Mum turns 12-year-old into a tattoo artist - and she tattoos while blindfolded
A 12-year-old, who started inking at the age of six, has been named the world’s youngest tattoo artist.
Natalie Dejesus first learned her craft from her mum, Ariel, and has gone viral after posting videos tattooing clients on social media, sometimes blindfolded!
Incredibly, Natalie, from Texas, first picked up the tattoo machine at the age of six, when she permanently marked her initials onto her mum. From there, Natalie, who grew up around Ariel’s tattoo business, honed her craft as her love for tattoos and art blossomed.
“She picked up a machine at six years old and did a little ‘n’ and then, as she gradually got older, she started learning more and more on her own actually,” Ariel explained.
“I never sat down and said this is how you hold the machine, this is how you draw a line, this is how you wipe the tattoo. I never taught her any of that. She learned all of that on her own by watching. So that's pretty amazing.”
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After a few years of practice, and some training from her mum, Natalie has become a fully-fledged tattoo artist, who has customers from all over the world, including Scotland, Alaska and Russia.
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Natalie learned how to tattoo from her mum, Ariel, who was the youngster's first client (@arieldejesus2 / CATERS NEWS)Ariel says she thinks part of the appeal is people's disbelief that a 12-year-old could actually be a tattoo artist.
“It's not hard for us to market to try to get her clients. I think a lot of people were really interested in a 12-year-old tattoo and when she blew up on social media, she was 11.”
But it’s not only Natalie’s young age which attracts clients, it’s also her ability to tattoo while wearing a blindfold, with people travelling far and wide for the experience.
Videos of Natalie's work have gone viral on social media (@arieldejesus2 / CATERS NEWS)
Natalie tattoos clients from all over the world and even trains employees in her mother's shop (@arieldejesus2 / CATERS NEWS)“I have had people from Hawaii, Alaska, Scotland and Russia. I've had clients from every state almost here to come and get a blindfold tattoo and doing the blindfold tattoos is really what popped off,” said the proud mother.
While Natalie has already broken records, her mum says she still has a long way to go to reach the peaks of the tattoo industry.
She said: “I think that she's headed in the right direction but from a professional artist, she has plenty of room to learn as well. I don't think as an artist we ever stop learning.
And Ariel says she has to remind herself that her artistic daughter still has the attention span of a 12-year-old.
“I wish she practised every day, but she does not. Her practice is when she comes in and feels like she wants to tattoo,” she said.
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“I don't think that her sitting down and practising every day or whatnot is going to happen until her attention span is a little bit better, maybe when 14, 15, 16 years old.”
Adding, “She can say that she doesn't want to do it all day long, but I know it's going to happen.”
Ariel says she wishes her daughter practiced everyday, but reminds herself she still has the attention span of a 12 year old (@arieldejesus2 / CATERS NEWS)Despite her lack of practice, Ariel still trusts her daughter to not only ink customers but also train other employees, and claims she could leave her to run the shop without adult supervision.
“I trust her 100%. She trains all of my employees, any employee that I have, she trains them, and I feel like she could run that whole shop without me, honestly,” said Ariel.
“Sometimes I'll be tattooing when she's tattooing - So, I'm not even there to be able to supervise her,” she added.
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