Today we’d like to introduce you to David Camp.
Hi David, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started scratching my shipmates in the Navy in the late ’90s but quickly realized I needed someone to show how to do it. So I stopped tattooing (scratching). Once I got out of the Navy in 1999 I went to SCAD and got a degree in computer animation. But I have a love hate relationship with technology and don’t really enjoy digital medium as much as a more physical one. Once I finished SCAD in 2005 I got an apprenticeship with California Tattoo. A Savannah Legend Jack opened the studio in Savannah in 1976! I had to learn the medium of the skin which is very different than any other type of medium. I was very fortunate to be taught by the Legendary Jack Witt who had been tattooing since the 1960s. I also had the benefit of learning from some of Savannahs finest artist like Chris Anderson, Brian Warnekros of Ghost town tattoo, and James Lemons of Stranded tattoos and many others! I’ve been blessed to tattoo in Savannah for about twenty years. Now I am one of the owners of California Tattoo. After California Jack fully retired and left the shop to Myself and Thomas Kimberly in 2019. I’ve had a crash course in small business headaches! Suddenly, They are my monkeys and it is My Circus! Hahaha! So the adventures continue! I’ve been lucky enough to have experienced the busy street shop, when tattoo flash was a thing. It taught me a lot about different styles. Which comes in handy with the world wide wall of things on the phone that walk in to the shop now.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not smooth at all I had a proper hazing and tough apprenticeship and the struggle of working in the living skin is a whole other level of difficulties that always keeps me humble!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I Tattoo many different styles and specialize in making something that will last a lifetime. I’m most proud that I tattoo multiple generations of families. I have some costumers that got tattooed by me when they turned 18 and still see me on their birthdays and things like that. Its sometimes for about a twenty year span. Also tattooing some footprints on a customer and then later tattooing that persons baby footprints on two or three generations of the same family. I think what sets me apart from others is I can do all kids of different styles and I haven’t let the rockstar attitude infect my brain.
How do you think about happiness?
Seeing my tattoos out in the wild and seeing customers happy with the tattoo I give them. Also I really enjoy cover-ups because I know how much it can help the self esteem of the client to like the way their tattoo looks.
Pricing:
- Based on how long or difficult a tattoo can be.
- Our hourly rate is 150.00 an hour and my Minimum is $60.00
Contact Info:
- Website: Californiatattoocompany.com tattoosavannah.com
- Instagram: conspiracy_dave_
- Facebook: David Camp
