Talking About Tattoos with Arbel Nagar

From navigating the waters of being so young stacked up against people who are twice her age, Arbel shows that natural talent can get you to anywhere you want to be. Through a gracious humility, she brings us into her world of tattooing and gives us insight as to how she got to where she is today.

Continue reading for an exclusive interview below.

What have you been up to lately? How are you doing today?

I'm good. Yeah, just working a lot. I just got a place, I bought a house. So I'm working extra every day to manage everything until I move in.

Oh, that's awesome. Congrats. I know one of my friends just got a house, and she put in so much work. But how did you get started tattooing?

I was homeschooled from my sophomore year of high school because I was just super into art and I was not really taking school as seriously at that point. So I just thought it would be more practical to spend less time in school and just focus on drawing and stuff. Back then I was intending to go to art school, hoping for RISD. I obviously wasn't working or anything or making any money, I was just drawing and stuff. And my mom was just like, "You know, you should try tattooing. Just make some money on the side while you're making this art shit happen, you know." So she kind of helped me find some apprenticeship to kind of get that going. And then it ended up just completely taking over and I didn't even go to art school. Wasn't really the plan initially.

I feel like the best things you can't really plan. But since you started so young, and you are obviously apprenticing in other shops, what were the other artists' respect levels like?

Well, the shop that I did my apprenticeship at, they were always taking apprentices. There were probably like 10 other apprentices at the shop at that time. They were all older than me. I was like 15, or 16, and they were all like in their 30s or something. But yeah, there were so many I don't even think they really looked twice at my stuff or anything like that. They didn't really even once I got my license to actually tattoo because I was also underage. So I had to have an extra-long apprenticeship because you can't tattoo till you're 18. So I was working and cleaning the shop and shit, but the second I got my license, I was trying to do pieces and my friends were trying to come to me for stuff. But once you just start out you have to start with really small stuff, you know, and they wouldn't let me experiment or even push my boundaries. So I ended up getting a job in a different shop on Melrose. But they didn't really focus on me at all because I was like 18, or 19, I had no tattoos, and I was a little girl. And they're all big ass dudes, you know what I mean? It's like the OG ass tattoo artists and stuff like that. So they would always just clown me and stuff.

But then they would see your work and then you would just be like, "Okay, my work speaks for itself."

I wasn't really that good at the time, but I mean I had good drawings, I was really good at drawing. But they never saw my drawings and I'm not the type that's trying to show people you know what I mean? The reason I got the job there is because I showed the guy that knew the owner my drawings. My whole first or second year I was only doing like fine-line stuff, you know that trendy type of stuff like that. So they kind of were just like, this stuff isn't even real tattoos. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, that's kind of how they thought of it. I don't even know if they know how I'm doing now. I'd be surprised if they did.

What would you do if one of them came knocking on your door right here?

I'd be stoked. I'd be like "That's sick that you actually care." But, I doubt it. Like, especially ones that I worked with at the shops, the OG ones. I feel like it's a newer thing in tattooing when everyone's super supportive of each other. On Instagram, everyone's backing each other up, but usually, it's really competitive. In the old scene of tattooing, you don't try to take your other artists' clients in the shop, but nowadays it's different. Everyone goes to every artist, you know what I mean? Back in the day, you go to the same guy, like you don't cheat on your artists. So it's like, you don't really pay as much respect.

For my tattoos, all of them, except for I think, like one, or two are done by the same girl. It was just something in me where I felt like if I got something from somewhere else, and I walked in, she would be like, "Oh, where'd you get that one?"

Yeah, which is fair, but all my tattoos are from different artists. I think it's nice. It's like a collection.

When you see a tattoo of yours, you go, "Oh shit, that's an Arbel tattoo." You can distinguish your pieces right off the bat. Talk to us about your design process and how you started to do your design work now that everyone sees.

I feel like I definitely try to keep it all kind of looking more old school. That's like the main thing that I fuck with. Especially if there's clothing involved, or even as far as the way the shadows work, I try to make it almost look like film photos, because there's more contrast in them. I feel like most of the time I really am open to different shit. Like my chrome looks nothing like my vintage. I have different little things that I experiment with and I just try to keep it basic with rules of realism in mind when I do my designs.

Is there a first standout tattoo where it was kind of similar to what you're doing now?

There's this artist that works in the skateboarding industry that does super cool pointillism, but he does a lot of vintage photography, goofy stuff, and just sick artwork, to where he doesn't take it so seriously, but it looks really cool. The designs aren't so serious, but they're just cool art and I feel like I really liked the stuff that he was making. And I tried to incorporate that to where it's not something like roses and stopwatches and stuff like that, but just sick photos.

Would you say your more playful stuff, like the headless guy, stuff like that, is coming straight coming from you? Or would you say it's a kind of a collaboration between you and who you're tattooing?

I do a lot of custom stuff, for sure. Obviously, I'm more drawn to cooler photography, like stuff that's just wicked and different, you know what I mean? Rather than some basic stuff, which is why I started out with a lot of those headless people. I was always just open to experimenting, just getting better, and realism. So I was doing a lot of custom pieces on the side, regardless of what I was posting. I always post maybe 20%. Sometimes it would take me by surprise, a lot of my stuff on my Instagram are custom pieces, then I'm like, "Damn, this actually came out really sick." Honestly, I don't put that much thought behind it. As much as I would like to say I would. I think it just kind of flows and comes out.

People nowadays are getting way more tattoos frequently, versus older people back then. Every time I come home with a little tattoo, my parents would roll their eyes. What are your thoughts on tattoos normalizing?

I think it's tight. I think it's cool there are so many people trying to get tattoos. Because it opens the market for a bunch of different styles. There are so many different styles of tattooing now, rather than there were like 30 years ago, which is super sick to see.

What does a day off look like for you when you're not tattooing? Do you have any days off?

I don't really take days off. I'm kind of like that though. Even before I tattoed I would draw very obsessively. I'm just very into whatever I'm doing and I try to just push myself all the time.

Say tattooing wasn't an option, could you see yourself doing anything else?

I mean, before I was tattooing I was taking commissioned artwork, and stuff like that. I had done murals on people's walls, which I hated. I was doing that for a second, they really underpaid me, and it was pretty shitty. I was assisting painters also. There are a lot of painters that once they get kind of a bigger name they make their design of a painting they want to do, and then they hire younger artists to like actually paint it for them. Because they don't have time or don't want to spend their time doing it. So like, they would make an outline of a horse and I would actually paint it for them, and then they would sell it on their name and just pay me for that. You know? I liked art, but it never really clicked. I didn't enjoy it to how I enjoy tattooing, but I would probably just go back to figuring something out in art.

So would you say assisting different artists was sort of a driving force as to why you have your own studio?

I wanted my own studio because I hate being bossed by anyone. I like to do my own thing and I don't like to be around many people, so I kinda just needed my privacy. I think a big thing tattooing for me that I don't like, as of lately is that everyone and their fucking aunties literally tattoo now and it's just like, such a huge community. And I think what I liked about being a tattoo artist is that it was a different route than what everyone went on. And now, it's a very common thing. So I kind of don't like feeling like one out of a million in a shop of like 40 other people tattooing. I kind of like being in my own space.

What's a day in your shop sort of look like for you?

I come in early always like an hour early and I just draw all the designs that I have to do that day. Sometimes I do it the night before and I'll kind of just relax. I usually go in and turn the lights on, or you know, just chill for like 30 minutes, and set up.

What does your perfect world look like?

There's nothing much I would want to change. I kind of like how everything is right now. I like that everyone has an option to really put in the work and get to where they want to be if they want to. Some people don't and that's just up to them.