Paul Dobleman is to traditional tattooing what
Harley-Davidson is to motorbikes; his style is
solid, smooth and the pinnacle of American
bold. Heavily influenced by the West Coast
tattooers before him, his stripped back designs
pack a real punch. He has an eye for
perfection, which is evident in each beautifully
executed tattoo and also in his painted flash.
Having joined Spider Murphy’s almost eleven
years ago, he now proudly represents the shop
at conventions all over the world.
Tell us a little about your background...
I’m based in Santa Fe, California, and I’ve been tattooing thirteen
and a half years. I was born in San Francisco and grew up about
fifteen minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge. My parents are
Latino, from El Salvador, and they have a Spanish background too.
My father would play guitar while my mom danced flamenco! My
mom threw fortune cards – they weren't tarot, they were cards she’d
learned from a lady that she helped out. My father painted cars and
motorcycles and did airbrushing, and when I was growing up I
helped him while I was still in high school. I learned how to paint, fix
bike parts and do bodywork. This was all in the nineties when there
was a lot of money around from the dot-com bubble. People were
painting their Ducatis or fixing up Moto Guzzis and my Dad was
doing custom art on Harleys too.
TATTOOIST INTERVIEWInterview by Perry & Lizzy • Pictures courtesy of Paul Dobleman