MAT RULE

Some artists specialize in doing cartoon tattoos. Others have made black-and-grey realism their forte. Mat Rule is the rare artist who has mastered both. After falling in love with traditional and black-and-grey tattooing, he decided to combine the opposing genres to create an exceptionally unique signature style. His work literally pops off the skin and reminds us of movies like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Cool World" which brought cartoons into the real world. We sat down with Rule to learn how he came up with such a show-stopping style, which characters he loves tattooing most and much more.

Take us through how you were introduced to art?

My uncle was a painter and I was always watching him paint. It was really inspiring to me and I grew up with this idea of becoming an artist. I didn't study art or become a painter, but it was always in the back of my mind.

How did you get into tattooing?

At one point, I was living in Shanghai right next to a tattoo shop. I already had a few tattoos of my own and [the shop] looked like a really cool atmosphere. They seemed really happy. I was studying and working in a nightclub. I didn't really like what I was doing at the time, so the idea of trying to tattoo started there.

How did you learn to tattoo?

I didn't get an apprenticeship, I learned by myself. When I got back home to Paris, one of my friends was starting to tattoo and I watched him a bit for the basics. Then I started on fake skin and tattooing myself. After that I moved on to tattooing my friends and other people.

What was the first style you fell in love with?