Pen to Skin

Brian Wren builds his Tattoo artistry in Brooklyn.
by Joshua C. Harris

Late one night, new tattoo machine in hand, Brian Wren started his first practice tattoo on a slab of pork. Half frozen after an hour or so, the flesh starts to become a bit unusable, shifting around the over sized plate on his dining room table. “It’s looked down upon to start tattooing on someone when you’re not ready” Brian explains as he gives us the reason for inking a perfectly good pork chop. Brian carries himself with a quiet confidence, his face is strong and he always seems to think before he speaks. We find out that Brian is a man of some pretty strong conviction, he’s ambitions, truthful, and damn handy with a tattoo gun.

Until 1997, to tattoo was an illegal act in New York City. After hepatitis outbreaks occurred in the early 60’s, New York lawmakers put the blame on the tattooing community and passed a law to prohibit the art form. Brian explains that there where a handful of artists that really preserved and nurtured the skill of tattooing during this time. These people took tattooing seriously, “…back then there where no magazines, no internet..really there were just a handful of people that kept tattooing alive through personal contacts” Brian explains.

Brian’s Video Interview

The social mistrust didn’t suppress the practice fully, tattooing became legalized in the late 1990’s and a swell of interest followed. Brian was drawn to tattooing after being stuck at a dead end job working usually twelve or more hours a day. He found the opportunity to go into his passion of drawing full force, which then evolved into a strong attraction to the mystique of tattooing. After a couple years of practice on himself and very trusting friends, Brian began searching for a home: a tattoo shop to apprentice under an experienced artist in order to one day take the reigns himself.

At the base of 682 Union St. in Brooklyn is where Brian now hones his craft. The shop name is 3rd Eye Tattoo and it proudly serves the local Brooklyn communities’ permanent ink appetite. It’s everything you’d expect in a tattoo shop: underground entrance, amazing art, vivid personalities, and tattoo artists with lots of stories to tell. Brian found what he was looking for in 3rd Eye Tattoo and now enjoys his own clients and studio space. The customers are friendly as they pop in and inquire about what a tattoo involves. Sometimes the shop is visited by long time tattooed patrons and other times over sixty grandmothers looking for a final thrill. No matter the customer, Brian stands poised and reassuring as he explains the process. All leave happy.

“The way I see it is, …everything I do here [tattooing] is still walking around these streets”, Brian explains, “I dont want anyone to walk out the door with something I’m not proud to attach my name to.” Brian’s passion for making a permanent mark is boundless. You get the sense from him that he’s found that thing in his life that sets him apart from the rest. Brian’s creativity helps this; his ideas for tattoos combine traditional elements such as Japanese coy fish or 1950’s pin up art with more modern designs filled with color and bold lines. His tattoing space is neatly filled with frames of his pen and paper artwork, while his desk boasts a drawing lighttable always blanketed with a new piece of tracingpaper etched with a new design.

I happened to catch Brian as he was making some touch ups to a previous customer’s ink. He was patient and meticulous, circling his orange ink drenched tattoo pen inside the previously made lines. During this process you can see why Brian describes being tattooed and tattooing as an amazing experience, “…to me it’s just more about opening yourself up to that experience”. Excited and content after his work, he even invited me back to his shop, “whenever I was ready”, with a look that made me think he expected me to one day want a tattoo.

He’s probably right, after all, everybody can appreciate some good ink. If not, Brian will make sure of it. He called me over, and opened his art book; tons of references in the form of torn sheets and leaflets seemed to pour out. Flipping quickly through it, he closed the book shut and then picked up another. He was looking for a Chinese zodiac themed Ox , a design he overheard me saying would be an optimal tattoo for my left arm. “That one!” he pointed to a charcoal sketch of a bull writhing with power, it’s back arched creating the shape of the “c”. “That’s the inspiration for a great tattoo…we could work with this…” he said.

I couldn’t help but agree.

Brian’s Photo Shoot