The Essence of Ink

With nearly three decades of expertise, Scott Campbell is arguably one of the highest-paid tattoo artists in the world. The legend’s art eroticizes Disney princesses and superheroes, but there’s a deeper side to Campbell that many don’t see. His fame gives him a unique, almost therapeutic connection with his clients. So it goes, if he can relate to someone in 45 minutes, he can’t help but love them. Best known for his work on Robert Downey Jr., Sting, Marc Jacobs, Brooke Shields, and Courtney Love, to name a few, the 47-year-old has amassed countless accolades and an endless array of stories. But beyond his celebrity clients and success, he has a story of his own to tell: he’s a soul artist.

Campbell’s intimate nature has led him to a new role, where he’s the host and creator of the original series and podcast “Stupid Things for Love.” The series chronicles human connection and inking guests on the spot, while Campbell uses his empathy and Taurean sensibility to relate to his subjects. Special appearances include television host Karamo Brown, celebrated singer, songwriter, and composer Rufus Wainwright, pro skater Tony Hawk, and actress Drea De Matteo, who’s best known for her role in the Emmy award-winning show “The Sopranos.” The podcast is about exchanging views on life, namely sex, religion, beliefs, or OnlyFans. Campbell has a gentle approach and a way with words, creating a safe space for guests to spew uninhibited remarks.

His podcast embodies more than just entertaining anecdotes. Campbell guides subjects down an internal journey until a vision of their desired tattoo materializes. When they land on the faintest hint of the design concept, Campbell waits until it’s a resounding “hell yes” before he proceeds with the ink. “I really try to give those little whispers authority,” Campbell said. “A tattoo has to look good, but it also has to feel good.”

Campbell opened his first tattoo shop in 2003 when America’s mall culture was pervasive. The tattoo community was, at the time, gaining traction from a more mainstream audience as it crept into pop culture and fashion runways. Previously, it was the anti-change adolescents with a rebellious streak who gravitated toward body art. “If I put a tattoo on my hand or my neck, it’s kind of accepting that I will never get a job in a bank,” Campbell said. “I could be judged and graded by this system, or I could figure out how to carve a decent-looking Tasmanian devil into somebody’s ankle and make 60 bucks a day and live.”

The 80s and 90s paved the way for this grumbling desire to thrive. These years were marked by the “fringe” movement, a subculture that rejected social norms and mainstream values that evolved from the non-conformist hippies of the 1960s and 1970s. “But then we kind of grew up a little bit. We let go of that anger and started to find out, ‘Who am I if there’s nothing to push against? Who am I if I’m not rebelling against something?’” Campbell explained. “I’m just kind of feeling what I want.”

At this point, Campbell went through a significant mindset change. His bitterness turned soft as he began to fine-tune his imagination. Leaning into his fine art career, he began integrating tattoo narratives and symbolism through craft. He participated in gallery shows and exhibitions to get his name out in a more peaceful yet equally expressive way.

Campbell recalled one of his favorite moments recently chatting with “Queer Eye” television star Brown who talked openly about growing up in southern Texas as a “young, gay, black kid” with an ultra-religious upbringing, and he wanted to remove a Bible quote tattoo that he no longer resonated with. “He basically got the tattoo as a pushback to the conservative world that he was stuck in at the time, and he wanted to cover it up with something that didn’t incorporate that judgment,” Campbell said.

At the inception of Campbell’s career, social media did not exist. His work had less to do with validation and public revelation and, instead, more focused on the process that led him to the art: the hours of connection, the stories, and the meaningful moments. Campbell believes that social media now shows the perfect picture and misses the gritty imagination behind it; the connection is lost. He desires to rewrite the narrative, attempting to form conscious connections on the internet. “I want to bring more of that human interaction into what I put out to the world,” he said.

Even so, there’s magic in the mystery. “Sometimes the most powerful things aren’t on Instagram, and that’s a good thing,” Campbell explained. But the fine artist believes in testing this concept on social media as an attempt to normalize showing up in a truly authentic way. Doing so may inspire others to feel like they can show glimpses of unfiltered content, too, creating a deep and lasting impression.

Amidst this admirable intention, Campbell is getting his voice out on a new platform. The artist officially launched his collaboration with Veeps, the leading streaming site for live music, on-demand concerts, and entertainment. Veeps was launched in 2018 by Joel and Benji Madden and has held concerts for notable figures including Billie Eilish, Bob Dylan, Foo Fighters, and Kings of Leon. Veeps All Access provides subscribers with unlimited access to this content for a fee, including “Stupid Things for Love.” The show went live in late October 2024 and garnered early success with a large audience who admires the artists at the heart of the screen.

The goal of the Veeps collaboration, the team said, is to embrace the nuances of tattoos in pop culture and do a show in a format that’s never been done before. “My whole mission in this job that I do is to get people to value the emotional side of tattooing as much as they value the aesthetic,” Campbell said. “And if I want people to emotionally connect with what we do, I have to show them more than just a photograph.”

Campbell took a moment to consider what’s ahead in the industry. He spoke fondly of the community around barbershops and how this traditional experience is held close to people’s hearts in certain neighborhoods, even today. It’s similar to the soul work that Campbell does on a daily basis. He believes tattooing is as magical as cutting hair, and what a disservice it would be if the opportunity to honor the culture and its heritage through meaningful connection became obsolete. Feeling into the energy of the space and the hands that make it happen, he explained, impacts the person’s perception when they walk out of the shop at the end. “It’s one of the last things that can’t be mass-produced. I think that physical touch is what will always make it special.”

A short scroll down Campbell’s Instagram feed revealed a day in the life of the artist: shots of abstract ink, his kids, and famous faces, including a photo of Campbell tattooing one of Martha Stewart’s triceps with the likes of her unlikely bestie, Snoop Dogg. But Campbell said tattoos aren’t just about the actual tattoo; it is an artifact of an experience. This encapsulates the entire process: candid conversations and skin-to-skin contact. He said we must give these moments a sense of ceremony. As humans, it’s the connection we crave.