Nate Holley, Tattoo Artist at the West End Tattoo Club in Huntington W.Va., Shares Some Insight On Traditional Style Tattooing

Meet the Artist

“I’ve been hanging out in tattoo shops since I was like 15 years old, and hanging out at Epicenter was really my home,” Holley said. “My experience coming out of an apprenticeship is really not traditional because you usually start off struggling, but my experience growing up being in the shop, I think gave me a leg up. I kind of already knew what they should look like, the technique, and the understanding of aging tattoos.”

Traditional-Style Tattooing

Holley says his style of tattooing is more traditional-style. “17 years ago, when I got started, you guys know, it was not as mainstream as it was now,” Holley said. He explained that sometimes traditional style tattooing can be misunderstood about what it really is. “Traditional tattooing is not about a specific image, but it’s about design, technique, and how you render the image,” Holley explained. “Nowadays people tattoo for the picture they will put online, but tattooing isn’t meant to be just for the camera, it’s meant to be for someone who will grow and move around.”

Holley said he thinks tattoos need to have bold lines, shapes, and colors to age well and to be able to see what the image is from far away. He said, “So really, traditional tattooing is about designing to last for the duration of the person’s life who will be receiving it. There should be no question as to what the design is today or ten years from now. It’s like a puzzle, and you need to plan things out a certain way. If you really love your craft, you’ll try to put in some homework on what’s going to be best for your client for the next five years.”

Tattooing the Working Class

Holley explained that a tattoo artist should be responsible for educating the client in some way. “Most people have no idea and it’s not their job too,” Holley said. “Half of the job is educating people on what’s going to make a good tattoo. I just want to give people cool tattoos that are going to be there forever and you can see from across the road, and importantly, it’s not going to break their bank.” 

With inflation causing raised pricing for everything, Holley wants to focus on providing a service that someone can actually afford in a time where it seems like everything is too expensive, even basic needs. “Everything has gotten more expensive, but I haven’t raised my rates because I know what it’s like to work [low-paying] jobs and save up for a $700 gourmet tattoo that you can’t afford,” he explained. “I want to tattoo the working class people and I think that’s why I’m successful in getting people to come back to me. Even though it’s tempting [to raise my rates], I just wanna give people tats they can afford.”

Sometimes Tattoos are Just "Cool"

With National Tattoo Story Day approaching (Sept. 16), I wanted to talk with one of Holley’s clients and see what the story behind their tattoo was. Ian, Holley’s client on Sept. 10, is a 27-year-old local Huntington resident and pharmacy student. He had two tattoos prior which were the years of his grandparent's birth years. Today, he was getting an eagle tattooed on his arm, but said unlike his first two, this tattoo didn’t have much story behind it.

“I honestly just wanted the tattoo because it looked cool,” Ian said. “One of my best friends got his tattoo here and he recommended Nate. I saw his style and I liked it so I just emailed him.”

Ian chose the tattoo because it was “cool”, Holley said some traditional tattoo designs have some symbolism behind them, which can be driving factors for someone to think the tattoo is interesting. “An eagle is a symbol of power and strength. And yeah, sometimes they just look [awesome] and that’s a good enough reason,” Holley said. “The eagle is in itself traditional. You see a lot of traditional-style eagles on war veterans. You can still look at it and quickly see, ‘Hey that’s an eagle,’ and that’s what you want,” Holley explained.

Holley said in some cases the eagle on their arm has probably been through wars and battle and aging and it still is readable and still shows power and strength. “When we put a tattoo on our bodies, it’s how we present ourselves to the world from here on out,” Holley said. “A lot of people want them because they look cool, and others want it because it gains confidence or tells their story.”

Brief Tattoo History

Tattooing is an ancient art form, and scientists assume it began around 3370 BC and 3100 BC. “People have felt compelled to mark themselves since we were practically cavemen,” Holley said. He explained that tattooing is an ancient art form, and before tattoos became popular, the oldest tattoos were soot decorating scars on the body. Europe’s oldest mummy, Otzi the Iceman, was discovered in 1991 in the Otzal Alps. Scientists found nearly 60 tattoos on Otzi’s body. Close examination of the markings on the mummy indicates that soot, or fireplace ash, was used to create the tattoos. “Some of these designs found on mummies are being replicated 4,000 years later- that’s the heart of traditional tattooing,” Holley said.

Like What You See?

Ian said he was able to get into his appointment pretty quickly and only rated the pain a 6 on the 1-to-10 scale. The outcome (pictured below) of his new and forever design was, “...everything I was looking for. It was exactly what I wanted when I asked for a traditional eagle,” Ian said.

Nate Holley’s work is posted on his Instagram and Facebook. If you would like to book an appointment with this amazing Artist, just send him an email! The West End Tattoo Club is located at 725 14STW here in Huntington and is home to five professional Tattoo Artists. You can find them on Facebook or just stop in and talk to any of them from 12-8 Tuesday through Saturday. Be on the lookout for more tattoo content as we countdown to National Tattoo Story Day on Sept. 16th! Subscribe to our newsletter for a quick read of all your favorite 14STW Artists and shops!