Today we’d like to introduce you to Rey Teysse.
Rey, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always loved drawing and creating things through art. I honestly don’t remember when it started — it feels like it’s been with me for as long as I can remember. Over the years, that interest just took different forms.
When I was about 13, my interest in drawing on paper and canvas started turning into an interest in tattooing. The idea that something I created could stay with a person for the rest of their life really attracted me.
Around the same time, I started going to the gym, and that’s actually where I met two people who were tattoo artists. I became even more interested in tattooing and started watching them work whenever I had the chance. I was constantly looking at different styles and techniques and trying to understand how everything worked.
When I turned 14, I asked my dad for tattoo equipment for my birthday because I wanted to seriously try tattooing. I know that probably sounds a little crazy now, haha. I grew up in Neftygorsk, a small, relatively young oil town in Russia. The town was built around the oil industry, and oil production has always been a big part of life there. So growing up and starting a career in tattooing there was definitely a very different experience from what it might be today.
That was basically the beginning of my journey as a tattoo artist. I still remember my first tattoo. I thought I was ready for it, but once I actually started, I was extremely nervous and had a hard time finishing it. It was a simple blackwork cover-up. After that, I just kept tattooing. I tattooed classmates, their parents, friends, and pretty much anyone who trusted me enough to let me try. Eventually, people in my small town started knowing me for my tattoos.
Later, I moved to a bigger city for university and continued tattooing. I experimented with a lot of different styles because I was trying to figure out what really felt like me. The funny thing was that I liked almost everything, but at the same time, nothing felt completely right.
In 2016, I met the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known, and we got married. In 2018, we moved to the United States, and I continued working as a tattoo artist.
About five years ago, I finally started developing the style I have today. I combined different influences that I had picked up over the years and started focusing heavily on linework, using different line weights and working exclusively in black. It finally felt like something that was truly mine.
I really love where my work has taken me, but I’m still constantly refining it and trying to make my drawings more interesting.
Today, my wife and I live in Austin, Texas. We work a lot, but we also love traveling and try to keep a good balance in our lives. I’m very grateful that I get to make a living doing something I genuinely love. Recently, I’ve also been putting more of my attention into painting on canvas and trying to bring the same style I developed through tattooing into my paintings. So far, I’m really happy with how that’s coming together.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Of course, like anyone’s story, mine has had its share of challenges and difficult moments. As my neighbor once said, “That’s what life is about.”
Choosing a career in art is not an easy path. There are no real guides or instructions for a creative life. You often have to figure things out as you go, and a lot of the time you don’t know where the path is going to lead.
For me, one of the first big challenges came very early. I started tattooing when I was only 14 years old. At that age, I had to deal with a lot of judgment and misunderstanding from adults and even some people close to me. Some tried to convince me to stop and find a “real” or more practical profession. Others simply didn’t take it seriously. Looking back, I can understand why they felt that way, but for a 14-year-old, it was definitely difficult.
I think seeing successful artists and tattooers and following their work online and on television helped me a lot. It showed me that there were people who had built real careers from their art, and it made me believe that my path could be real too. I knew it probably wouldn’t be easy, and I was prepared to deal with people not understanding what I was doing.
But the biggest thing that kept me going was simply loving the work. I think when you genuinely love what you do, it gives you a reason to keep going even when other people don’t understand it.
Moving to the United States was another major challenge for my wife and me. We had to deal with immigration, personal challenges, adapting to a completely different environment, and, of course, the language barrier. When we first came to the U.S., we didn’t even speak English. 😄
We had to figure out a lot of things from scratch, but we managed to get through it. Looking back, I think all of those experiences taught me to be patient, keep learning, and trust the path I chose even when I couldn’t see exactly where it was going.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I still give tattooing most of my time and attention, and I feel very lucky to be able to do something I genuinely love for a living. I think not everyone gets the chance to find work that truly feels like their thing, so I don’t take that for granted.
Over the last five years, I’ve really developed a style and visual language of my own. I’m very focused on continuing to improve it and making my work more interesting rather than trying to constantly change directions. I’m proud that people have started recognizing my work. Some of my clients tell me that they get a lot of compliments on their tattoos, and sometimes they even tell me that a tattoo I made for them became the beginning of an interesting conversation or new connection. I always enjoy hearing those stories. As an artist, I think there’s something really special about knowing that other people notice your work and recognize it.
My work is primarily black and white, with black being the main and often only color I use. I work a lot with different line weights. I like using the lines themselves to emphasize certain parts of an object and direct attention to specific areas of a design. I’m drawn to clean, smooth details and removing unnecessary visual noise.
One of my main goals is to create designs that remain readable and interesting over time. A tattoo is something that has to live on a person’s skin for many years, so I think about how the design will age and how clearly it will still read in the future.
I’m also very drawn to marine life. I love the smooth shapes of sea creatures, the way they move, and the natural harmony in their forms. There’s something mysterious about the underwater world because it’s not something we see in our everyday lives. That unfamiliarity gives me a lot of inspiration.
I think what sets my work apart is the combination of these things: a very controlled use of line, a limited color palette, clean details, and my own way of interpreting the subjects I’m interested in. I’m still developing it, but at this point I feel like my work has a recognizable identity, and that’s something I’m very proud of.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
A lot of my inspiration actually comes from people and their stories — especially people who have gone through difficult things and the way they choose to live their lives.
I read and listen to a lot of books, probably around 50–60 a year. I don’t really have a favorite genre. I think you can find fascinating stories about life, love, difficult choices, and human nature in almost any genre.
What I especially enjoy about books is being able to experience stories and thoughts that people probably wouldn’t share with you in real life, at least not in that much detail. I like watching characters deal with difficult decisions, their own thoughts, their egos, and the challenges they face. I often try to relate those experiences to my own life and take something useful from them.
Over time, this has taught me to make fewer quick judgments, listen more than I speak, understand people better, and appreciate human life and the experiences everyone carries with them. Sometimes even learning to appreciate help when it is offered — and even when it isn’t — can be valuable.
I also follow a lot of artists, and over the years I’ve made many good friends and connections in the art community. We talk a lot about art, share opinions, and constantly inspire each other.
Another major source of motivation for me is staying active. I get a lot of energy from training and movement. I think modern life has made it very easy for people to stop moving — we can have food delivered without leaving the house, drive everywhere, and sometimes look for the parking spot closest to the entrance instead of simply walking a little farther.
For me, movement gives me energy and reminds me that I’m capable of doing difficult things. It makes me feel strong both physically and mentally, and that energy carries over into my work and the rest of my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reyteysse.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rey_teysse
