Bare Bones Tattoo: Where the Craft Meets the Chaos

When Bare Bones Tattoo opened its doors in San Juan Capistrano, it became the first tattoo shop in a city that just celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Mission. Alex Blackwell and Zane Leibowitz did not stumble into this craft lightly. Between them, they have over 30 years of experience, hard-earned apprenticeships, and enough war stories to fill a flash book.

In this episode of Shady Characters, Alex and Zane get into all of it: the unglamorous reality of sweeping shop floors and scrubbing tubes before ever picking up a machine, the surprising learning curve between putting something on paper and putting it on skin, and the unwritten rules that separate a good tattoo from one that holds up 20 years later. They also talk about what makes a street shop different from a gallery shop, how AI is starting to creep into their world, and why tattooing under anesthesia misses the whole point.

Equal parts candid, funny, and genuinely insightful, this one is for anyone who has ever sat in the chair or wondered what it takes to earn a place behind it.

"You get what you give."

Follow Zane and Alex at @barebonestattoo.