Steve is a tattoo artist from New Zealand who specializes in color portraits and photo realism. When he’s not attending a tattoo convention, Steve tattoos out of Matt Jordan’s Ship Shape Tattoo.
While Steve was attending art school earning his Bachelors of Fine Arts degree, he wasn’t able to create anything just because he liked it or liked the subject matter — there had to be a more theoretical motivation behind every creation. This didn’t quite suit Steve’s interests.
“Tattooing is the ultimate form of self expression, and as an artist I can create pieces that the customer and I both have an interest in, which makes the whole process a lot more enjoyable. I discovered this when I got my first tattoo when I was 19 and since then I knew I wanted to create art on skin.”
“Mat Hurtado taught me how to oil paint in 2015. For me, that has opened up a whole new world of creativity and new things to learn. I can’t thank him enough for that.”
