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GENERAL

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Q: Do you have a tattoo?

A: Yeah, on my left forearm and my right calf :) I designed it myself from scratch so it is unique.

 

Q: What inspires your tattoo designs?

A: I look at multiple sources once I get the initial brief, I take inspiration from mythology, symbolism, dream meanings, sacred geometry, different art and tattoo styles mostly. 

 

Q: What´s the difference between tattoo designer and tattooist/tattoo artist?

A: Tattoo designer: Creates a custom design stencil or visualization of how the tattoo could look once completed.

Tattooist/tattoo artist: Finalizes the design and does the actual tattoo on the skin. 

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Q: Why consult a tattoo designer?

A: Multiple reasons, but mostly to save time in the consultation  process at the tattooist studio so he can get to work faster.

It´s quite common that a client has difficulty describing in words how he wants the design to look and there can be many revisions and meetings. 

Coming in with a pre-visualization on what the tattoo could look like makes the job easier for the tattooist, who also can get in more clients if collabing with a designer.

He only has to adjust the design to fit the individual body and perhaps alter some smaller elements to make it tattooable if he has a skilled designer.

   Ofcourse, some tattoist prefer doing all the designs from start to finish but there

does exist  sucessfull collabs between a designer and tattooer in some studios.

Some tattoo artists are also better at tattooing than drawing and prefer to do just that.

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MOTIF, SCRIPT AND PATTERN CONCERNS

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Q: Foreign language tattoo script/phrases tips?

A: Go for legibility before flourish.

Spellcheck multiple times.

Always check with multiple native speakers or language professors, translators.

Consider getting a tattoo in your native language(s) as you can read it fluently and understand its meaning.

Learn the target language if you´re really serious.   

Don´t do a tattoo like this on impulse or take down from tattoist flash wall, get it custommade.

Consider alternative cipher script or fictional language, this way you are sure of the meaning and script.

Research it well, really make sure it is correct, you don´t want to have "eggroll" when you meant "warrior" or worse.

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On drawing other cultures motifs and religious motifs:

A: First off, every person even of that faith or culture who thinks it´s ok, there´s

someone who gets offended that you do wear specific motifs in specific styles or use certain symbols which meaning and significance

 varies from person to person of that culture or faith. Everything is offensive in short. Doesn´t matter if I were taught by Da Vinci himself, there will always exist someone who is offended by my work or that you the client decide to wear such work as above on your skin.

 

What you can ask yourself is that are you prepared for the questions that may come if you choose to tattoo such motifs on yourself.

This doesn´t mean someone of non-heritage can´t use the design or be limited to their own heritage to tattoo cultural specific imagery,

but the artist, tattooist, designer or client is recommended to do research on the desired design of that culture if they desire to tattoo in a style that is not not of their heritage if possible to understand its historical context and meaning rather than just pure aestethics.

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On artistic freedom of expression vs identity politics ie policing of culture...(because it needs to be said).

A:  Who consents for a culture? Who has the right to speak for an entire culture? Must every culture elect a representative to speak on their behalf? What if the people don’t agree? Identity politics of "my culture, style, art, music, movies, religion etc not yours" are impossible to comprehend is my conclusion after very extensive research into this.

Truthfully, NO ONE has the exclusive right to a specific idea, icon, ritual, aesthetic standard or behavior in any culture. 

By trying on the cultures of others we come to better understand them. It is by becoming immersed in other cultures that we learn to appreciate them and they learn to appreciate ours in return.

Human culture as a whole has conquered, assimilated, remixed, borrowed, and improved upon ideas between thousands of different groups of people for tens of thousands of years, even amongst indigenous peoples. 

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I retain that culture and the sharing of it is a universal human right. A distinction has to be made between cultural misappropiation and appreciation. Even so, there is freedom of speech ie artistic expression and in turn freedom to be offended.

I heavily dislike the idea of gatekeepers and closing off of cultures and artistic expression. It implies that to do x thing, you must be of y ethnicity and that reeks of racism as well as notions of cultural and racial "purity" (of which NONE exist, sorry but there doesn´t!).

Because an advocate of such is actively saying that because you are of this ancestry or skincolor you can´t do this thing or use that symbol.

Stuff like that divides humanity from its shared ancestry instead of unity. Minority cultures need protection but restricting art and culture is not the solution in my opinon as stated above.

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So, would I draw a design in another cultures style or a religious motif?

Yes, I would. I would do my research and credit the original source culture, but in the end,

the responsability lies on you, the client.

Because you´re going to wear such a design for life, it is up to you to really do your homework. It is not my place to judge your choice of design. Nobody has a right to say you cannot wear a design even if they find it offensive and this is important for you to know.

If a design resonated with you and has personal significance to you that is enough. You don´t even need to explain why you choose that design if you don´t want to. 

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DESIGN PROCESS

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Q: How do you "think" when designing tattoos?

A: Well, composition plays a huge part and placement on the body. The design must follow

the body´s flow so to speak. Tattoo designs often consists of multiple designs that have

to work together as a unified whole.

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Q: Does the tattoo design get altered in the studio?

A: Most definetly yes. Tattooing  and drawing isn´t the same thing. A design is on a flat 2D paper, while a tattoo is on a 3D body with bumps and dips. The finished tattoo has to work in all angles and positions on a moving body, this special knowledge is the tattooist expertise.

Likewise, skin and paper work totally different.  

The purpose of the pre-made tattoo design is to give the tattooist a clear idea of what the finished tattoo could look like or a stencil for him to trace and alter to make it tattoable. 

 A design will never look the same on paper as it does on the skin because of the vastly different materials used and the limitations of the medium that is a tattooing machine and inks, skill of the tattooist, skin quality etc.

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Q: If you don´t tattoo, why did you learn the tattooing theory and practice?

A: I did this because it is extremely beneficial to know the theory and how the tattoo machine specifically types of needles works due to the limitations it places on the tattoo design. Knowing for example, which colors can be used or what kind of needle is used for what is very beneficial in the design stage and to determine if a idea is tattooable or not. 

By also learning the tattooist knowledge of the body curvature, this further strengthens my designs as I can design with the flow of the body in mind or for a specific body part and knowing exactly if a body part will hurt more to tattoo than another, or if a body part is more suitable than another, how to do cover-up, how tattoo will fade etc.

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So, even if I never touch tattoo machine i e become a tattooer, I know the whole design process in both theory and actual practice, what colors can be used, what needles are used, order of filling in color etc. All extremely helpful for the client.

This is knowledge a tattooist has which he uses to design for and tattoo on the skin.

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However all this is purely with tattoo design in mind, so deeper tattooist knowledge in regards to machine knowledge, like machine tuning, different types of machines, needle installation, griptypes, hygiene practices etc is not something I know as a tattoo designer.

I just design for tattoo, but leave the tattooing on skin stage to the pros ;)

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Q: How do you go about designing?

A: After I get a vision or idea of what is wanted, I first gather references and typically a picture of the body part intended to be tattooed, if not, I use my modelsheets from a book I have so I can design to an average sized body part.

 

 I head to my A3 lighttable and begin by marking out the flow of the body before begining brainstorming compositons and basic shapes. I may use photoshop after to finalize the mock-up, photoshoping the design onto the body part, make a stencil outline and a "what-if" image of how the final tattoo could appear like.

I can´t really go into more detail than that on this short FAQ.