Long before he gained television fame with the Spike TV series Ink Master, Oliver Peck was a legitimate master of tattooing. 

Peck is a renowned tattoo artist specializing in American Traditional tattoo work, travelling the US and around the world to perfect his craft before his transition to television personality.

“His precise and traditional tattooing style making him one of the best and well-known ‘old school’ American style artists,” according to the website of Elm Street Tattoo Shop, the shop he co-owns in Deep Ellum, Dallas. 

Read on to learn more about Peck’s life as a professional tattoo artist, and his commitment to badass ink tradition.

 

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Professional Start and Early Career 

 

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A Dallas native, Peck learnt the basics by tattooing his friends with old school stick and poke tattoos, then moved to tattoo equipment he scavenged and re-built. 

His development as an artist accelerated after purchasing his first tattoo kit, exchanging the ink he created for the chance to buy a legitimate machine. 

Peck got his start as professional tattoo artist at age 19, and never looked back. Even at the start of his career, Oliver Peck tattoos were focused purely on American traditional style tattoo art. Peck was a person instrumental in bringing the idea of Friday the 13th flash tattoo art to the masses.

He paid his dues with the time honored, old school way of tradition, putting in long hours at the tattoo parlor, working guest spots across the US, local and international tattoo conventions, and travelling expansively to perfect his craft as a traditional american tattoo artist.