My Name is Arthur Volper and I grew up in Queens, New York. I came to America from Ukraine when I was five years old. I attained a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management with no intentions of pursuing a career in art. It wasn’t until the age of 28, when my wife became pregnant, that I picked up a pencil for the first time in years. Having only drawn as a child sporadically, I didn’t begin to take it seriously until my first charcoal a few months later before the birth of my son. At this point i became focused on portraits and realism.
At this time I began to collect tattoos from artists I admired. It all culminated in one moment when, while reading a book called light and shadow by Ian Robert McKnown, I decided I was going to become a tattoo artist.
Eventually I broke skin for the first time on my own leg and began to inch towards my goal. Fast forward 4 years, and I’m now, a full time artist working out of Rebel Ink in Queens, New York. It is shop that has given me an amazing opportunity and freedom to build clientele while honing my craft. A place where I can practice many different styles while focusing on my first true love, which is black and grey realism.