Scott began tattooing in 1984 with a Spaulding and Rogers starter kit. He never served a formal apprenticeship, and he counts Larry Edwards of Atomic Tattoo in Austin, Texas as his mentor. He approaches every tattoo as a new challenge, whether it is a small butterfly or an elaborate back piece.
Starting in 1984, before any of this was easy
Scott began with a Spaulding and Rogers starter kit in 1984. For anyone who came up after the internet, that detail carries more weight than it looks like it does. There were no tutorials, no reference libraries a thumb-swipe away, and no forum to ask why a line was blowing out. You learned by doing it, looking hard at the result, and doing it again differently.
He never served a formal apprenticeship. He credits Larry Edwards of Atomic Tattoo in Austin, Texas as his mentor, and says Larry taught him a lot whether he knows it or not. Scott also names Dave Mead, John DeClaire III, and everyone else who helped along the way.
A butterfly and a back piece are the same job
Scott approaches every tattoo as a new challenge regardless of its size. That sounds like a nice thing to say until you watch how differently the two ends of the scale actually behave.
A small piece has nowhere to hide. At two inches, a line that is a hair too thick closes up the negative space, and the whole design turns into a dark smudge in five years. The work is in knowing what to leave out.
An elaborate back piece is a different discipline entirely. It has to be composed for a surface that moves, curves, and is never seen flat. It gets built over multiple sessions across months, so the layout has to be decided before the first line goes in. Flow around the shoulder blade and the spine is planned on the body, not on paper.
The people are half of it
Scott says he enjoys the art form and especially the different kinds of people he meets, and that it seems like every day is a new adventure with something strange happening at the studio. Forty years in, that is not a line for a website. It is the reason someone is still doing this work at all.
Practically, it means you are talking to someone who has heard every version of your idea before and is not going to make you feel stupid for describing it badly.
Book with Scott
Call the shop at (262) 255-4884 or come to N89 W16687 Church St. in Menomonee Falls. Ask to see Scott's personal album while you are there. It shows what they actually enjoy tattooing better than any description can.
Questions about working with Scott
How long has Scott been tattooing?
Scott started in 1984, which puts him past forty years behind the machine. He has worked through several complete cycles of tattoo fashion, which is useful when you want an honest answer about whether a currently popular style will still look good on you in fifteen years.
Will Scott take on a full back piece?
Yes, large-scale work is something he specifically enjoys. Expect a consultation first, then multiple sessions booked over months. The layout gets planned on your actual body rather than drawn flat on paper, because the back curves and moves and a design that works on a page can fail on skin.
Does Scott only do one style?
No. He says he enjoys all styles of tattooing. If you are unsure which style suits your idea, that is a good conversation to have with him in person. Bring your reference images and he will tell you which approach will hold up best at the size and placement you want.