TIM HENDRICKS AND CONTRAST
CONVERSE ON THE NORTH SHORE

Interview: Zen Yoshifuku
Text: Daniel Ikaika Ito
Images: Jason Shibata



Tattoo artist Tim Hendricks rarely inks anyone these days, but here on the North Shore of O‘ahu, he makes the occasional exception. A fitting occupational choice considering that the 32-year-old, Fullerton, California native caught the mainstream’s eye via Miami Ink, a TLC reality show about the exploits and art of a world-class tattoo parlor in Florida. Thanks to a phone call from body ink big brother, Chris Garver, Hendricks took the spot of Kat Von D. when she left to do L.A. Ink. Hendricks describes his reality TV stint as, “Tattoo all day and party all night.”

His one-year run on Miami Ink was short-lived. Ami James and Chris Núñez, owners of Miami Ink Tattoo (the parlor that the program is based on) declined to continue the show. The series ended in 2008. However brief the appearance, it didn’t matter. Hendrick’s talents had been broadcasted which boosted his career in a bunch of other directions.

Currently, Hendricks is globe trotting, being extremely selective of the tattoo conventions he attends, all the while promoting his handcrafted tattooing machines. Along with the royalties from the tattoo tools, Hendricks is also collecting sponsorship love from RVCA as a member of the Artist Network Program and Sabre Sunglasses with his signature shades. It’s apparent that he has a grip of ways to hustle his artistic talents.

Today, he’s at pro surfer Rory Parker’s house at Sunset Point inking Phil from BAMP projects. When Hendricks is in the islands he sets aside a few hours to tattoo his Sandwich Island supporters. “I don’t really tattoo too much now, I only do friends, family and old clients,” says Hendricks. “If I have the desire to tattoo again five days a week, ten hours a day, I have an e-mail list of 300-400 people waiting…”

Hendricks has been surfing since he was a six-year-old grom at Newport Beach so it’s no surprise that he’s boys with North Shore surfing heavies like Parker, Rico Jimenez, Kala Alexander and Ryan Rawson.

Ryan, son of legendary surfboard-builder Pat Rawson, is the closest to Hendricks. Rawson has even taken the tattoo artist tow surfing at 15-to 20 foot Phantoms. Tim is also the godfather of Ryan’s kids and the two are neighbors in California. Now, like many surfers, Hendricks makes the annual trip to the Seven Mile Miracle to visit friends, family, share world-class waves and fresh art. Contrast caught up with Hendricks on his latest pilgrimage to the Mecca of Surfing to talk about his humble beginnings, homies and the hustle.




Contrast: How would you categorize your tattooing style?
Hendricks: I like to think I can do any tattoo, but definitely I know when there is a better man for the job. I’ll refer people that I care to see get a better tattoo to someone that’s better in that area, but nowadays I pretty much do everything. You gotta keep a good balance just like anything in life and if you over-do one thing you just get sick of it. And, when your outlet of stress becomes your source of stress that’s when things get fucked up and unhappy. So if I keep a good balance of everything; all the different types of tattoos, that’s where my happiness lies.

How did you get into tattooing and art?
My dad was an artist. He worked with watercolors and did some oil paintings too. Since I was old enough to answer the question, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” It was, “To be an artist.” He died when I was young, but tattooing kind of found me. In the neighborhood that I grew up, everybody was getting tattooed, even young kids like 12 and 13-year-old kids were getting gang tattoos and all that. So, being an artist was pretty much the only way that I could support all my habits at the time and it earned me a little clout around the neighborhood. It helped. [Laughs]

Street cred is a must anywhere. Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Fullerton, kind of like the border of Fullerton and Anaheim. Basically, I could hear the 95 Freeway from my house. It was mostly Hispanic […] but I’m half Mexican so at least I had a little bit of an in, and I could understand a little bit of the Spanish that they were speaking so they couldn’t really pull one over on me.

So when was the first time you did an actual tattoo?
The first time I did an actual tattoo was for a guy who helped me make a homemade [tattoo] machine out of guitar string and a Walkman motor; it really didn’t work too well. [Later] I met this girl who said her dad made real tattoo machines. She told me to drive down to Long Beach and to talk to him and she would vouch for me. Otherwise, I would never have been able to buy a machine. I went down there and he gave me a tube, a needle and a machine, and fuck I used that for like two years on all the same tube and needle just passing diseases from one cholo to the next. [Laughs] But, the first one I did with that machine was in my friend’s garage. I was actually living in that garage at the time. It was like in my mid-teens. I did an armband around him or something. It was for a friend I grew up with. I still remember that first time for sure.

From your friend’s garage to Rory’s balcony, it seems like we’re almost full circle. You’re most known for your body art, but you also carve a decent life from tattoo machines. When did you start making them?
I made my first machine from the ground up in Dallas in ’98. I never made a machine from then on till about 2002 or 2003. This guy Danny Dringenberg took me under his wing and apprenticed me the right away– the old way of making tattoo machines. I never did a real apprenticeship. [Tattoo apprenticeships are] really hard, I got a lot of respect for how hard it is. You take a lot of shit. There’s some tattoo shops where you have to throw a dart at the wall like once a week and whatever tattoo it hits… you have to get that tattoo. I never did that. All I did was tattoo all-day and then at night time I would go to Danny’s and work till like four in the morning in his machine shop. I would just build for him.

On the grind, building tattoo machines and character at the same time.
I would do like a thousand of one part and then a thousand of another part, but then I would slowly learn each part of the tattoo machine. For the first year I made just parts for him, for the next year I made machines for him, and I wasn’t even allowed to put my name on them. I would make nothing– no money, this was all free. It took, like three or four years before I was really making my own machines with my name on it and he gave me his blessing to make my own machine shop in my garage. By the time I did that I was so thankful because I knew how to make every single part of the whole machine. Besides the nuts, bolts and the washers, everything is made by me. Every little brass piece, all the metal pieces, I wind my own coils and everything, so I’m very fortunate you know. He gave me a gift that’s gonna basically pay the bills for the rest of my life. It’s a big part of my business without a doubt. It’s probably like, half my business. They have my machines in countries that I didn’t even know were involved in tattooing.

Does Dan still make machines?
Yeah. He’s probably the first and foremost authority figure in tattoo machine building. He’s part of the legacy of all the O.G. tattoo machine builders that were innovative.



What machines are you using to tat-up Phil over here?
I have three machines. One I made, it’s my shader. One the guy who taught me made, that’s my liner. And, I have a machine that works for everything. That machine was made by one of the older guys born in the 1800’s. That machine was made in like 1946. I rebuilt it and it works fine. That one’s called the “Jonesy Machine” built by Bill Jones.

Besides the machines what are some of the other projects you do?
I’ve done some books. I made a pinup book in 1996, it still sells very well. I’m actually supposed to be making another one but I’ve just been lagging, it’s gonna be a flower reference book. Many tattooists use flowers. So I’m making a super thick book like 200 pages– nothing but flowers. I also make pens, I invented a pen that can write on skin. Sometimes when you are doing a big piece, stencils don’t work that good. You need to get the flow of the body. With the pen that’s possible. We sell a lot of those. It’s disposable too and only costs like $4 a piece.

We heard you’re a painter, too?
Any moment that I have of free time I try to paint. What’s cool now is that RVCA will buy some of the paintings off of me and use them for shirts. There’s been times where I was just painting to kill time or for an art show and RVCA ended up using it for stuff. Especially now with the economy, I try to hustle anything I can produce artistically. Basically I’m just a legal fucking hustler, it’s like a legal drug dealer in a way.

We heard you’re off to chilly, old London after this Hawaiian vacation. Do you try to go to a lot of tattoo conventions when you’re traveling?
They have so many conventions now its fucking ridiculous. You could go to a convention every weekend for the whole year. That’s how many conventions there are all over the world. I stick to certain ones that’ve been around forever or new ones that are created by real tattooists, that way you put money back into the business you support. You know there are so many people now taking advantage of tattooing because it’s gotten so big just trying to make a buck off it. It’s always been that way, but now it’s just crazy. I can’t wait for it to die down and the dust to clear. With the economy it should help shake out the fakes.


Tim Hendricks tow-in style (image courtesy of TH)

Well, at least before you bail to London you get to cruise with the boys and get some good waves. What do you love about the North Shore?
As far as surfing goes I think it’s cool that it doesn’t matter where you’re from or who you are, you have to earn your respect again. I’ve surfed waves all over the world, but nowhere can match here. They’re the heaviest, fastest moving, dangerous waves I’ve surfed in my life. The boys are cool if you respect them. This is their place. This is where they grew up. This is like their backyard. If you don’t get humbled by the waves, you could get humbled on the beach by some big local guy. I like that you have to earn your respect, there’s no handouts. Nobody gives a fuck where you come from. Some people don’t like it, but I guess they just can’t handle it.

So with all your connections and close friends down here, could you ever see yourself opening a tattoo parlor in Hawai‘i?
I don’t know, I’ve thought about Hawai‘i. Chris Garver has wanted to open one with me in Hawai‘i, but I like California. It’s a good home base. It’s like five hours to the East Coast. Five hours to Hawai‘i. Five hours to Costa Rica. The airport flies everywhere. But, I don’t know if I’ll ever open a shop, too much commitment and stress. It’s not really my style. But if I do open shops, the two places would be O‘ahu or Orange County. I would open a bar right next to [the shops] so I could tattoo all day and get drunk all night for free. [laughs]


ティムヘンドリクッス
ティムはオレンジカウンティー出身の凄腕タトゥーアーチストだ。最初はホームメイドのタトゥーガンで友達たちをやり出した。ダニードリンゲンバーグに出会いティムの世界は変わった、タトゥーガンの作り方を基礎から全て教えてもらった。今ではティムはあの有名なＴＶショウＭｉａｍｉＩｎｋにも出演したり大活躍だ。ディテールの凄いタトゥーと調子抜群のタトゥーガンで腕も確か。ノースショアに拠点を移し毎日サーフィンを楽しんでいる。