InkSpired Magazine Issue No. 44 | Page 56

What did your family and friends think about you getting into the business ? At the beginning , they were not thrilled , but after some time , they have relaxed .
Tell us about your shop . I have two studios . One in the centre of Hamburg for four years now and one shop on the outskirts of Hamburg for over 20 years . I work with 10 very good artists . For me , it is also very important to have guest artists so we have fresh inspiration .
Describe how you go about creating a tattoo from concept to finished design , and also describe how you try to put your own unique touch on your tattoos . I usually start my tattoos with freestyle . Sometimes I use stencil , but I love doing tattoos in freestyle because I get more dynamic lines and I love it when designs flow with body parts . Because I don ’ t use Photoshop and draw each template , each customer gets a more unique tattoo .
What was the first tattoo you ever did ? Can you tell us about it ? My first tattoo was a black 90 degree angle with a red dot on the right side . It represented the hammer , which is used to determine the death of the Pope .
How would you describe your style ? And which tattoo style do you like best ? My style is based mainly on the aesthetic of sketching . I love the dynamicness and expressiveness of the lines . A finished tattoo is like a composition between line and color for me . It must be well balanced .
Do you see tattooing as a job or a way to express your creative side ? Tattooing is not a job for me . It is my passion .
I earn my money with tattooing , but I can also express myself . For me , cooperation with the customer and their ideas is very important . I want the customer to have a unique tattoo from me , but I also want to express myself in the tattoo and create with my own interpretation . Every tattoo is produced at my drafting table .
Describe how your role models and any other sources of inspiration have affected your tattoo style ? I started amongst my role models : Philipp Leu , Claus Fuhrmann , Bernie Luther , and Waldi . But later , I got my inspiration rather from comics and books . And the old artists like Dali , Mati Klarwein , or Picasso .
Do you have a funny tattoo story ? One day , a woman came into the store with her boyfriend . During the session , she felt sick and she went with her boyfriend to
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