Park Tattoer, also known as Jaeung Park, is a tattoo artist with more than 6 years of experience and recognized internationally in Korea, United States, Taiwan, among others. He specializes in cover-up tattoos and touch-up work.
Jaeung’s great work is not only shown in the pictures but in his story as a tattoo artist as well. Since he was 3 years old he loved to draw, inspired by the science fiction movies his mother watched. While other kids played, Jaeung drew, developing an acute attention to detail and perfectionism. He was separated from drawing in his university years when he pursued to be a hair designer, but always stayed in the artistic field. It was in his late 20s when he started his journey as a tattoo artist and discovered that was his dream from when he was a child.
Jaeung went to Canada to study and was impressed that, unlike in Korea, many people had tattoos. This inspired and influenced him to not only get a tattoo, but to learn more from this area. “I got a tattoo from a guest artist from Korea. And for the first time in my life, I wanted to live like this person when I saw him and his work”, he comments. What he loved the most was to live freely traveling expressing his art in tattoos. Naturally, when he returned to Korea, he started learning how to do a tattoo.
After years, Jaeung is living his dream. Nevertheless, the journey was not easy nor dreamy in the beginning. Changing career paths in your mid-20s can be a limiting financial decision and represent a struggle; he barely earned money for 3 years. Also, since he was just starting, he had no credibility yet; people had doubts about his abilities and it was difficult to believe him without a portfolio.
“It was heartbreaking because I firmly believe in my passion and persistence to become a tattoo artist. Thankfully, I did not give up despite the uncertainty of many people, and I have endured with the will to succeed. Now, I have arrived at that place”, says Jaeung. To him, success is doing well what he likes, so in that case, he definitely achieved it.
Jaeung’s drive is precisely what helped him create his portofolio in the beginning. Nowadays, he has gained skills and experience and has shared his work in Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea, Australia and the United States. Last year, he opened his own private shop in Korea.
What is it about tattoos that Jeaung loves so much? “Tattoos are a memory that you spend your entire life with, as once you get them on your body, it is semi-permanent. Since it is an art that remains in the body, I think it is very rewarding and meaningful to be a person who can be remembered by someone as their tattoo artist in their skin”, he expresses.
He believes he stands out from other tattoers thanks to his cover-ups and touch-ups, which are complex fields inside the art of tattoo making. These are done over an existing tattoo, when a client does not like that original tattoo or decides to switch to a different style after a long time. It is a difficult task since it consists of adding new artistic value to an existing painting, rather than just working on a clean skin with nothing drawn.
Additionally, people who want cover-ups or touch-ups tend to be stressed, because they want to change something in their own skin. In this sense, some artists can feel intimidated by the challenge to fill their clients expectations and deliver a pristine work.
Jaeung comments: “Unlike other arts, tattooing is a field that is difficult to modify and difficult to reverse. You can redraw a sketch, but you can’t redo a tattoo once the ink enters the body. Therefore, as an artist, I always work with a responsible mind to show the best work that my client wants”.
Success is a trip rather than a static place and there are big things coming for Jaeung. He is going into his Europe Tour beginning in July in the United Kingdom. He then will be going to Germany in August, to Paris in September and finally to Belfast to participate in a tattoo convention.
To future tattoo artists, Jaeung recommends, first of all, to enjoy and love your work. Second, to have confidence in your paintings and designs, since like in art, there are different standards and perceptions of beauty and aesthetics. “I believe that development and progress will follow if you try boldly many times with confidence in your work without being bound by any framework or answer”.
Check out Jeaung Park’s designs and work in his Instagram here and follow him for updates about his tour and future locations.
