Meet Destiny Humrich | Tattooer and Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Destiny Humrich and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Destiny, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I perused an artistic career because it felt like my only viable option, honestly. Ever since I was a kid I knew that drawing was my favorite activity, and anything art related was my favorite thing to learn about. I always joke that if I didn’t turn out to be an artist when I grew up that I’d be totally screwed because it’s been the only thing to sustain in my life for as long as I can remember.

Tattooing was an unexpected turn of events though, when I came out of college I thought for sure I was going to own an art studio I was working for, and maybe show my work in some galleries as a side hustle. Life is weird, it’ll never follow your plans but it’ll put you where you need to be.

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Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
It’s so difficult to answer the “what sets your work apart” question, but I hope that what sets my work apart is the relationships I build with my clients through working on their ideas together. Connection is so important to me, I want to give people a great tattoo and a great experience as well. Tattooing is a huge exchange of energy, and sometimes a bad experience with your artist will taint a tattoo regardless of how good it turned out, and I want people to look at their piece from me and know that they were listened to, supported, and cared for. Plus want their tattoo to look sick as hell!!

My journey thus far has been filled with different challenges but overall, continuing to better my craft will always be a challenge, (if it isn’t then I probably stopped going good work honestly). There’s a lot of strange social stuff that happens in this industry as well. But the more success you experience, the more your real friends will show up to support you and the less genuine folks will weed themselves out over time. A huge takeaway so far for me has been to just keep focusing on my work, continue to grow as an artist and as a tattooer, and not give energy to the things that aren’t allowing me to progress. At the end of the day I want to keep a “student” mentality I suppose, and I want to always feel humbled by art and tattooing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh this is a great question! TRVE is by far my favorite spot to grab a beer, Postino is my favorite spot to get dinner, and Milk Bar is my favorite place to party.

I’m not much of a hiker anymore but I’ve always loved exploring trails around Nederland, and my favorite spot to camp is Wellington Lake.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutouts go to my parents (Greg and Margine Humrich), my mentor (Kirsty York), and my partner (Sean Palizzi).

My parents have always been so insanely supportive of my art and my interests, they were hesitant at first when I talked about pursuing a career in tattooing but have since come around to be completely enthusiastic about it, and they both get tattooed by me pretty regularly as well. They come to all my gallery shows, (they always have, honestly), and seeing their kid turn out to be successful with a hobby they obsessed over seems to really fill them with joy. I wouldn’t be brave enough to go after any type of artistic career without them.

Kirsty York gave me my start in tattooing, and has become one of my closest friends as well. I was terrified to even start the process of looking for an apprenticeship because everyone told me that as a woman, I would be mistreated and harassed, and the process of trying to learn tattooing would ultimately end in failure. Kirsty and I went to the same college (Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design) and stayed on each other’s radar after graduation — she gave me my first tattoo actually! She ended up reaching out to me to offer an apprenticeship after she saw that I was designing tattoos for people as freelance work, and it just snowballed from there. She slid into my DMs and started a whole new path for me! Crazy.

Finally, I can’t get through shout outs without mentioning my partner, Sean. I won’t get too mushy, but he’s supported me through the most difficult times in my life and still loves me after seeing me at my worst. A lot of things have happened in the last few years as a tattooer, and he has stood by my side and helped me grow through all the bad, and the good. Him and our two dogs are absolutely everything to me.

Website: Www.destinyillustration.com

Instagram: @DestinyIllustration

Other: TikTok @DestinyIllustration

Image Credits
Alejandro Alonzo (@wzrd_a)