over 20 years by the time I started my apprenticeship so I was fortunate to have access to a wealth of knowledge about single needle and fine line tattooing. Doing so many tattoos in the first 4 years really gave me a great base of technical knowledge. We would sometimes do ten tattoos in a day so you could try all sorts of techniques and equipment and compare the results. The education I received in my apprenticeship was invaluable in opening my shop Best Wishes Tattoo in Eagle Rock.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have always worked in a fine line style, but over time I became know for single needle tattoos and I now do mostly that work. I enjoy all styles of tattooing, but my favorite tattoos are dog portraits and historical flash. Getting to work with clients and hear about their dogs and other pets and the connection they have is my favorite part of tattooing. Having a dog myself I can understand their feelings and it’s very satisfying to make a tattoo for a fellow dog lover. Sometimes I get to make a tattoo of a dog that is still around, but often it will be a dog that has passed away so I get to help someone create a lasting tribute to their pet and give them some form of closure. Getting to talk to someone about their pet and hear how they were changed by their time together is a real privilege and I’m getting be a part of their tribute to their pet.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would definitely need to go to The Prince in Koreatown, one of my favorite bars and they have great food. Anyone visiting L.A. should ride the Angel’s Flight, it’s one of my favorite parts of L.A. history and when you get to the top you can go to the MOCA museum and The Broad before you ride back down. I’d try to grab a few drinks at Tiki-Ti, maybe go to Sunken City in San Pedro, get a breakfast burrito at Lucky Boy in Pasadena, and to me Taco Zone will always have my favorite street tacos.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In 2008 I had been tattooing for four years and had the opportunity to move to Pasadena and work for Jason Schroder at Incognito Tattoo. When I moved out I got to work with a great crew and we would bounce ideas off of each other before and after to work to push our tattooing in new directions. Jason was building a lot of tattoo machines at the time too so I had the chance to use a ton of great machines and Jason encouraged us to build machines or our own and helped me build single needle machines and was happy to discuss machine theory and help in any way he could, no secrets. My time at Incognito was very formative and still guides my tattooing today. I”m excited to now have my own shop Best Wishes Tattoo in Eagle Rock just a few miles down Colorado Blvd. from the original Incognito Tattoo location.

Website: https://www.bestwishestattoo-la.com/

Instagram: @tylerborich

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tyler.borich.1

Other: https://www.tylerborich.com/

Image Credits
all tattoo photos by Tyler Borich, no credit needed

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