InkSpired Magazine BEST OF ISSUE | Page 86

something individual daily. I use black as the main color for my tattoos, simply because I think that it is the only color that will look timeless on a timeless design. I also think that it looks better on our body more than any other color; I do use red sometimes but it is very rare. Describe how your role models and any other sources of inspiration have affected your tattoo style. I get inspiration from nature. I think that it is the most honest thing for us artists to get inspired from. Of course, I get super excited when I see tattoo designs or other art forms which stimulate me but I really get most of my inspiration on a more wide aspect of just observing or thinking about nature, as mathematical as it is, as spiritual and abstract as it can be. I always try to balance my designs as nature does with its creations; when a design is too geometric, it often creates a cold feeling. The goal is to find the right balance in it. When I take a project, I always have the feeling to create something that will look super cool from far away and when you come closer, has a lot of dimensions and will stimulate the viewer’s eyes in the strongest way. It doesn’t have to be too complicated, it can simply be made from one line that flows through the entire body, it is all a matter of personality and what the costumer is like - how he moves, how he talks, how he describes himself, and how he wants to be described. I really take the time to learn those things before making a design and tattoo it. I studied computer science and psychology in my past and I guess that the combination of those two fields are what really makes my designs interesting and stimulating. It is very interesting how cold lines and dots can have life and unique behavior. I am a very spiritual person, I traveled in India for a year and since then, I adopted a lot of Buddhistic ways of life. On the other hand, I was a computer guy that sees the world in a drastic and definite way. How would you describe the current status of tattoos by the general public in your country? It is pretty hard for me to talk about the tattoo culture in Germany as I was not raised here and I have only been exposed to it for around one and a half years. In that short time of being a tattooist, I haven’t really met many other tattooers and barely have contact with the tattoo world. I have started to become more open to it so I guess that if we talk in couple of years again, I could give you a better answer. I got elected to be the newcomer of 2013 in Germany last month, so I can really say that people here are very open-minded to see other designs of tattoos and appreciate them, which actually was a bit of a surprise for me as well. Suddenly, I got recognized as big talent and get e-mails from costumers from around the world. Yesterday, I had a customer that traveled from the north part of China to get tattooed. These moments make me feel so thankful for the trust that these customers give me and fill me with excitement and motivation to create better designs than befo re. It makes me want to challenge myself and push the envelope more. It also fills me with more and more love for tattooing. These things are 84 InkSpiredMagazine.com