Sick of being a paramedic, Andy Spreeuwers decided he wanted to make money doing something he enjoyed – making art.

Twenty years later, Spreeuwers finds himself at Animated Canvas working as a tattoo artist. 

Some days are full of appointments, while others are leisurely. But no matter the customer, the appointment or the tattoo, Spreeuwers has made note of a trend among some customers that revolves around a new phenomenon: AI. 

“People have these really really big expectations but also, at the same time, don’t know what good art really looks like and put zero of very little thought into it,” Spreeuwers said. “They just see somebody else or what AI created . . . they just don’t think for themselves a lot of times.”

AI tattoos have become more popular in recent years, said tattoo artist Kodi Boston, who also works at Animated Canvas. Platforms such as Tattoo AI, Adobe and Canva generate mockup tattoo designs, but these designs aren’t usually feasible, Boston said. 

Customers sometimes come in with an AI image of a miniature, hyper-realistic tattoo that they want replicated. While they may walk out of the shop with a design they wanted, the intricate lines of such a small, detailed tattoo will eventually blur together, Boston said. 

“I don’t want to do that, because then I just feel like I’m stealing people’s money and doing something not good on them,” Boston said. “But if that’s what they want me to do.” 

Spreeuwers said he prefers when he can work with customers during a consultation to design a unique tattoo rather than trace a design. Most tattoo artists align themselves with a certain style. Boston likes traditional and fine line tattoos. Spreeuwers likes tattooing skulls, demons and scripts. 

But at the end of the day, the style and design is up to the customer. 

“If it’s something weird that you like and, you know, I don’t like it, that doesn’t matter,” Spreeuwers said. “It’s your tattoo.” 

Former USC student and aspiring tattoo shop owner Camila Acevedo said the experience of getting a tattoo can be spiritual and personal. She said tattoo artists get to create art for someone that will make them happy for the rest of their life. 

Acevedo’s favorite tattoo style is dark fantasy rather than realism, which has been the latest trend. Fantastical tattoos are more interpretable, she said.  

“There’s a lot – usually a lot – more backstory when it comes to, like, dark fantasy tattoos,” she said. “Like, I feel like it’s, in a way, it’s more healing than just putting, like, someone else’s face on your body.”

Spreeuwers said most artists have a moral line in deciding what tattoos they’re comfortable creating. He will tattoo nearly anything as long as he knows it will hold up well. But Boston has a list of tattoos he won’t give people. 

Boston won’t tattoo any particularly tiny, racist or gang affiliated designs, he said. Apart from that, he said he loves that his job gives him the opportunity to interact with and bring joy to people of all walks of life. 

He said the energy in a tattoo studio – particularly Animated Canvas – is always high. 

“You know, as scary as some of us look, I guess, like we’re all, we’re all pretty cool people,” he said.