Today we’d like to introduce you to Faelan.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was forced to go to art school instead of becoming a surgeon.
Back in 2014, ten-year-old me entered an art show benefiting a local animal shelter. I had painted a portrait of myself touching noses with my Great Dane, Boston. I dragged my parents through hundreds of paintings, drawings, and sculptures, searching for mine.
But it was nowhere to be found.
Was it lost? Ruined? Did they forget about it?
My mom held my hand to reassure me, but I could see the confusion on her face. I felt a pit in my stomach as we entered the auditorium.
“Hey, look!” my mom gasped, pointing toward the stage.
There it was. My painting, sitting on an easel in the center of the stage. It was the only piece up there.
Something about that moment awakened something in me. I wanted to become one of the best artists in the world.
Throughout middle school and high school, I spent thousands of hours developing my craft, participated in exhibitions, received multiple congressional art awards in Massachusetts, and was voted “Most Artistic” at my high school. Apparently, spending my childhood hunched over a sketchbook had paid off!
But somewhere along the way, I convinced myself that art wasn’t a practical career.
I had another passion: medicine. I took honors and AP courses, became vice president of my school’s Future Students of Medicine Club, applied to Ivy League universities, and even interviewed with Dartmouth. I wanted to become a surgeon. I loved the precision, science, and opportunity to help people, but I also wanted the financial stability to support a family someday.
Ironically, my family encouraged me to pursue art instead. They believed I had a gift and would regret abandoning something I’d spent my entire life developing.
So, naturally, I announced that I was going to become one of the best tattoo artists in the world.
“We didn’t mean that… We meant like an art teacher,” my grandparents said.
Oops.
While my family imagined a more traditional artistic career, I saw tattooing as an opportunity to make a sustainable living doing what I loved. I’d always enjoyed creative prompts, and tattooing offered the chance to collaborate with people and bring their ideas to life.
I eventually earned my Bachelor of Arts from Flagler College in St. Augustine, further developing my skills and exhibiting my artwork professionally in a downtown gallery.
What fascinates me most about tattooing is how it combines two worlds I once thought I had to choose between. There’s the precision, anatomy, technical discipline, and attention to safety that drew me toward medicine. Then there’s the expressive side of fine art: capturing stories, creating movement, and turning someone’s imagination into something tangible.
I’m only about a year into my tattooing journey, with an incredible amount left to learn. But I’m bringing years of artistic experience into a medium that challenges me in entirely new ways.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not! Although I think the most valuable growth rarely comes from being comfortable.
My first apprenticeship was particularly challenging. Coming from a fine-art background, I was eager to explore realism, color, shading, and traditional tattooing. However, my training was primarily limited to fine-line work and tribal blackwork.
While I learned important fundamentals, including clean linework and sanitation, I struggled with the lack of opportunity to explore other techniques. I often felt creatively restricted and unsure of how to improve. Eventually, I began questioning whether tattooing was even the right career for me.
That changed when I met Bart Andrews.
I still remember my working interview at what is now Wayfinder Tattoo. I was packing black ink into a tattoo when Bart placed his hand over mine to demonstrate the needle depth and technique I needed. It sounds like such a small moment, but it meant everything to me.
For the first time in a long time, I felt like someone was genuinely showing me how to grow rather than simply telling me what not to do. I didn’t even know if I’d gotten the job yet, but I remember feeling an enormous sense of relief.
Since then, Bart has helped me develop my technical skills, from shading and color packing to needle selection, texture, and traditional foundations. More importantly, I’ve been encouraged to explore different styles while respecting the traditional values of tattooing.
But I think my greatest ongoing challenge is myself.
I’m incredibly critical of my work. I can finish a tattoo I’m proud of and immediately identify everything I could have done better. Sometimes that’s exhausting, but I’ve learned to turn that criticism into curiosity.
I genuinely enjoy constructive feedback. I’d rather be uncomfortable for five minutes than repeat the same mistake for five years.
Tattooing is permanent, and I take that responsibility seriously. Every piece is an opportunity to become more precise, knowledgeable, and intentional.
I don’t want to be the artist who believes she’s mastered everything. I want to be the artist who’s still learning something new twenty years from now.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I like to think of my work as fine art that happens to live on skin.
My background is rooted in painting, realism, and traditional fine-art principles. I’m particularly drawn to animals, nature, botanical compositions, and the intricate details that make something feel alive. Currently, my work explores fine-line tattooing, realism, micro-realism, flowing compositions, and the relationship between artwork and human anatomy.
One of my biggest artistic goals is to create tattoos that look like they were always meant to be there.
I don’t want to simply place a beautiful image on someone’s body. I want to understand how it interacts with their anatomy, moves with their muscles, and complements their natural shape. Whether it’s a delicate floral piece wrapping around someone’s hip or an ocean scene flowing along an arm, I want the body to become part of the artwork itself.
Eventually, I’d love to explore this through large-scale projects and full-body compositions. I envision tattoos as permanent fashion, artwork that feels as intentional as something designed specifically for the person wearing it.
But one of my favorite parts of tattooing has nothing to do with the needles. It’s the people!
During my first apprenticeship, my mentor joked that booking a tattoo with me wasn’t just an appointment; it was a hangout session.
And honestly? She wasn’t wrong. I yap. A lot.
I genuinely love getting to know my clients, hearing their stories, and discovering the little things that make them who they are. I think that connection makes the artwork better. The more I understand someone, the more thoughtfully I can interpret their ideas.
Growing up, I loved art assignments. Tattooing is essentially that, except now the prompts come from people with their own memories, personalities, and wonderfully unique ideas. Some are deeply sentimental. Others are hilariously ridiculous. I love both.
I’m especially proud of projects that challenge me to think beyond a reference image, whether that’s transforming a child’s drawing into a tattoo or creating a large-scale composition that flows naturally with the body.
Above all, I want my clients to feel comfortable, heard, and excited. I want them to know their ideas matter and that I’ll be honest about what will work and age beautifully.
They’re trusting me with something permanent. I want the experience to be just as memorable as the artwork.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I think one of the most exciting things about being an artist is realizing how much you still don’t know.
I’ve spent most of my life studying art, and somehow, entering the tattoo industry has made me feel like a beginner all over again. I absolutely love that.
There’s freedom in knowing you haven’t reached your full potential. Every new technique, challenging project, and piece of constructive criticism is an opportunity to grow.
When I was ten, I wanted to become one of the best artists in the world. Today, I see that ambition differently. Art is subjective, and being the “best” means something different to everyone.
What matters to me now is becoming the best artist I can possibly be.
I’m incredibly grateful for everyone who’s supported me, the mentors who’ve helped me grow, and especially the clients who trust me with their stories and their skin.
I have some pretty ambitious dreams for the future, and I’m only getting started.
Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll even make my grandparents proud of the tattooing thing!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @faelantattoo
