Conversations with Josh Brack

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Brack.

Hi Josh, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
For as long as I remember I’ve always been interested in art. As a kid I was always drawing or coloring something. Always getting told I would get ink poisoning from drawing on my arms. As an adult I found it hard to find an artistic outlet that I found engaging until I found body painting and later tattooing.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to my career as a tattoo artist has been anything but smooth. I never saw myself in this position. Not in my wildest dreams. Even 2 years in, it doesn’t feel real! A lot of the struggles in my path were definitely internalized. My perfectionism is one of my greatest strengths as well as one of my greatest weaknesses. While I was focusing on body painting I was always told I should do tattoos and it always seemed absolutely out of the realm of possibilities for me. But here we are! I just had to have faith in myself and not put so much pressure on the perfection of it all. I will always strive for as perfect as a tattoo as possible, but we are dealing with art on human bodies that are different shapes and sizes. Bodies that grow, change, and age. Even the most perfect tattoo will age with your body and change as you grow older. It’s a humbling perspective I have to keep in mind while tattooing for sure.
Aside from internalized struggles, this industry is also just a very toxic environment a lot of times. There are so many very strong egos in the tattoo industry and they always seem to clash. Usually at the expense of the people around them, like the workers of a shop.
I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by very supportive and loving people. Making this into a career relies not only on your client but what energy you bring to the table and the people you surround yourself with. And I think I’ve done a pretty good job at surrounding myself with supportive, loving, caring friends.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a queer nonbinary tattoo artist at The Crescent Moon Tattoo in Muskegon Michigan. I specialize in black and gray illustrative tattoos. I love working with anything nature related and other custom ideas. One of my favorite parts of the job is getting to create a tattoo for someone that they love. Getting to see someone that was self conscious about their body admire their body and new art is always one of the best feelings!

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Becoming a full time tattoo artist comes with so many risks. Financial stability is obviously a huge one to consider but there are other risks involved with the job that are just baked into the job. Blood-borne pathogens are a huge risk in the industry. Tattooers have to be very conscious of cross contamination. That is why almost all of the equipment we use is one time use. Anything that isn’t one time use is throughly sanitized between every appointment.
Even with the protections we have in place it still has to constantly be on your mind while working with clients. To ensure you keep yourself safe but more importantly to keep your clients safe.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://justjoshintattoo.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justjoshin_tattoo/