Bobby Johnson
Also known as “Glendale Bully”, Bobby started his venture early in his teen years. When his uncle Frank came back from prison, the first thing he did was offer prison tattoos. This was the first time Bobby had really considered getting a tattoo and, out of impulse, said yes. His uncle taught him how to make a tattoo machine out of a guitar string, cassette player, and a pen upon learning that Bobby enjoyed drawing. He used this machine to make his first tattoos, but says they were horrible—the process of building the machine with his uncle ignited his interest in becoming a tattoo artist.
Bobby first became involved with a tattoo shop when he was 17. After his apprenticeship ended and he got a job at a refinery, Johnson’s tattoo coverage on his own body expanded rapidly and he began intensive artistic research. Bobby attributes a lot of his style to Czech Painter and Illustrator, Alfons Mucha, using distinct black outlines and soft dimensional colors in his Neo-Romantic, Art Nouveau, and Color Illustrative styles.
“I’ve always been attracted to things that are timeless.”
Bobby won season 15 of Ink Master.
