St. Louis Archives - Matt Hodel Tattoo

Putting the extra into your hard work is what makes you rise to the top. Nothing will be given to you. What is amazing is how many people will come to help you once you have started to help yourself. I have found that staying in motion is the key to advancing my career. This…

In 1995 there were 14 tattoo shops from O’fallon, Illinois to O’fallon, Missouri. In 1998 there were 40. With each shop averaging 3 artists working in house, that would equal 78 new jobs for tattoo artists in three years. That is almost a 300% increase in the industry. As impressive as those numbers are, where…

Tips for the Freshman Tattooist. Its has been said that you haven’t been tattooing until your fifth year is complete. This is when you get to see your old tattoos healed. It takes that long for your tattoos to settle. Until then, your first 5 years are very important. Here is some advice. Take it…

Measuring success. What is your barometer for success? What are your benchmarks to get there? Have you been making progress? As self employed practitioners of the tattoo arts, we enjoy a rebellious reaction to those outside our craft. We boast of travel and freedom while we enjoy a walk of life that few will understand.…

“I just love my tattoo! It was fast and efficient!” -nobody ever Why. Why do I want to rally the troops? Why do I want to reach out to artists? Because times have changed. The product is no longer the institutional names of big shops but the future solely relies on the individual tattoo artist…

People cancel their appointments. This is a simple fact of business. I do not take offense to a cancelation. Do you want to know why? I love my clients. I love hanging out with them and I put them before myself. If someone needs to cancel I do not penalize them or beat them down…

My SELFJournal has a few parts to it. There is an opening of the day that includes writing your Itinerary, a Gratitude lList, Targets and daily Goals. Upon closing the day, you write Lessons Learned, Wins and another Gratitude List. The journal has helped me to take a daily inventory of myself and my actions.…

Learning to Tattoo Recently I have been hanging out with Haram. She wants to learn how to tattoo. But first she must understand what it is she is asking for. Matt Hodel

What we do is not secret. Secrecy has been considered a value in the tattoo culture. It has been such a tradition to guard all of your information that we pretend we are sitting on a wealth of knowledge that only the entitled are privy to. If you know me, I constantly challenge the standards…

Sometimes I feel so swamped drawing new tattoos for clients that I forget how much I have done. They say if you wanna have self esteem, do something to be esteemed about! I’m posting this as a reminder to lift my head from the grind and appreciate what I do and who I have met.…

The Bastards of Art Movement Last year I had the idea to try a podcast. I wrangled Jon Fournier into the project and together we recorded 24 episodes that were released weekly. Together we learned a lot. I think the most positive part of the project was forcing ourselves to articulate what we do…

No one said it would be easy!!

I hear the word success more that 10 times a day. I choose to hear it. I surround myself with the word. When I run, the Nike App commentator says it in my earbuds. When I listen to podcasts on my drive to work, the host says success repeatedly. The book I am reading right…

www.blurb.com I love Blurb. I just got done making another portfolio. In the past I have used Adobe InDesign to layout my books. Doing it this way gives me a lot of control of the layout. Today I decided to use their HTML book making option. I was surprised at how much control I really…

It’s Throw Back Thursday! I found a memory card from 2008. I guess I didn’t like taking straight photos in back then.

Man, its cold out! I can’t believe summer went by so fast. Here are some pics from our last campout to get me through this damn cold weather.

Being successful isn’t out of your reach. I use an app called flip book. It searches the internet for me and brings back topics I’m interested in. Today, the blog I reposted below came across my feed. I was thinking, “I wish I would have read stuff like this years ago!” Instantly I realized I…

My second year of tattooing, I was working long hours at Iron Age. It was the original location that was upstairs next to Vintage Vinyl. I’d had a trying week of crazy customers. It was not abnormal to tattoo 10 people a day. At the end of a shift I would pray that a tribal…

www.matthodeltattoo.com

First camping trip of the year. A 250 mile loop to Giant City State Park. We found a cemetery for old heavy equipment. Went on some hikes. I think April and I have figure out the motorcycle camping. Rule one: Less is More. We do not take much. I could do this forever.

Why you will quit tattooing. I used to say “Tattoo artist don’t retire, they just die.” Thats not a true statement anymore. It is no secret that a rising amount of ambitious practitioners are rushing to the industry. With the excitement comes disappointment as announcements of earlier retirement become common on social media. To a…

2015 was an awesome riding season. We really pushed my dyna to its limits. Traveling through 9 states we cover a few thousand miles of back roads. We did our best to stay off the interstates and the rewards were plentiful. I finally used my warranty I got from Docs. It expires in two weeks.…

This is Tom. Guess what Tom does? Mechanics and Gearheads will recognize his tattoos instantly. That’s Tom’s tribe. If Tom got stuck in some shitty dinner party with a bunch of stuck up assholes, he would stick out like a sore thumb. But if another guest recognized Tom’s tattoos and showed him his arms…

Why I don’t want my kids to tattoo. Tattooing is not for everyone. I get asked about letting my kids get tattooed or what if my kids want to tattoo for a living. The answer is No. As long as my kids are kids, they are not getting tattooed. The state says 18, so I’m…

This is the closest I get to a portrait. Franky and Madison have been getting tattooed from me for almost a decade. Here is Franky’s new tattoo! It is a tribute to his love, Madison. www.matthodeltattoo.com