Tod Bain is the owner of 1st Revelation Tattoo in Weatherford, Texas, and has spent more than 25 years behind the machine. His work leans toward Japanese, neo-traditional, and traditional tattooing, with a particular passion for large-scale pieces and full body suits designed to flow with the body and stand the test of time.
Tod’s journey into tattooing began during his eight years in the United States Marine Corps. After leaving the Marines, a series of opportunities in Southern California took him from working the front desk of a tattoo shop to tattooing professionally. In 2008, Tod and his family took a step of faith and moved to Texas, where another door soon opened for them to establish what would become 1st Revelation Tattoo.
Looking back, Tod sees those years differently today than he did while living them. He believes his ability as an artist is a gift from God. Developing that gift through years of hard work has been his responsibility, but the opportunities and doors that opened along the way were God’s provision. He didn’t always recognize God’s hand in the journey at the time. Today, he knows it was there all along.
That understanding has changed the way Tod views tattooing. When someone sits in his chair, they are trusting him with more than their skin. They’re giving him their time, their story, and often many hours of their life. Tod considers it his responsibility to honor that trust—to listen, encourage, share from his own experiences, and create an environment where people feel comfortable being themselves.
For Tod, that same responsibility extends to the artists coming up behind him. He believes the gifts, opportunities, and influence God entrusts to us are meant to be stewarded well and used in service to others. His hope is not simply to teach younger artists how to tattoo, but to strengthen them, lead with integrity and honor, and help them become the best versions of themselves.
After more than two decades in the industry, Tod still loves tattooing and continues to push himself creatively. But today, he understands the purpose behind the work differently. Tattooing has given him a way to create art that will live on another person for a lifetime, but it has also given him something even more valuable: the opportunity to serve the person wearing it.
The tattoo chair is one of the places God has given Tod to serve people. He wants to steward that opportunity well—whether that means creating a piece of art someone will carry for the rest of their life, encouraging the person sitting across from him, or investing in the next generation of artists.
Tattooing is the craft, but people are the purpose.
