Fred Giovannitti works with love under the lights of Las Vegas.
Fred Giovannitti doesn’t like the word “tattoo.”
“It brings a stereotype to mind,” he says. “There’s a huge difference between tattoos and skin art. Tattoos you get by a tattoo technician. Skin art you get by an artist.”
Giovannitti believes “skin art” is not always meant to be a tattoo, and can be just as beautiful whether on a canvas or skin.
“You wouldn’t see a Harley logo on a canvas,” he explains.
For the past 14 years the Las Vegas tattoo artist has taken pride into putting custom work onto his clients’ skin with the strong belief that putting love into his work is what makes it shine.
The time and dedication he puts into his work is visible on his back where a large, evil face he designed stares out from his skin. The detailed piece took about eleven four-hour sessions tocomplete and has stood among the top three ranked tattoos on rankmytattoos.com for the past few months.
“What I wanted was a big, evil face, something that can be seen from across the street,” Giovannitti says. “I didn’t want a bunch of little things. I’m sure a lot of back pieces tell a wonderful story, but from 10 feet away you wouldn’t know what’s going on.”
Giovannitti also wanted something the artist would take great pleasure in doing. The artist working on this piece, Luc Vietek, worked on Giovannitti’s back every Sunday for weeks.
“It became such a chore,” he says. “I’d look depressed and people would ask what the matter was. I’d say well Sunday is coming. I can’t say I sat through without a twitch. Usually I’m very responsive.”
Giovannitti started tattooing in 1992, after he realized he didn’t want to see other people producing his artwork on his friends’ skin.
“I’ve seen a lot of poor work resulting from people trying to reproduce my stuff,” he says.
He always knew he wanted to be an artist, and has always refused to do flash. The artist got started in the industry so he could do his own artwork and he takes pride in his custom designs.
“I notice a lot of other artists seem to be stuck in an adolescent lifestyle,” he says. “It seems that the important thing to them is what they’re wearing, how cool their car is, and they want to live like a rock star. I might have a big ego where my artwork is concerned, but I’m definitely not a rock star.”
Just looking at him, it’s hard to suspect he is a tattoo artist.
Giovannitti comes to work daily in a collared shirt, tucked in to his pants. He will often wear a tie as well. First impressions are important to him, and he’ll do his best to make a good one.
“When I’m in the shop, everyone around me is in t-shirts and ripped jeans,” he says. “I’m not trying to assume the image of the tattoo shop.”
Besides his clothing style, his artistic technique shows originality in his ability to put ideas on paper.
“Sketching a design only takes about five minutes for me. I’ve never had a customer come in and have an idea and me not be able to put it on paper,” he says.
Throughout his experience in the artistic field over the years, he has seen custom art transform from being practically nonexistent to playing a huge role in tattoo shops across the nation. He feels many of the changes in the industry have been for the better.
His passion for custom art comes alive in his clients, where he continues to put love into his work on a daily basis.
“I feel like I’m the richest man in the world,” he says.
“I have everything I could’ve ever asked for. Even if my hands were cut off I could still do artwork.”
Photos by Jeremy Sullivan
