After becoming skilled at drawing and painting, Shiva delved into tattooing with full confidence and emerged as a successful tattoo artist.

Shiva Karthik Dara is a tattoo artist who runs his own tattoo studio under the name of Karthik Tattoo Studio. His studio is based in Hyderabad, which he started in 2015.

Shiva had done his B.Tech in Electronics and Communications Engineering, but at the same time he had an inclination towards art. With no support from his family, Shiva embarked on his journey himself, looking for a tattoo studio to work in. He then got an opportunity to work as a manager in a tattoo studio. After working there for two years, Shiva set up his own studio.

Shiva was born and brought up in Hyderabad and got to visit many places owing to his father’s transferable job. He was an average student and was persuaded by his father to do B.Tech and get a job in the IT and software industry. After completing his engineering degree, Shiva realized that a 9-to-5 job was not his cup of tea. He had the urge to go back to his childhood days, where all he enjoyed was drawing. That was when he decided to pursue art and chose tattooing, inspired by a tattoo show.

Talking about his role models, Shiva says he is inspired by the tattoo artists Jay Freestyle, Sameer Patange, and Subhojit Chakroborty.

Talking about the pandemic, Shiva says he followed all the hygienic practices in his studio following European standards. With zero footfall, he had a difficult time managing his expenses. However, on the personal front, Shiva got ample time to spend with his family.

Speaking about his challenges, Shiva shares that when he initially stepped into the tattoo industry, it was not a well-known profession. At that time, he didn’t have much expertise in drawing and it took some time to learn. Thereafter, he was given an opportunity by a few tattoo artists to work for them. It took Shiva two years to learn and practice tattooing, a time when he had no job and no money in hand.

Shiva advises aspiring tattoo artists to learn to draw first and take proper classes before coming into the tattoo industry. He adds that a successful tattoo artist is the one who makes his own designs and does not copy them from others.

Shiva believes in the saying, "If you are good at something, never do it for free." He is inspired by the quote, "Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere."

To conclude, Shiva urges everyone to support budding artists in whatever way they can.