Tattoo Life Magazine 138

Description

In this issue meet Larissa Ruiz, fashion designer from San Paolo, Brazil, with a passion for Traditional tattoos. We go to Bristol to meet the very well known Matthew James. His is a Black and Grey which combines Realism with experiments in texture and a use of swathes of light and innovative compositions.

We talk with him, leafing through his drawings, paintings and photographs which also serve as reference and a starting point for his tattoos. In San Jose, California, we visit State of Grace Tattoo, a hub of mainly, but not only, Japanese tattoo, opened by Ryudaibori which will celebrate its 20th anniversary in September. He presents the rest of the team: Horitomo, Alan Pham, Colin Baker, Horifuji, Matt Shamah, Sef Samauta, and Tyler Harrington.

Viviana Calvo is a tattooist who lives and works in Malaga (her shop is called Soho Tattoo Malaga, located in what was once a rundown area of town which has been given a new lease on life). She creates her Neo Traditional tattoos with influences connected with the real world as well as dream.

In New York the tattoo artist from Argentina Pablo Frias is waiting for us at Ink Nation Tattoo to talk about his colourful cartoon and comics style. Traditional which is so bold on the skin and lasts unaltered over time is his imprinting, with vivid colours and plenty of outline.

These are the hallmarks of Francesco Ferrara, tattooist at Grim Reaper Tattoo of Luca Mamone in Rome who we met up with for Tattoo Life, covering everything from the classics of Traditional to the influences of tattoo artists encountered in his exploratory travels around the tattoo shops of Europe.