Growing up tattoo artist Steve Butcher loved watching the NBA. Now, he tattoos some of the game’s biggest names.

“I first stated watching in New Zealand. We only got two games, Lakers or Bulls. Everyone loved Michael Jordan but I’m not conforming, so I was like Kobe, Kobe’s the next one. He’s the man,” Butcher told host Nick VinZant during an episode of the Profoundly Pointless podcast.

What Butcher liked most about Kobe was his “Mamba Mentality.” A mentality Butcher says has inspired him since his first tattoo.

“I started watching his (Kobe’s) interviews and that’s what got me. It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to do, work as hard as you possibly can and you’ll be great,” said Butcher.

“So I bought a cheap kit off the internet and started jamming on my friends. Then I got a job at a street shop. I was only doing small stuff - scripts, stars….infinity symbols. But it’s a really good base to learn the foundations of tattooing like pulling a straight line, packing and coloring,” said Butcher

But even though he was making a living as a tattoo artist, Butcher kept working for free. He says the extra work got him to where he is today.

“People ask me all the time how I shot up so fast. Man, go to work, go to work. I was doing free tattoos for years at the start of my career just to try and do what I wanted to do. It might take me three days, I might get 200 bucks but let’s do it. I got to do what I wanted. People saw it, liked it and then wanted more,” said Butcher.

Now working out of Corona, California, Butcher’s highly detailed style has become world famous. With over 1.2 million Instagram followers, Butcher is one of the most followed tattoo artists in the world.

“It’s just take your time, go slow, small needles and build it up really slowly. And just high attention to detail. I don’t know if you’ve seen any of my stencils but the stencils I put on the skin before I tattoo are pretty nuts - super detailed. So, it’s hard for me to miss any bit of detail when I have that much information to follow,” said Butcher.

To hear more of Steve Butcher’s interview on the Profoundly Pointless podcast, click the link below. We talk tattoo techniques, best/worst tattoos and Dragonball.