Meet Lily Ritchie | Tattoo Artist

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

Hi Lily, what do you attribute your success to?
The absolute most important part of my success has been persistence and an openness to learn. I knew very early on in life what I wanted to do and I stuck with it. I have always wanted to be an artist and I learned very quickly tattooing was the art I was going to build a career in. As soon as I discovered my interest I put in a lot of time researching the right way to go about it and I dedicated myself to making that happen. Learning never stops and I really believe the only way to continue to be successful is to keep an open mind to learning more.

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 am a tattooer. I specialize in a more American traditional style but I like to think I put my own twist on it. Over the last 5 years I’ve really developed my style. I love bright colors, bold lines, and making tattoos that will last a lifetime. It wasn’t the easiest getting where I am today though. I started my tattooing journey back in highschool by doing a lot of research. I knew that I wanted to tattoo when I graduated so I spent a lot of time building a portfolio of my art. I chose to take as many art classes as I possibly could so I could graduate with honors in art and have a solid collection of my artwork. It took a couple years to find an apprenticeship out of high school but I finally landed one in Colorado Springs at a little street shop. I spent almost 2 years at that shop dedicating all of my free time as well as working another almost full time job to keep afloat. After a while I wanted to be in my home town. I needed a change and that shop wasn’t enough to support me so I practically begged for a spot at a local shop in Canon City. Luckily I was hired and formed relationships with my coworkers and we eventually made the decision to leave and start our own shop, Extra Ink where I’m at today. It definitely was a struggle some days. A lot of times I questioned if I was capable of reaching my goal. I had so many days waking up at 6 am to go to my job, then after work immediately going to my apprenticeship and staying well into the early hours of the morning when my mentor would take late walk ins. Then driving an hour home in the middle of winter and barely making enough money to pay bills. Sometimes it didn’t feel worth it. I almost quit a handful of times. I’m so thankful I didn’t and worked through it because I honestly don’t think I could do anything else. Tattooing is right for me. It’s my life.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Canon City isn’t a very large town. A lot of locals will tell you “there’s nothing to do here.” Most of the activities around here are outdoor related! I guess if I had a friend come visit I’d start by taking them over skyline drive. I’d have them stop at the top so we could look at all the dinosaur prints. I’d have to end up taking them to the Royal Gorge Bridge, it’s like the main attraction here. Theres a train that runs through it that could be fun to go on. If we’re feeling really crazy we could do the zip line tours that are offered around here. The parks around here are pretty nice and we could walk down the river walk. And main street has a lot of super cute shops! We have a lot of good restaurants like Pizza Madness, Diritos, and Mugs. Those are my favorites!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mother is my biggest supporter. She has never doubted me. Since day one she has encouraged me to engage in my passions and has believed in me. Tattooing is a career a lot of people may question, “can that really be a career?” And my mom has trusted that I could find success in it and has really supported me all along. I really owe her a lot, especially in all of her encouragement to get me where I am today.

Website: https://www.extrainktattoo.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/lilytattooss?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==