36 • SKIN DEEP MAGAZINE
from the internet and old books and magazines, then cut
them out so I have hundreds of pieces. Then I’ll sit down
and grab a few, play around with placement, swapping
pieces out, contemplating different overlaps and sizing.
When I’ve found a layout I like, I’ll glue all the pieces
down. Then I’ll go through an old book and find a
phrase or a couple of words I like, photograph,
print to size and stick that down.
The next stage is to photocopy the whole
image so it’s flat. And then I get my pencils.
I use 5 different shades from black to very
light grey and a white posca pen. I darken
the shadows and blend across images
and smooth out shades with greys and
possibly block out white areas de-
pending on how I feel. Then I’ll take a
couple of pens and alter line weights.
When it’s all done I’ll photocopy again
and see if it needs more work.
I’ve always struggled coming up with
concepts for myself, but for other people I
can throw ideas out all day long. The collagesare like a visual representation of what’s going on in my
head—a thousand things at once with no apparent direc-
tion. Instead of fighting it, I embrace it.
Do you want to do more of the pieces in the future?
Well, as I get to be as insanely creative as I want and in
each tattoo I can do up to 5 different styles, I feel I’ll
never get bored of them. They are a constant
challenge to make and I love the result.
So, you go by the name ‘Analogue
Disaster’ (Instagram @
analoguedisaster) and you’ve just
talked about your new process,
having missed the smell of inks...
do you think tattooing—like every
other industry in the world—is
moving so fast, that it’s good
that we re-embrace some of our
analogue ways?
Now I’ve started doing my collage pieces,
I see that maybe it was a subconscious re-
flection of how I felt about my work. And may-
be my life too. Our entire lives are spent viewingAnyone who learns only one style is severely limiting their
abilities - the more knowledge the better.