My name is Stepan Negur. I was born in 1990 in Novorossiysk, Russia. Since my childhood, I have always been into drawing in various styles and I was already interested in art. As a kid, I have worked with ink on sheets, pens and pencils on walls. My biggest passion was the graphic. When I was 14, I tried tattooing slowly and thereby understood that it’s not just any form of art to me. The process of tattooing was already mystical: people get themselves tattooed and accept the pain that comes with it by transforming themselves into new human beings. I didn’t have a real tattoo machine at that time, so I had to build one myself, which consisted a guitar string, a little motor, a bended spoon and I used mascara as ink. Back then I did not have the knowledge of tattoo machines and I did not know that people around the world are also involved in tattooing. In Russia, tattooing was not as widespread as in many other countries. People thought that tattooed people were inmates or stayed in poverty for a long time. Tattoos were considered something devaluing. I wanted to convince people of the opposite, which is why I tattooed myself at age 14.
At the beginning of my career, I mainly tattooed only my closest friends. Within a few years, it got around that I tattoo. My friends’ friends and their friends turned to me so I already have a large group of customers in 2010, which is why I devoted myself to tattooing professionally and was able to make it to the only tattoo studio around, where only two other artists work. I could gather some really positive experience from the artists and customers. I wanted to grow and decided to move to the big city—Moscow. In such a big city, I quickly understood that you have to prove yourself among so many artists. I got to know a lot of artists who share their experience with me and thereby gained attention and made it to international conventions in 2015.
Why I use Cheyenne
I tattoo pretty fast. For example, I finished tattooing a client’s back piece within 2 days. I can manage tattooing larger areas in shorter periods of time but I wouldn’t be able to do that with other tattoo machines, it would make the tattoo difficult to endure.
The Cheyenne tattoo machines can keep up with my pace. I do not need to adjust the machine to fit different needs, the machine just enables me to do everything. The only thing I have to do is to dedicate myself and my passion.
The first time that I used Cheyenne was in 2012. Before that I only worked with coil machines and some rotary machines. It was the mobility of the machine that first got me into Cheyenne. Normally, when an artist works with a tattoo machine, different cartridges are needed, therefore made it necessary to use various machines. When working with more machines, you need to change the cables constantly. The preparation process involves many steps, such as fixing the machine, adjusting the needles, and packing the equipment back also takes time, not to mention the little details that makes traveling and attending conventions so much of a hassle.
With tattoo machines from Cheyenne, however, my life and way of work is completely changed. I don’t need two or three machines anymore, instead, I just need one, with which I save up one hour for the preparation process and I can change needles easily. With Cheyenne tattoo machines, it can be so much more mobile for artists. One only need the machine and necessary
cartridges, which is simply genius!
