All My Love

Ryan and Arlo Talk Superpowers, City Life and the Future of Tattooing.

- Devon Preston

When it comes to leading artistic innovators in the industry today, Ryan Ashley Malarkey and Arlo DiCristina are at the head of the pack. Despite only working in the industry for less than ten years each, they’ve helped to revolutionize their respected styles through meticulous technical application and cutting-edge artistic prowess. Not to mention, if the tattoo world had a Brangelina, it would be these two. And, if we’re being honest, Rylo has a much better ring to it.

How has your life changed post Ink Master as a tattoo artist, businesswoman, public figure and human being?

Ryan: To be honest, everything has changed. Every aspect of my life has done a 180 in the past few years, but I’m not sure if it’s directly due to winning Ink Master or just growing up in general. But either way, one thing is for sure, the last few years have been a wild ride of facing many obstacles, experiencing new aspects of life and a crash course in becoming the woman I am today.

Before tattooing, a part of your life was spent in MMA. What lessons did fighting teach you that would help you to become a successful artist and business owner?

Arlo: Discipline and practice. You’ve got to do a bunch of stupid, simple stuff to build skills that you can use on big dope pieces. With any type of MMA, we drill very basic moves and they would translate into complex stuff down the road. You need to be able to break things down and sharpen those skills before jumping right into bigger stuff. And competitiveness for sure, but healthy competitiveness. You want to do better and it’s not about wanting other people to do worse.

In the past, you’ve spoken at a number of seminars about the technology available to tattoo artists. How do you think the tattoo industry has changed in terms of sharing information and ideas between artists?