News

Nov 29, 2023

A TikTok

Katie Baker originally wanted to be a comic-book artist before deciding to

Katie Baker originally wanted to be a comic-book artist before deciding to become a tattoo artist.

Baker, who works at Golden Skull Tattoo in Kennewick, Washington, told Insider that she spent the majority of her life creating art after being "caught by the bug early." Her dream was to be the creative director of DC Comics, but after dipping her toe in the industry, she decided she was better suited to tattoos.

"I took some time off, and then one day bought a $40 tattoo machine from Amazon, tested it on some bananas to see if I liked it, and I never looked back," Baker told Insider.

Baker has been working as a tattoo artist for just over a year. She documents her experiences on TikTok, where she has more than 208,000 followers at the time of writing. From a video about tattoos she'd refuse to do (which has more than a million views), to why she thinks finger tattoos are a bad idea, Baker uses the platform to educate her viewers about the industry.

Baker shared her advice for people getting their first tattoo, including what the most common mistakes are.

Baker told Insider that one of the biggest mistakes she hears about is people who use a tattoo artist that they don't get along with.

"Getting a tattoo is a very intimate thing, and you want to make sure that you gel well with them when you're trusting them with your skin," she said. "I see too many bad tattoo stories start out with, 'He acted like he didn't care,' or, 'She was really mean for no reason.' If you feel that your tattoo artist doesn't respect you, run."

One of the things that surprised Baker most about the job is how much talking is involved. She said that in order to have a better understanding of the design her clients want, she has to ensure "mutual trust" through communication.

"You really learn about people's hearts and who they are as people," Baker said. "I've really grown to love it, something that was once the scariest parts of my job is one of my favorites now."

She added that some people are so eager to get a tattoo that they will go to any tattoo shop without taking the time to learn about their particular tattoo artist and without reading reviews. She said some people will also overlook whether the tattoo shop is clean and whether the tattoo artists are consuming alcohol or drugs.

Baker said people who do this often end up asking to get their tattoos removed later down the line.

Baker has several tattoos on different parts of her body, including on her chest and neck. She told Insider that she plans to get a "body suit" that would involve 80% of her body being inked.

She said she likes to tattoo body parts that she is insecure about, because "suddenly it's beautiful and stunning and I want to show it off now."

"I remember when my mom was getting concerned about how many tattoos I was getting, and I explained to her, 'Mom, I'm just trying to make the outside match the inside.' And she really understood after that," Baker said.

"That's probably my favorite part of my job, that I get to do that for other people," she added.