Tattoo artist Ryan Ocampo is a firm believer that while art lives forever, there is no other art form as permanent as ink on skin.
Ryan was working as a cook on a ship and as a tattoo artist in the US when he decided to move to Melbourne. He made the move after his girlfriend became an Australian permanent resident.
"When I arrived in Australia, I decided to concentrate on one career. I studied and worked as a cook because I wanted to have my own food business in the Philippines," he shares, adding, "I decided to focus solely on tattooing and that still led me to have my own business."
Ryan was a cook in the US before moving to Melbourne for his girlfriend. Source: Ryan Ocampo
An artist from the streets
Focusing solely on tattooing meant pursuing an art form he had been involved with for 13 years.
"I was 13 years old when I first learned to tattoo and that's also when I got my first tattoo. I'm 26 years old now," he says. "It was just me and my friends practising on each other. I never stopped tattooing since I started, but I didn't expect it to eventually be my full-time job."
Working as a full-time tattoo artist necessitates constantly improving one's artistry by learning from other artists; but for Ryan, "experience is still the most important way".
"I never stopped tattooing since I started, but I didn't expect it to eventually be my full-time job." Source: Ryan Ocampo
When it came to experience, Ryan gained a more local understanding of tattooing when he worked for another Melbourne tattoo shop and eventually opened his own first home-based service, Thug Life Tattoo Melbourne.
"I posted my work online and there were shops that called me to work for them. I worked for a shop for six months, but that didn't work out," he admits, adding, "I decided to go solo. I got my registration, renovated my garage and turned it into a shop."
Ryan turned his garage into a tattoo shop. Source: Ryan Ocampo
Shop owner and mentor
From his home-based business, Ryan made a name for himself as a tattoo artist until he was given an opportunity to take over the lease of a previously-owned tattoo shop in Reservoir, a suburb in Melbourne's north.
"I was able to bring back the tattoo shop to life," he says.
"We're open to doing different designs and I continuously study different styles of tattooing; but my signature style is still gangster designs - the theme I started with and the tattoos I learned from the streets."
While Ryan had the opportunity to learn the art of tattooing on the streets, he's giving aspiring artists a chance to learn in his own shop.
From working in his garage, Ryan decided to take on the lease of a tattoo shop that closed down. Source: Ryan Ocampo
"I'm able to give opportunities to other artists, especially those from the Philippines, to be able to do tattoos. Actually, I was able to sponsor a tattoo artist from the Philippines to work for me. He's on a working visa," he says.
"I've had quite a number of Filipino artists I've mentored. They started with me and I helped them figure out if this is the kind of work they want to be involved with."
The kind of work involved with tattooing is permanent, so according to Ryan, his mentees go through a few months of training and observation as well as tattooing on synthetic practice skin before they are able to work on clients.
Ryan with the tattoo artist he sponsored from the Philippines Source: Ryan Ocampo
"Unlike drawing on paper, you can't just erase a tattoo; so you have to be able to focus and you have to be detail-oriented. You can't take anything for granted. That's what I always tell people I mentor."
Being able to mentor other artists in Australia has helped further solidify his love for the art form.
"Back in the Philippines, some still discriminate against people with tattoos; but here in Australia, more people understand the value of the work and the skill of the artist," he says. "That's why I tell the people I mentor to focus not only on earning but to continue on the path with humility and with the goal of learning and experiencing more."
A tattoo artist since the age of 13, Ryan shares that he believes in constant improvement through research and experience. Source: Ryan Ocampo
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