New School Tattoo Pioneer Jesse Smith visits FK Irons HQ

Since 2007, FK Irons has been driven to produce quality, consistent products that help artists focus on whats important the craft. So, at times we like to host some of our ProTeam artists here at FK Irons Headquarters. Recently we had Newschool pioneer Jesse Smith come to share his 23year journey within the industry, and how he implements his creativity behind every piece. In 1998, Smith was in the military and had a side gig drawing characters at Busch Gardens. There he met multiple artists, and eventually found himself befriending a tattoo artist, who was at the time working out of his own home. Smiths friend taught him how to make his own ghetto gun, which consists of a toothbrush, a ballpoint pen and a sewing needle. To make it work, Smith would glue the needle onto the tip of the pen, and use a Walkman motor to power it. The first machine I built, he said, it would take seven passes to make one clean line. Before Smith started tattooing, he lived in Heidelberg, Germany, known for its l