Meet Christopher “coop” Cooper | Tattoo Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christopher “coop” Cooper and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christopher “Coop”, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
For me, it’s really no one way to answer this question. I kind of feel like I was chosen to be a tattoo artist. Growing up I never thought about being or thought that I would become an artist. Since a kid, I’ve always drawn fun; as a hobby of some sort, but never took it serious. Although I was kind of good at it, I just never took as something to pursue career wise. I really took a liking to football and legitimately thought I would someday play professionally in the NFL. Due to a knee injury, I decided to make a pivot away from football and try to pursue something else. Looking back at life and a lot of things I’ve done in life before the injury, the only other thing that I did consistently besides football was draw and have an admiration for tattoos. I actually gave myself my first ever tattoo with an homemade tattoo machine that I built when I was 15 years old. I did 2 tattoos on myself with that machine actually. So, after assessing all of this for myself I decided to pursue a new found purpose with becoming a tattoo artist.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
When it comes to my art, I take inspiration from many different styles. I like realism, illustrative realism, anime, neo traditional, Japanese and many more. I’m currently working on a style that incorporates the different styles/elements of tattooing. I feel like the one thing that sets me apart from most, is my versatility. I grew up watching ink master and the best of the best were all versatile so that’s what I strive for, to be a master of ink. I’m very proud of my versatility because you can’t box me in to one category. Most artists find a style they like and master that but I like so many things that can’t settle for a mastery of just one. My determination has really got me where I am today. I knew I had one goal and that was to tattoo. It hasn’t been an easy ride by far but through the ups and downs I remained resilient. I’ve learned many things on this journey but the two most important things was to trust in myself and to never give up. I want the world to know I am a Tattoo-R (tattooer) through and through. I take great pride and integrity with what I do. I always strive to exceed expectations. You can definitely expect to have good experience when you sit in my chair.

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?
I want to give my first shoutout to an old friend Jarmarques. He prolly doesn’t even know this but he’s kind of the reason why I started taking my pursuit to tattooing serious. One day we were chilling and I told him what I was thinking about pursuing and he basically said “bro if you think you can do it go for it”. Since then I’ve been on the pursuit. Then big shoutout to my brother Jodey, known as Jodey Tattoos. He kinda took me under his wing and help me get my foot in the door to the industry. Shoutout to Sip and my Black Lines Tattoo family. I started my career and spent many years at Sip’s shop. Shout out to Chico for bringing me into the Black Rose family. Since coming to Chico’s shop I’ve been able to take my work to the next level and build new friendships and also new experiences. Lastly and most importantly shoutout to my family for all their support through my endeavor.

Instagram: Cooptattoor1

Image Credits
N/a