Dillon Forte (born February 1987 in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

) is an American

tattoo artist A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

and entrepreneur, based in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

and Venice, Los Angeles. Known for his use of

sacred geometry Sacred geometry ascribes symbolic and Sacred, sacred meanings to certain geometry, geometric shapes and certain geometric Proportion (architecture), proportions. It is associated with the belief that a god or goddess is the creator of the univer ...

-inspired patterns, Forte has been featured in Paramount Network's ''The Art of Ink'' (2018) and the Amazon Studios comedy ''

Jean-Claude Van Johnson ''Jean-Claude Van Johnson'' is an American action comedy-drama streaming television series starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and produced by Ridley Scott with his production studio Scott Free Productions and Amazon Studios. It premiered on August 1 ...

'' (2017).

Biography

Forte was born in

. His mother is a romance novelist, and his father worked as a fashion photographer. He grew up in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

and

, and got his first tattoo at 16. After spending two years seeking an apprenticeship, at 19, Forte began working for tattoo artist Mark Freitas in Berkley, Forte saw a career in tattoo as a natural progression from his childhood interests of drawing, painting and skateboarding. Inspired by reading

Drunvalo Melchizedek Drunvalo Melchizedek (born: Bernard Perona, also formerly known as AKBAR and Hummingbird) is an esoteric researcher. He has authored four books and founded several schools of New Age teaching, such as the School of Remembering. He was formerly ass ...

's ''The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life'' (1999), Forte became interested in incorporating geometric patterns found in nature, as well as the geometric shapes found in traditional

. After six years, Forte opened his first tattoo studio in Oakland in 2012, and opened his second on

Abbot Kinney Boulevard Abbot Kinney Boulevard is a mile-long road lined with shops, restaurants, and galleries located in the southern part of Venice, Los Angeles, California. It stretches from Washington Boulevard to Main Street and is home to one-of-a–kind local g ...

in Venice, Los Angeles in 2019. Forte developed a tetrahedral kite tattoo for artist Kat Von D, and tattooed actor Chris Hemsworth in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, based on a design Hemsworth's daughter made while he was filming '' Men in Black: International'' in 2018. Forte additionally worked on tattoos with singer Kehlani and linebacker

DeAndre Levy DeAndre Levy (born March 26, 1987) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Wisconsin, and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Early years Levy was born in Milwaukee, Wiscons ...

, and in 2018 was featured in an episode of Paramount Network's ''The Art of Ink'', focusing on geometric designs. In 2019, Forte worked with singer

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** Fiel ...

on an elaborate head tattoo, and on a hand tattoo for

Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their sing ...

' bassist

Ben McKee Benjamin Arthur McKee (born April 7, 1985) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is the bassist for the pop rock band Imagine Dragons. Early life McKee was raised in Forestville, California, and graduated from El Molino Hi ...

. In 2020, Forte launched a range of naturally derived eco-friendly tattoo products.

Style

Forte's designs are inspired by

and underlying mathematical principles found in nature, and additionally by ancient cosmology, tribal and spiritual art. Forte uses blackwork and dot work tattooing techniques.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forte, Dillon 1987 births Living people American businesspeople American tattoo artists People from Berkeley, California People from Oakland, California People from Santa Monica, California