Top tattoo artists are in great demand. Her work is displayed on some of the most visible properties in the world: LeBron James’ shoulders, Scarlett Johansson’s back, Post Malone’s face.
However, you cannot hang tattoos in a gallery or auction them off at Sotheby’s. They live and die (unless previously removed) with their owner. It also means that the most sought-after tattoo artists are still paid by the hour, just like many during their training who adorned the biceps of sailors and bikers.
Artists generally don’t get paid by the hour, said Scott Campbell, 44, a Los Angeles tattoo artist who inked Robert Downey Jr., Jennifer Aniston and Marc Jacobs. “Musicians don’t get paid for how long it takes to create a song. You would never go into a gallery and think, “How long did it take the artist to paint it? I’ll pay him for his time. ‘”
Mr. Campbell, who works with fellow tattoo artists like Mark Machado (known as Mr. Cartoon) and Brian Woo (Dr. Woo), wants to change that equation.
This week, Mr. Campbell is opening All Our Best online marketplace, where tattoo artists can offer their designs as permanent, tradable goods in the form of NFTs.
To update: An NFT, which stands for non-fungible token, is basically a digital authenticity stamp that, like cryptocurrency, can be bought, sold or traded on a blockchain. This is a far cry from the tattoo world, where the stars of the field cap their earnings at around $ 1,000 an hour for a one to three hour session, even when working on Hollywood stars.
In this new marketplace, customers acquire exclusive rights to the design of the tattoo, not the tattoo itself. “I’m selling you an idea instead of hours of my life,” said Mr. Campbell, who has blurred the line between tattoo and fine art for years and showing his tattoo-inspired sculptures and paintings at galleries and art fairs. “The NFT is basically a digital baseball card.”
As a benefit of ownership, buyers get a guaranteed spot at the tattoo artist – no small matter as it can be nearly impossible to book top tattoo artists for those outside of the celebrity orbit.
But this is not absolutely necessary. Some owners may choose to keep their skin virgin.
In theory, NFT tattoo owners could even hire another tattoo artist to apply the ink while still claiming the work as a family tree original. (Copying tattoos without the artist’s permission is a common problem.)
To begin with, All Our Best will only feature a handful of well-known artists: Mr. Campbell, Mr. Cartoon, Dr. Woo, Grime, Sean from Texas and Tati Compton. Mr. Campbell plans to expand the list and eventually open the marketplace for any tattoo artist to sell work.
He’s not the only tattoo artist who sees an opportunity in blockchain. For example, an artist in Portland, Me., Named Brad Wooten, sells photos of digitally designed tattoos as NFTs.
The earning potential is considerable. Prices for the first round of NFT tattoos on All Our Best range from $ 1,000 to $ 10,000. Blockchain technology also enables artists to charge a 10 percent license fee every time a work is resold.
Customers can also benefit when the work increases in value, as opposed to the current setup where “the only thing they get out of the business is an Instagram post and some boastful rights,” Campbell said. “They actually have something to keep and pass on to their children, that has a life that is not just what will be sunburned and hazy 10 years from now.”
