Ray Reasoner is one cool dude. Easy to get along with, incredibly talented tattoo artist, and at over 6 feet tall and 350 pounds, he's like a giant teddy bear. Ray joined the TattooFinder crew for the 2007 Thunder in the Rockies event as a celebrity guest judge for the Crossroads Tattoo Contest. Not only did he get to check out some sweet ink during the contest, he got to do it alongside other celebrity guest judges Lyle Tuttle, Ben There, and fellow TattooFinder.com artist, Friday Jones. Here's what Ray had to say . . .

TattooFinder: So Ray, when did you start tattooing?

Ray: Technically, I started in 1992, but I began professionally tattooing in 1998. I will have been tattooing half of my life come this February [2008] and I am just now realizing how much is really out there. It is incredible!

TattooFinder: Who are and were some of your biggest influences?

Ray: In the beginning I didn’t really have any influences, I just kind of did what I did. And as time went on though, I gained an appreciation for Jack Rudy, the one and only Lyle Tuttle, Guy Aitchison, Filip Leu, and Paul Booth. Realistically, there are hundreds of people that have influenced what I do and how I do it, far more than my feeble mind can remember at one time. That's a question that I can think on for hours and keep remembering more names and influences as the time passes.

Ray Reasoner doing what he does best!

TattooFinder: What inspired you to start drawing tattoo flash and getting into tattooing originally?

Ray: As far as getting into tattooing, that’s a little long to get into really! I just kind of started that when I was a kid from being so interested in it. I used to draw tattoos on myself with markers and draw tattoos on my clothes. I've always had a drive to draw and as I got a little older (around 16) it bled over into actually being in the skin. As far as tattoo flash goes – I needed designs to tattoo on people, it was pretty much that simple. If enough people asked for a particular style of design I would start drawing sheets of that topic. Supply and demand, basic business. :)

TattooFinder: What attracted you to become involved with TattooFinder.com?

Ray: I had gone to the Flash2xs web site and entered the free flash competition, ended up winning it one month, and after a couple months went by I thought about applying. So I did – applied a few different times and then I finally got accepted.

TattooFinder: What are your thoughts about how mainstream and widely accepted tattoos have become?

Ray: Well, that is kind of a double-edged sword. On one hand, I love how popular tattoos have become because I greatly enjoy doing tattoos. That of course means that there are now more people to tattoo and less funny looks for having them. I can say that it still hasn’t kept people in the grocery store from pulling their children to the other side of the aisle as if I am going to eat them though. I think that has more to do with me being over six feet tall, hairy, and 350 pounds than the tattoos though, hehehehe. It is incredible, all of these changes, if you think back to the caves and the burnt sticks you can know that no one ever thought that it would come this far and many never wanted it to.

On the other side, it also means that I have more tattoos to fix because people tend to not research their choice of artist well enough. This makes for a lot of bad press for the business. I try to fix them cheap (and oooooh I hate that word) because every bad tattoo on the street is bad for business even if it was done by someone else. Someone without a tattoo looks at a bad tattoo and thinks, “Well, I don’t want one of those things on me!” Overall though, I think that as the public becomes a little more educated about what makes a good, safe tattoo that all of this will be a wonderful change for everyone that truly enjoys doing this for a living and are responsible enough to do it properly.

TattooFinder: I read that you used to create comics. Are you still doing that? What other types of artwork do you enjoy creating?

Ray: No. I stopped doing that. I’ve moved on to other things like tooling leather, computer graphics, and oil painting, just to name a few. I pretty much keep myself as busy as possible at all times. The comic book and screen printing thing was fun while it lasted but it takes an incredible amount of time and without a sufficient number of people working on any given project it becomes overwhelming. I have been trying to stick to things that I can do by myself so that I don’t end up riding other people about getting stuff done. I am kind of an Art-Nazi that way, (I can’t help it!) and so I have decided to just spare others from dealing with it. :) I have been thinking about picking up a single color silk screening press just for personal stuff and maybe some shirts for my shop. Something simple, no assembly line with a big heater or exposure lights, just one guy, one color . . . We’ll see!

TattooFinder: How do you feel it’s beneficial for you as a tattoo artist to attend tattoo conventions and events like Thunder in the Rockies?

Ray: Well, the most beneficial thing for me about attending conventions and the like is to see what others are doing, away from the magazines and the television. You really get a better idea of what a tattoo looks like seeing the work first hand and you can gain somewhat of a grasp on how it is being done by paying attention at the conventions. No possibilities of digital touch up or soft lenses making the tattoos look surreal. I also really enjoy meeting other people in the industry. I am somewhat quiet most of the time but I love to hear stories from people and soak up as much as my memory will let me hold on to. I’m not really good at small talk but I always like to listen to others.

TattooFinder: Sweet! Last but not least, if you could get tattooed by anyone in the world, who would it be and why?

Ray: I’d have to say . . . either Tom Renshaw or Filip Leu. Two awesome artists definitely! Kind of funny because I have lived in the same state as Tom for years (though I hear that he is moving) and I still haven’t made it over to the other side to talk to him yet. I have some realistic wildlife stuff that I would really like him to do. I will get around to it though. :) All in good time. After he moves I will probably have to catch him at a convention in Detroit or hunt him down somewhere, who knows. It will be worth it however it comes about. As far as Filip goes, I have no idea what I would want him to do, he can do so much, so well. He free-hands things that most tattooists couldn’t even stencil. He’s just incredible, simple as that. Hopefully I will figure something out someday and be fortunate enough to be tattooed by him.

TattooFinder: Cool! Well thank you so much!