Daily Inspiration: Meet Todd Larson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Larson

Hi Todd, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m a former college art faculty and signed recording artist. While in graduate school I was invited to apprentice under a local tattoo artist. During this strenuous time of balancing my teaching job and apprenticeship duties , I met Guy Aitchison at coffee shop. I shook his hand and talked a while. I left the meeting motivated to continue my pursuit of tattooing, yet still unsure of what the future would be like. Fast forward to a few months later , I texted a tattoo client, not knowing I had texted the wrong number. I got a response backing saying , “this is guy, can I help you?” I didn’t think for a moment that I could have accidentally picked the ten random digits that belonged to the tattoo celebrity I had met just a few months before… a few months after this, I was in Stockholm and I received a text from that same number, inviting me to a painting night at hyper space studios . ( Guy Aitchison’s shop) I responded, in shock, “ is this Guy Aitchison? I met you at a coffee shop a few months ago.” He responded back, a little confused… “well, your invited.” That weekend I saw guy’s beautiful studio on 70 acres of countryside. We painted late into the evening with several other talented artists. This synchronicity motivated me to leave my teaching job and pursue tattooing full time.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Learning to tattoo has been the most difficult medium in my life, And also most rewarding. It demands that every moment be perfect. My greatest challenge occurred during my apprenticeship. A smudge in the stencil, fooled me into tattooing one too many toes on a baby foot print design…. Luckily my mentor rescued the tattoo. But the sheer embarrassment and ass chewing I received, though traumatic, were the greatest lessons of my artistic life and I completely honor these mistakes.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a traditional/post traditional tattoo artist. It’s a great honor to be preserving a part American art history and culture. To develop my tattoos I use ratios and geometry that emulate how nature itself designs. These allow me to create a more balanced and attractive composition.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I imagine more and more people pouring into the field as tattooing tech has made the practice easier and more accessible . I think an artists’ greatest strength, in that time, will be to be as authentic to themselves and their styles as possible. We may see more and more specialized tattoo designing and application.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.toddshowdown.com
• Instagram: @toddshowdown