I did a little trip back in time here and found that you were first featured in Skin Deep back in issue 160 (which was May 2008). Since then, we have published almost 150 other issues and 11 and a half years have passed us all by. That’s a long time in the world of tattooing—and for a tattoo artist such as yourself, a lot of things can happen. You were great back then and had already been tattooing for a decade, but in 2008, there weren’t many artists working with realism in a way that actually looked all that real. Has it been hard to stay at the front of the pack now the world has become flooded with realism artists? Do you even think about it like that?
It's right what you say. When I started to deal with realistic tattooing it was the beginning of 2000 and no other tattooist in Italy was this kind, very few in the world we're working in this style and besides, the equipment, machines, aftercare, and colors were not of high quality.
For me it was not difficult to always be at the top, my desire to always be a 'number one’ distinguishes me. I also say that luck has always been on my side! Since 2008, so many important events have happened for me: a television advertising spot with Gigi Buffon for Mastercard, meeting with fabulous people like Tramp (owner of Eternal) and Damian McGrath, the editor of tattoos.com and organizer of the Nix Show in Toronto. I’ve done seminars around the world: Australia, America, India, and Europe with the greatest artists who have inevitably become my friends and I am often guest to Paul (Booth) at Last Rites.
All of these things have given me the energy to stay at very high levels but then I also have a competitive nature and I always want to perform perfect works on the skin.
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Ask Here Part Two
With the release of Tattooing Ask Hereâa collection of original and traditional flash, interview, stories and photographs detailing the tattoo history of Felix Leuâwe took the spectacularly well-timed opportunity to speak to Loretta Leu about the book and her life with Felix. The following concludes our time well spentâŠ
The SERPENTS of BIENVILLE
SEAN HERMANâS TRANSFORMATIVE TATTOO
SAVED BY INK
Carlos âLozâ Oliveros has never had any shortage of passion or drive. Inspired by his father, a pro fighter and DIY tattooer, Oliveros started boxing when he was just six years old, then picked up tattooing at 16. All the while surrounded by the realities of Miamiâs Mexican gang culture. Saved by tattooing, Oliveros chose to follow a different path than most of his peers. A path heâs now sharing on a VH1 docu-series called Cartel Crew
THE PRODUCER
Itâs no surprise at all to run into a guy like Russ Russell. Pretty much every tattoo artist I talk with cites music as a massive influence on their work and lives in general. But while, for most of them, music is a passionâan inspiration, even, for their day job at the tattoo shopâfor Russ itâs almost the other way around. Music is his day job, Russ having worked as both a producer and musician for many years, with tattooing coming later on down the line
Why Is That First Tattoo Encounter So Terrifying?
There is something about getting that very first tattoo that will always make you feel a little bit sick when you walk through the door
The Serpents Of Bienville - Sean Herman's Transformative Tattoo
âThere is probably nothing more menacing or dangerous than an individual who is devoid of compassion or empathy. When this individual is permitted by community apathy and bias to successfully cloak himself in the attire of one who claims allegiance to his or her Creator, it becomes the moral imperative of those who lay witness to the peril to step up before it is too late. Until such a time when domestic violence and sexual assault are eradicated for good, the perpetrators of these deplorable acts will continue to cause unspeakable harm as Evilâs welcomed ambassadors and Tyrannyâs strongest ally.â
The Eternal River
Through impact-laden encounters between ornamental and figural imagery, tattooist Aron Dubois has developed a self-sourced visual language that openly explores symbology, spirituality and surrealism in an effort to âdrink from the eternal riverâ and return to what the Colorado-native defines as âthe sourceâ. Drawing much of his inspiration from esoteric literature, mythic archetypes and the natural world, Dubois has spent his decadelong relationship with the craft âdigging for the grail of tattooingâ. Here, Dubois demystifies his âoptimistic escape attemptâ from the addictive dangers of digital tools, and the answers he finds in nature when allowing the walls that stand between himself and the world to dissolve
Palm Reader
For centuries we have looked to our palms as a valuable source of information, a complex blueprint of oneâs identity, both physical and spiritual. The latter has seen the palm as a bodily map for instigating premonitions, with its many criss-crossing lines foretelling either a joyful life or a foredooming resolution
Japanese Whispers
He is one of the most gifted Japanese tattooers of his generation. From the region of Niigata in the North-East of Japan, he's spreading the beauty of Japanese tattoo culture. All tattoo lovers praise his complex and very detailed compositions which adorn the bodies of some very lucky collectors, but after 20 years, Tomo is ready to move onâŠ
Rule Breaker
Esther Garcia plays by her own rules â she always has and always will. Even with two decades of experience, the Chicago-based artist still finds ways to push herself and innovate. Whether itâs juxtaposing two unexpected styles (she fuses blackout work with botanical imagery inspired by Dutch Masters beautifully) or offering a unique tattoo curation service in which she doesnât actually tattoo, Garcia isnât afraid to take risks. What else is up her sleeve? We tracked her down to find out.
