62 • SKIN DEEP MAGAZINE
What makes a good body-suit?
It must have a visible impact when seen from a distance.
The use of enough black is essential, because without it,
a suit will look very weak. The sleeves and legs must sup-
port the main subject on the back piece and not steal or
fight for attention from it.
What did Japanese teach you about it?
I’ve learned that balance is everything. When one under-
stands balance, everything falls into place. If you study
and analyze what makes a good body-suit, you’ll realize
that the blank spaces or the white is as important as the
black lines and shading. If a design is too cluttered, leav-
ing no space for the tattoo to breathe, it’s not going to
be easy to look at. The mind will lose interest and move
on. But if there’s a good balance and the different ele-
ments tell a simple story, we’re going to continue looking
at the piece with interest and curiosity.
Your work is very simplified and it has not always
been the case, you tended to have less contrasted
works too. How did your approach evolved through
the years?In my first 14 or 15 years, I
was so eager to show all
the fancy details I could achieve in my de-
signs but in the last 4 years, I’ve toned it
down a lot and stopped being too flashy.
I cut down on my color palette, in fact
these days I try to use only black and
red. After seeing some work I’ve done
10 years ago, I didn’t really like the way
the colors aged. So I decided to go with
only black and red. I still do colors some-
times but I try to stay away from it as much
as I can. By taking out all the fancy details,
I’m actually preparing the tattoo for its ag-
ing process. 10 to 15 years later, it’s still
going to look solid if the design is simpli-
fied. Let’s face it, no matter how good your
technique is, tattoos will fade. We have
to be responsible to our clients and give
them something that will last a lifetime.
Not some elaborate nonsense that has to be
touched up every 2 years. That’s fake tattooing.
You said that the more you paint the lessWe have to be responsible to our
clients and give them something that
will last a lifetime...