Short version:
My name is Evan Olin. I enjoy taking my classical art background and applying it to my tattoos. I hold a bachelors degree in illustration from the Rhode Island School of design. My tattoos often take on a painterly/ realistic style. Some of my favorite subjects are anything dark or horror related, wildlife/ animals, portraits, and anything else I can render in a realistic or illustrational way. My goal is to deliver one of a kind tattoos that my customers can be proud to wear and show off for the rest of their lives.
Long version:
“Tattoos that don't look like tattoos”:
the work of Evan Olin
Seemingly out of nowhere, artist, Evan Olin explodes onto the modern tattoo scene. Showing impressive technical abilities, a fantastic imagination and the eye of a classically trained artist, Evan’s work lets it be known that he is one to watch.
Even though it may seem that he has just appeared out of nowhere in the tattoo world, his story begins in rural Maryland, north of Baltimore back in 1982. “Going back as far as I can remember, to when I was very young, I was always drawing,” he says of his childhood. “I drew all sorts of stuff, but definitely a lot of it revolved around violence, gore, horror, and monsters. I was a pretty normal, happy kid. I was just really into the darker imagery, even back then. My mom used to worry she was going to get calls from concerned guidance counselors if they saw what i was drawing when i was in elementary school.” Much of this interest in “darker imagery” came from an early fascination with comic books and horror movies.
At the end of middle school, Evan was given the opportunity to attend a public, arts oriented magnet school, which he was more than happy to take advantage of. “Carver [the school] was great. It really got me to start thinking about the technical side of art. I started to understand how important things like light and shadow are to rendering the ideas in my head in a believable, realistic way.” It was also during this period that he was introduced to oil painting. A serious passion for oil painting soon emerged and once high school ended, he was off to Providence, Rhode Island to attend the Rhode Island School of Design and continue his painting and art education.
“I went to school to get a BFA in illustration. As for what i would do with it, I wasn’t totally sure. I was considering comic book illustration, t- shirt design, commercial or editorial illustration. It hadn’t even occured to me to tattoo. It wasn't until his sophomore year when he got his first tattoo that he started considering it as a possible occupation for himself. “Once I got tattooed I became really interested. I started buying tattoo magazines and seeing work by artists like Bob Tyrell, Tom Renshaw, Paul Booth, Guy Aitchison, Adrian Lee, and Nate Banuelos. It made me start to realize the medium really did have potential to be fine art. Once Evan found an apprenticeship he started his journey into tattooing. Like many artists, it seemed the more he learned the more mesmerized he became with the art. “I love this medium so much. The more i work with it, the more I learn and realize it is the ultimate artistic medium. Its the ultimate form of artistic expression because it is not only a statement of the artist’s but also of the person that has chosen to wear it on their skin for the rest of their life. That is heavy, deep, meaningful stuff. It is also the purest form of art left, i believe. A tattoo can’t really be commercialized; when you buy a tattoo, it’s not a monetary investment. You can’t hold onto it for awhile and then sell it if it appreciates in value. A tattoo is purchased for the wearer quite simply because they love it and it makes them happy.”
This fine art mentality and training is quite evident in the style of Evan’s recent tattoo work. His work can posses both highly detailed, realistic elements along with elements that have a loose expressive feel. His tattoos often begin to take on an appearance similar to that of a painting, foregoing traditional tattoo outlines. “Every element of my tattoos I try to make enhance the overall tattoo. Like with outlines.” He explains, “I’m not against them all together. What I am against is putting lines around everything just because its a tattoo and that's the way tattoos are traditionally supposed to be done. I use lines as just another tool at my disposal to make the tattoo the best it can be. If it can enhance the overall mood and effect of the piece, I am all for it.
It’s this outside-the-box thinking that has made for work that often transcends many common preconceptions of what a tattoo can be. “I try to do work that may surprise people. When someone says a tattoo that I’ve done doesn't even look like a tattoo, that is a good day.”
