Meet Josh Hobs | A.k.a Activ8or , studio/performance painter, tattooer, illustrator,

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

Hi Josh, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I think the factor that has had the most impact on my career is authenticity. I feel that when you’re the truest version of yourself, it allows for the purest expression of your work. I’ve always been a really unique person that’s kind of paved my own way, and I think you can really see that in my work. I’m constantly trying new techniques, and taking risks in both painting and tattooing. Some are successful, and some are just stepping stones that help carry me to my next challenge. I’m on a path of the mountain goat. Always a difficult road taken, but never falling backwards. Carving a strategic path thru the industry. Regardless, making art that reflects my environment and who I am as a person is something that I will always strive for. I love when people look at my work and say “that is so you!” A lot of people in their pursuit of success forget their roots (sell out) and what got them to where they are. I hope that my audience knows how hard I work at maintain that rawness in my personal and professional life. People can smell a fake, and they can also tell when someone truly loves what they do. I can honestly say whether you like my work or not, that I am unapologetically me. And I am in love with art.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I love creating art and tattoos in a variety of styles. Throughout my career I have tried a lot of different approaches to the process. Early in my career I was heavily drawn to illustration. Drafting pens and alcohol markers were a couple of tools that I often used. Drafting pens help develop pulling clean lines and markers help you understand blending and color theory. But the trick is to be able to do it quickly before the alcohol evaporates. Both are skills that translate well to tattooing. The next medium I pursued was oil painting. I gravitated towards surrealism, which I feel is one of the better techniques in allowing an artist to show their personality over say, hyper-realism. I think you get a better understanding of the artist’s mind when you can add your own flare or style to a piece. I create dream worlds and characters that don’t always tell a clear story of what is happening in the painting. I think it’s more fun for the viewer to try and create their own narrative. For me, art has always been a place that allowed me to escape the stresses of the real world. When I’m super focused on a painting or a tattoo, nothing else matters except the piece in front of me. The majority of my knowledge is self taught through trial and error, and independently researched from other artists. I switched to acrylic when I started doing live painting at music festivals due to the dry time with oil and the desert conditions that would cause dust and dirt to stick to my art. Acrylic is nice because you can layer quickly and finish pieces without having to wait weeks for the paint to dry. It’s also good for a live audience because they want to see movement while they watch you. The need for quick thinking while I work has allowed me to evolve my art and speed in tattooing and painting. My brain has a very quick response time when I’m working. I no longer have to think hard about what colors to add, or the direction to take my work. When I’m deep in what I call my flow zone, the art just comes very naturally from a deeper place. It’s the tribal instinct that we all have in us. I’ve learned a lot of hard lessons along my journey. One thing is that your success or failure at the end of the day is only controlled by one person: you. If you rely on other people to help get you where you want to be, it’s going to be a bumpy road. You will learn a lot from your achievements, but you will learn more from your failures. A lot of the success people have in the art and tattoo industry has to do with timing. You might be producing amazing artwork, but it just might be in the wrong place or wrong time. This has caused me to lower my expectations when I create a new piece. If you put high expectations on what you think your work will do, then you are only setting yourself up for failure. I also try not to attach the concept of money too much to my artwork during the creation phase. I produce much better art when I’m not stressing about money. A lot of us go into art because we loved it as kids, and it allows us to maintain that fun and innocence we had growing up.
Tattooing is an art form I was drawn to from a very young age. Seeing tattoos on people as a kid seemed almost supernatural. It was hard to wrap my mind around how it was even possible for these designs to be permanently embedded in the skin. Needless to say, I got my first tattoo when I was very young and I definitely don’t recommend that. Waiting till your 18 is smart because the things you like when you’re 13 are definitely not the things you are into when you’re a young adult. But that was just my path. And the things we did in the early 90s were definitely a little different than what kids experience today. A lot of what I create is heavily influenced from my environment. Animals, nature, and human experiences are three things I love to recreate. Art for me is about sense activation. I want my art to enhance your mind through your senses. It’s hard to describe if you haven’t personally experienced it. It’s like describing your first psychedelic experience to someone who has never tried psychedelics. It’s that familiarity when you see or feel something that causes your brain to create that nostalgic feeling. It says I’ve been here before and I understand what I’m feeling when I created this. We have all felt that way at some point. That’s what I want you to feel when you look at my art. I guess that’s why my nickname is Activ8or.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I had a friend visiting me from out of state, the first thing I would do is take them to breakfast. Snooze or Sassafras are both pretty good options. After that, I would probably gear up and take them on a motorcycle ride thru the canyons. On the way back we would probably stop at a crystal shop and check out some shiny things. I would likely leave with some incense and palo santo, which I use a lot of when I am painting and tattooing. (Incense is great for calming the mind, and palo santo can clear the bad energy of a space to allow for a more positive vibe during the appointment. I’ve noticed that the smell just makes people happy!) We would probably grab lunch at a sushi or Vietnamese restaurant. I’m also a big fan of Indian food. Yak & yehti is one of my favorite restaurants. After that we would head to Red Rocks and party in the lots before going in to see Wu Tang. This would be an ideal day for me.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I don’t mean to sound cliche, but my biggest influence in my life and my art has been my mother. Seeing how hard she worked to raise my siblings and I by herself and work multiple jobs to do it. That’s the kind of dedication I want to have in my career. She has always been supportive and encouraged me to pursue my art from a very young age. I feel like anything is possible when I have her in my corner and I know she would do anything for me. When I told her I wanted to tattoo, she was 100 percent there to help make that into a reality. A lot of the qualities I have are because she instilled them in me. Teaching me how important it is to always try your best, and be ok with failure, but most importantly to be a good person and treat people with respect. My sister has been equally amazing and played a vital role to my success as an artist. She’s like my best friend but also my teacher. We’ve worked on a lot of creative projects together and I’m constantly learning new things from her. I love having strong women in my life, they keep me honest and hold me accountable for my mistakes. Another person that really inspired me towards doing art was my high school art teacher Mr. Schaefer. He was the first person that really pushed me toward taking art more serious and that gave me a place to do it. Although we clashed when we first met, we actually developed a pretty solid friendship over the course of four years. The art room was the only classroom that felt like more than just a place to learn. It felt like a parallel universe where you were the one in charge. As one of my favorite artists Bob Ross would always say, there are no mistakes in art, just happy accidents. Knowing that I couldn’t make mistakes in what I was doing gave me added confidence to what I was doing. Another one of my favorite artists that I feel has had a large impact on my art is Tim Burton. I grew up loving films like Batman and Beetlejuice. I think you can defiantly see a little bit of his style in my work.

Website: Activ8orart.com

Instagram: Activ8or

Facebook: Josh hobs

Other: My tattoo shop is called Activ8 & Elev8 Inc. The instagram is activ8_elev8