What I've Learned: Lance Cpl. Joshua Sellers

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- Lance Cpl. Joshua Sellers, ammunition specialist technician, does not wish to pursue a career in tattooing, but instead hopes to venture into the business side of things and provide an outlet for other artists with a talent for freehand drawings.

Lee Summit, Missouri
22
Ammunition specialist technician, CMA

>The only time I draw now is when someone wants a tattoo or they want me to put something together.

>I started drawing when I was little. I guess my first drawing that actually looked good was when I was four or five and my grandma has it. It was a green monster that was in a coloring book that I had.

>My mom said that instead of coloring I ended up drawing the picture instead.

>The more I realized that drawing was my thing, the more my mom supported me. I just kept drawing and I started getting better and better.

>I started going into contests in elementary school. I got one of them published and hung up in the library.

>I think the first time I drew a tattoo was when I was 15. My dad wanted a tattoo and he said he wanted a skull with flames coming off, but he wanted the flames to be the American flag. When I drew it he really liked it and he wanted to get it, but he said ‘I want you to put you initials in the tattoo.’ So I put my initials in there as the back molars of the teeth. That was my first tattoo I ever drew.

>I’ll ask them first what the tattoo means. If they say nothing, I really don’t put all my effort into it because to me a tattoo has to mean something. I like to ask them what the meaning behind a tattoo is. It gives me more of an idea of what to put together and how to draw it. And I ask where they want it so I can figure out how to draw it and how to go about it.

>My mom started saying ‘you need to have people pay you to draw for them.’

>I never did charge. You having a picture that I drew on your body already means a lot to me. I don’t like having people pay me for something that I like to do.

>My satisfaction is seeing it being on someone’s skin and knowing that I drew that picture.

>My first tattoo that I ever got, I drew it.

>I don’t draw as often. Unless someone asks me if I can draw them a tattoo, I put everything aside.

>It makes me feel good. Every time I draw a tattoo it always means something to somebody so I put a lot of heart into it. It’s calming.

>I’ve always done some activity. I did football in high school, I did basketball up until high school.

>Being a Marine you have that image in your head of a Marine just big and fit, someone who can pretty much do whatever you put in front of them.

>I joined the Marine Corps and now I’m pretty much being paid to go to the gym.

>It makes me feel better inside and out. Just like a tattoo I like seeing progress being made.

>I wanted to show everybody that if you work really hard, it’ll show. If you push yourself.