Ivana Belakova

Ivana Belakova.

Your style combines script and black outlines with watercolor-esque colors. How would you describe your style? How did you come to find this style?

I call my style funky color. It’s probably the closest description of what I do. I mix all different styles and techniques together, so it’s very hard to categorize it or to describe it as one particular style. It’s an organized mess. Yet; my style of tattooing is not definite and is constantly changing. With my tattoos I portray my feelings, it is a reflection of that certain period of time in my life. I am learning and experimenting constantly with different aspects of my creativity. I don’t stick to any rules, I create freely what is appealing to me and what has an aesthetic quality to me.

Last time we spoke you mentioned that you used to work mostly in black and grey. What is it about big, bold colors that appeal to you? Do you ever go back to black and grey?

I feel like I can play more and my world is very colorful too, so it’s easy for me to interpret/apply [colors] into my work. I love to mix different colors together, to create feeling with different tones. I don’t mind to do some black tattoos only; it’s just that my clients are hiring me particularly for my color work.

Do you find that your style is always changing? Where do you see it going in the next 10 years?