“When I was a kid I saw a guy in McDonalds that was covered in tattoos and I thought it looked tough” Chad Koeplinger.
This film (exclusively for Zeitgeist magazine, with Papercut Pictures) moves on from the convention, as each of the artists delves deeper into their personal motivations for becoming a tattoo artist, their distinctive style of tattooing, their heroes, inspiration and who they like to get tattooed by.
This film features Chad Koeplinger of Paradise Tattoo, Washington DC; Michelle Myles of Daredevil Tattoo, New York City; Uncle Allan of Conspiracy Inc., Copenhagen and Claudia De Sabe of Jolie Rouge, London.
Chad always wanted to travel and tattooing definitely seemed like a more viable way to do this than the merchant marines. His style is strongly rooted in Western traditional, but his experimentation in a variety of styles has allowed him to thrive as an artist.
From her underground origins in New York City, Michelle began her career when tattooing was illegal. She talks about her journey and the changes in her style and technique since its legalisation in 1997.
Uncle Allan’s love for tattooing derived from his passion for music and this is illustrated in his distinctive artistic style. His theme for the convention was ‘metal and satanic stuff’, see the first film in the series for his burning bible tattoo.
Claudia was encouraged to get into tattooing by her friends who hung out in tattoos shops, they could see her raw talent as an artist. She has two very distinctive styles of tattooing and in this film she talks about her love of both styles and how she can’t let either of them go.
Behind the Needle 1 from Papercut Pictures on Vimeo.
Watch the London Tattoo Convention film.