Delving into the work of Jeff Johnson is like stepping into another world; one full brilliant dimensionality and fantastic colors. A talented tattoo artist and painter, Jeff has an aberrantly beautiful way of viewing designs and applying them to the skin that makes his work stand out and gets others to take notice.

I was lucky enough to meet Jeff many years ago and knew the first time I saw his work that he would continue to climb the ladder and be successful in the ink biz.

A tattoo artist for a little over five years now, Jeff enjoyed a brief apprenticeship with Carson Hill at his home studio in Newbury Park, California. After learning from Hill, he ventured out to West Hollywood, tattooing there for about six months before figuring out that the scene there wasn’t quite what he was looking for. That change of pace led him back to Carson’s studio where he focused and learned a lot during that duration. He then tattooed in private studios as he fine-tuned his skills, and earlier this year made the move to Mike DeVries’ shop, MD Tattoo Studio, in Northridge, California.

Jeff is also a talented painter and likes to focus on organic and biomechanical designs when he puts the brush to canvas. Browse through his paintings at his website and you will find markedly unexpected elements and textures.

It’s always fun to see Jeff and talk tattoos, music and other sorts anomalous topics that Jeff is always thinking about or discovering. He was kind enough to answer some questions recently for Inkerviews, and it’s a pleasure to feature a bit about his work and upcoming ventures.

Your work is so fantastic because you seem to be able to work in many different genres and do each of them beautifully. How would you describe your style?

I like to say my work is just my own; mostly color, and all hand-drawn.

What is your favorite type of piece to tattoo?

I like doing bio, organic stuff the best. But flowers are always fun too!

This last year included a move to MD Tattoo Studio for you. How do you like working with Mike and the crew at MD and how has it influenced your work?

I like working here. Working with Mike and Josh has definitely broadened the scope of how I tattoo. I’ve learned a lot about things like saturation, color blending and color theory. There is also the aspect of being able to bounce ideas off other people who do a completely different style of art than I do. I think that is very important when growing as an artist. We have a lot of fun here.

You are such a talented painter as well. Do you feel like your painting benefits your tattoo work (and vice-versa)?

My painting definitely benefits my tattoos, I think its a subliminal weirdness, but when I paint more it seems that tattooing gets easier. It’s strange. It is a great outlet for new ideas. While painting, I tend to paint more bio organic stuff.

I always love talking music with you, because you have such excellent taste in it! What's your favorite type of tune to groove to when you are working (tattooing or painting)?

It just kind of depends on the mood I'm in. Sometimes I listen to ambient stuff, Metal Jam bands, kind of everything. Music is very important to me. I like some stuff from all genres. As long as there is a certain flow to it - if I can feel the energy of the composition and it touches me, I listen to it!

What is your favorite sweet treat ? =)

Yellow cake and chocolate. Love it!

Last updated on November 23, 2009 by Jinxi Boo