Dave Tedder
Large-Scale Japanese Tattooing · Since 2000
The Craft
Dave Tedder has been tattooing since 2000. The work he is known for is large-scale Japanese tattooing: sleeves, backpieces, leg sleeves and full bodysuits, each designed as one composition for the whole body rather than a collection of separate pieces.
His work has earned more than a hundred awards at tattoo conventions across the country, and between 2004 and 2014 it ran regularly in TattooNOW, Prick, Tattoo Review and Tattoo Savage. The recognition came from consistent execution, not self-promotion. The work did the talking.
The Japanese Work
Dave draws his subjects from the Edo-period woodblock print tradition, Kuniyoshi, Yoshitoshi and Kunisada above all: dragons, tigers, koi, Hannya, warriors and deities. None of it is decorative. The subjects carry meaning, and the rules that come with them (the background, the wind and water, the way a design follows the muscle) are what hold a full sleeve or a bodysuit together. He treats that tradition with the respect it asks for.
A large project is planned in full before the first session. Clients know the total session count and the cost before they book, and the piece is built outline, then background, then foreground, with a clear goal for every sitting. American Traditional, the style he came up in, is still in his book by request.
The Shop
Dave came into The Custom Tattoo Company through Jeff Cohen. Jeff’s daughter Lauren and Dave built a life together, and the shop became the center of it. Dave started working in Havelock in 2013 and moved there full-time in 2018. When Jeff passed that year, Dave and Lauren took the shop forward. Not as a reinvention, but as a continuation. The standards Jeff set are still the baseline.
Today Dave co-owns The Custom Tattoo Company with Lauren in Havelock, North Carolina, and runs a monthly residency at Electro Magnetic Tattoo in Chesapeake, Virginia. He takes on large-scale Japanese projects and convention appearances.
Recognition
- 100+ Awards: tattoo conventions across the country
- Magazine Features: TattooNOW, Prick, Tattoo Review and Tattoo Savage, 2004 to 2014
- Since 2000: professional tattooing, now at The Custom Tattoo Company
- Specialty: large-scale Japanese tattooing
Portfolio & Booking
For Dave’s full portfolio, booking information, and availability, visit his personal site.