Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh McAlear.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’ve been involved in creating some sort of art my whole life. There was never a question of if it was what I would do, the only question was how. I was fortunate enough to study illustration right after high school which tightened up a lot of what I was doing art-wise already as well as teaching me discipline and how to become motivated by healthy competition. A few years after I graduated art school tattooing finally became legal in Massachusetts. By being in the right place in the right time I was able to use what I learned studying illustration to get the first ever legal tattoo apprenticeship in Boston. That was 17 years ago and I’ve been tattooing in and around Massachusetts ever since.
Please tell us about your art.
If I boiled it down to its core my art has always been inspired by music in some way. Because of this I started taking on freelance illustration work (doing mostly album covers) while still tattooing full time. It’s been a constant with me for over a decade and can’t seem to stop even when I’ve tried. For me tattooing and illustrating are a good balance as far as creative output: I learn a lot from getting tattoo subject matter requests that I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise, but I’m still able to do more personal work and experiment with illustrations.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
One of the biggest challenges for me as a person who serves the public is making my work marketable. My illustration work is a little more specific and allows for me to take more chances but Tattooing is my main thing and my goal is to tattoo most anyone who comes through the door. Being versatile at tattooing but keeping my work cohesive is on my mind constantly.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I have many years of my work documented on instagram: @joshmcalear, @joshmcalear.illustration. I’m always open to tattooing new clients, I love doing larger scale tattoos as well as taking on new illustration jobs. I’m at the fairly new tattoo shop Ghost in the Machine in Oak Square, Brighton full time. I can also be reached even just for questions at joshmac76@gmail.com.
Contact Info:
- Address: Ghost in the Machine Tattoo
571 Washington St
Brighton, MA 02135 - Website: joshmcalear.com
- Email: joshmac76@gmail.com
- Instagram: @joshmcalear
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josh.mcalear.7
- Other: https://ghostinthemachinetattoo.com
Image Credit:
Josh McAlear
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