Meet Jess Ritchie, Tattoo Artist at Best Kept Secret Tattoo Studio

Please introduce yourself — who you are, your background, what service you provide?

Hey there! My name is Jess Ritchie, and I've been tattooing in Austin since 2019. I primarily focus on American Traditional work, but because I did my apprenticeship at a street shop, I am well versed in multiple styles, including fine line.

How did you get started? What led you to this industry? Was it always the plan?

Art has always been a passion of mine. I've been drawing since I was very young. I came from a family that focused on academics, so I was always told that art was a hobby and not a career. While I did very well in school, I always did my art on the side and dreamed of the day I could actually do something with it. In 2019 I started dating someone who had a tattoo apprenticeship at Gully Cat, so that was unknowingly my "in." At the time I was in school at UT for social work. I would occasionally go and hang out with the guys at the shop, playing drawing games, making doodles, and showing them my sketchbook. After tracing stencils for them at a Friday the 13th event, Mike Terrell (the owner of Gully Cat) pulled me aside and said that he would teach me how to tattoo, that he thought I had what it takes. What it was he saw I'm still not quite sure, but I was shocked at the offer. I realized that I could actually have a career making art, which up until then had only been a fantasy. He was handing me my dream. It was so crazy. When does that ever happen? Honestly, I got lucky. I dropped out of school immediately and eventually quit my part-time job and went fully into tattooing. I fell in love with its history, its culture, and its existence in general. I am so fortunate to have found this career — it's everything I've hoped for and more. I get to make a living creating art and interacting with so many lovely people.

What do you love most about the work? What keeps you motivated and inspired day to day?

The thing I love most about my work is the people I'm able to meet along the way. There's a stereotype of hairstylists knowing everything about their clients and I definitely relate. My clients freely talk to me about their lives: the crazy adventures, the heartbreaks, all of it. I love being able to be there for them through the difficult and the fun times. Sometimes the tattoos have a deeper meaning and sometimes they just look cool. I love getting to know my clients more than anything else, we always have a great time. I've actually made a couple of amazing friends who started as clients.

What's something people don't see or know about your industry?

Something people don't see about the tattoo industry is the time and effort that goes into the creation of each design. I will not copy another artist's work, even when it's given to me as a reference photo. It can be hard to create a completely unique design that the client still likes. There can be hours of behind-the-scenes work: making the flash, painting the flash sheets, getting good photos. It takes a long time to make the art, and then we have to get it onto social media, which is a whole different beast.

What resources, tools, or support do you wish existed?

Modern tattooing is so heavily reliant on social media that many of us struggle to keep up — I definitely do. In addition to the actual drawing and tattooing we have to become adept at self-promotion via social media, primarily Instagram, and create engaging content in order to compete. It would be nice if there were more resources to guide us in how to succeed and gain traction on social media: photography, video editing, creating the "right" caption. There are classes in these things individually, but something more concise and all-encompassing would be nice. We spend a good chunk of time trying to gain traction on Instagram, but it's so competitive and there's always some new form of media that we need to evolve into. It's like a whole second job that we have to teach ourselves.

What do you want potential clients to know about you or your work?

When it comes to potential clients, just know that I am genuinely interested in what you want on your body and in you as a human being. Each design, even flash, can be tweaked to be exactly what the client wants. I think some artists forget that when we are tattooing, we are actually working for the client. The end goal is to give the client the tattoo of their dreams, even if it's not exactly what we had in mind. I want everyone I tattoo to leave excited to show the people in their lives their new piece of artwork. I like to provide a fun and inclusive environment, free of judgment or criticism. I just want my clients to be happy and leave with a tattoo that will stand the test of time.

Your contact info and links are on your Maisaic profile, is there anything else you'd like to share with the readers?

I would love to work with you all! I have many clients that I have been seeing since the start of my apprenticeship, and we still have such a great time together. If you're interested in getting tattooed, please let me know. I look forward to meeting you!