Reagan Smerdon speaks on his journey in tattoos
Reagan Smerdon had his first tattoo with his parents at the age of 17.
The art of tattooing has fascinated Reagan Smerdon since a very young age. “Tattooing has always been my first love, I knew that I wanted to specialise in it,” said the 32-year-old.
Tattoos were not something new to the family. His father had tattoos and was more supportive of Reagan. “I got my first tattoo when I was with my family at the mall at the age of 17.”
Arts have always been a good way for Reagan to express himself and tattoos were the wow factor where people recognised his talent.
Smerdon was born in Durban, where he opened his tattooing studio in Greenwood Park. He relocated to Johannesburg some five years later.
This allowed him to grow and work among great artists and learnt a lot. “The artists that inspired me are Dr. Yoo, Armie James, Oliver Ayer, and Daniel Silver, they have a great technique which I watch closely.”
Besides the challenges of him being self-taught and people doubting his work, Reagan recently opened his studio called Black Lotus Tattoo Studio and also works at Ross Ink Tattoos in Hyde Park. He specialises in black and grey realism, neo-traditional and transitional tattooing. His goal is to grow his work and studio and do what he loves full time.
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