Tattoos are a part of a person’s expression of their personality or their stories. Like choosing what clothing to wear, tattoos represent us in a physical way to others. Whether large or small or detailed or simple, they take a large amount of skill to pull off.
Dmitry Troshin is a tattoo artist and teacher of this artistry to others. Born in Russia, he was raised poor, but that never stopped him from following his passion and talent for drawing.
“My name is Dmitry Troshin, born and raised in Moscow, Russia in 1990. I’m from a poor family, didn’t really have anything when I was a kid, but always loved drawing – anything I could find inspiring, mostly nice cars. And I wanted to get rich all my childhood. Started working at age of 16 as a photographer and video operator, then did graphic designs for a few companies and had my own small clothing store at the same time. Got my bachelor degree in interior design in 2012 and had some kind of a creative burnout afterwards. Thinking about what I’d like to do next, I bumped into some photos of beautiful black&grey tattoos and fell in love with the idea of trying to do some tattoos,” Dmitry recounts.
Motivated by his new love for the art of tattoos and wanting to create something beautiful for people, Dmitry made a decision that would change his life forever! He began to change his life entirely and dedicate himself to becoming a tattoo artist.
“I sold all my clothing inventory from the store I had and bought my first tattoo equipment. Not knowing any good tattoo artists in Black&Grey style in Russia I mostly learned by watching videos online, reading forums and asking questions. Like everyone else at first I practiced on my friends and slowly expanded my clientele. In 2015 me and my wife started travelling the world, visited many countries, did tattoo conventions all across the globe and won multiple awards,” Dmitry states.
Even that was not enough for Dmitry! He knew that to take his dream to the next level, he had to move to the United States, so that is what he did! He and his family left for the United States and was able to expand his business beyond his imagination.
“In 2017 we decided to finally make a big step in our lives and we moved to the US. By that time I had good relationships with and was sponsored by the legendary Bishop Rotary (tattoo machines company) and its owner Franco Vescovi. Living in California was always a dream for me and with the help of Franco and other amazing people here that dream came true. Expanding my business I started teaching other tattoo artists, doing seminars and creating videos that help young artists learn tattooing and especially my technique, which is called “3RL ONLY”. This style of tattooing I started in 2014 has grown popular in the world of tattooing and I get hundreds of questions from other artists of any level to teach them or help to improve their technique,” Dmitry says.
What differentiates Dmitry from other tattoo artists is his ability to be patient. This is something that is crucial both with his clients and with his teaching! His patience and waiting for the right move to make in order to achieve success has allowed Dmitry to become a major name in the tattoo world and achieve his dreams.
“I believe that I have a good amount of patience, ability to think outside the box and to find new solutions to old problems. That reflects in the way I design, plan and approach my tattoo projects. My clients also appreciate my attention to detail and perfectionism,” Dmitry details.
His next projects include expanding his educational program through more seminar classes and one on one opportunities with Dmitry himself. To keep up with all that he is doing, follow him on Instagram here and check out his website here.