5 Sayings That Helped Me Find My Way in Tattooing

By Bryn Dyer

"Gangsters move in the shadows"

When I first heard this it wasn’t about bravado or image. It was about quiet commitment.

My sister said it to me when I first started tattooing. She knew me well. I’m idealistic, full of big ideas, and I’ve had moments in life where I talked things up before fully following through. Tattooing mattered too much for that. I didn’t want to over-promise, announce something loudly, and then walk away when it got hard.

That line offered a different path:

Less talk. More action. Done quietly.

In tattooing—and in art more broadly—the real work happens when no one’s watching. Long hours. Repetition. Hours spent in the tiny details trying to master a technique, a shade, a feature. There is boredom, and lots of frustration too. But you keep showing up anyway. That’s the part people don’t see when they look at a finished piece and say, “That must’ve taken an hour.”

It didn’t.

It took years.

I really see that now.

That saying helped me understand something deeper about this industry:

Tattoo artists are the gangsters.

Not because of ego or attitude—but because of the unseen discipline behind the work. The hours spent learning, refining, and coming back the next day to do it again. Driven by passion, craft, and respect for tradition.

Being part of that quietly hardworking community makes me proud.

Over time, a few sayings like this became anchors for me. They reflected in plain, simple words what tattooing was teaching me. They reminded me how I wanted to show up when things got heavy, quiet, or uncertain.

Here are four more of them—and what they mean to me, in life and in tattooing:

“If you hang around the barbershop long enough, eventually you’ll get a haircut.”

— Denzel Washington

This one is about showing up.

In life, it’s a reminder that there are no shortcuts. You keep turning up for your thing, day after day. It requires trust that eventually the effort will lead to real change.

In tattooing, it’s the same. You keep drawing. You keep refining your technique. You keep learning how to run the business side better.

There isn’t luck.

There’s repetition.

Repetition builds momentum. And momentum creates opportunity.

“How you do anything is how you do everything.”

This is integrity, distilled.

In life, it’s how you behave when no one’s watching. The standards you keep for yourself.

In tattooing, it shows up in the small things: your prep, your hygiene, your communication, the routines you don’t cut corners on. Not because someone is watching—but because the craft deserves it.

“Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”

— from my sister Erin.

This one saved me from rushing.

In life, it’s permission to be patient. To trust that taking your time early builds real capability later.

In tattooing, this is essential. Being slow and careful sounds obvious, but it takes discipline not to rush—to respect each line, each decision.

Smooth comes first.

Speed follows.

“There are no real adults.”

In life, this is a reminder that everyone is figuring something out—even the people who look confident. So lead with grace. Give people room as they are finding their way. Give yourself some too.

In tattooing, it keeps my ego in check. Dropping the idea that I should already “know everything” keeps me open, learning, and enjoying the process. This has ensured that I have maximised the opportunity to learn from so many amazing and talented people around me. 

Why These Sayings Matter

These lines are anchors for me.

They remind me how I want to work, how I want to grow, and how I want to show up.

They also remind me how grateful I am to be part of an industry built on passion, patience, and an enormous amount of unseen effort.

Quiet work.

Deep craft.

Done for the love of it.

I hope these might be of use to you in some way in your own journey!