Horror Archives - Page 2 of 2

September 29, 2015September 29, 2015

The Art of Kaethe Butcher

Kaethe Butcher is 25-year-old illustrator based in Berlin, she creates beautifully simple line drawings that explore themes of sexuality, relationships and the body. Kaethe has created an illustration titled ‘Washing out the Realisation’, especially for Things&Ink inspired by the newly released Horror Issue. We chatted to Kaethe to find out more about her style and what inspires her…

Do you have a background in art?
If you ask whether anyone in my family is an artist then no. Once my mother told me that when she was young, she wanted to do an apprenticeship as a porcelain painter and I guess she was talented, although she wanted more practise. But in the DDR (German Democratic Republic, a former state) it was difficult for her and she gave up painting. I studied. I studied fashion design at university but we didn’t draw much on the course, in the first term we had a nude class. I guess that it trained my eyes to see more aesthetic things.

Photograph of Kaethe by Robin Kater

How would you describe your style?
Erotic artwork that is melancholic and mournful.

What inspires you?
Mostly through my own heavy heart and mournful thoughts. Melodies and song lyrics inspire me. I also pick out quotes from books when I am reading, or perhaps a movie scene or little details will inspire me. Like Moonrise Kingdom or Tomm Moore’s superb and lovely animation movies – just the colours or scene compositions. Also thoughts from people around me are very important!

What medium do you use?
Pencils from 2H to 8B, fineliners and eddings and copic markers, I want to use crayons again soon.

Which has been your favourite piece that you have created?
AURYN is my favourite piece currently. And ‘We Don’t Talk About That’ is my most important one for myself.

We Don’t Talk About That

Are there any artists you admire? Do they influence your art?
Yes! Takato Yamamoto, Vania Zouravliov, I enjoyed the Vania artbook that I got from a friend so so much!. I also love Egon Schiele.

Where can people buy your art?
Original artwork can be found on my Bigcartel shop. Prints and other stuff like mobile phone cases, t-shirts or totes you’ll find on Society6 and on Juniqe.

Can you tell us about your tattoos?
I have two! On my left shoulder I have the white rabbit illustration by John Tenniel from Alice in Wonderland, and on my right thigh I have one of my own sketches. It is of a girl and a little rabbit from behind . All of them are just black line work. I have wanted a third tattoo so bad for a really long time – a sleeping lion illustration from a Grimm fable book.
I mostly like tattoos which emphasize the character of a person or have a little story or thought behind – nothing spectacular but something. I don’t like those old-fashioned, pin-up, rockabilly style tattoos very much or those IT tattoos – even if they’re looking super good. They just bored me.

AURYN

August 18, 2015August 18, 2015

Interview with Tattoo Artist: Caroline Vitelli

Tattoo artist Caroline Vitelli works out of Brut, a private studio in Geneva and creates beautifully dark and illustrative tattoos. We chatted to her about the ancient art of skin sewing and what inspires her…

How long have you been tattooing? I don’t really know, maybe two years, maybe longer. Years ago, I was introduced, by an Inuit, to a ancestral technique of sewing tattoos or skin-stitched tattooing (Watch Colin Dale on Needles and Sins). Skin-sewing tattoos are a type of ‘healing tattoo’ – the tattooer introduces into the skin, by means of a needle, with a thread, which has been greased beforehand and soaked with soot. The thread, pulled by the needle according to the outlines of the drawing, abandons the colouring agent between the flesh and the skin.

After this I began to stitch my own drawings onto skin. I did my left hand this way. But it took a long time of reflection and self questioning. After a few years I started doing tattoos with a machine.

What attracted you to the world of tattoos? The thing is that I am a non-stop doodler, I needed to find a way to use all those drawings.

What inspires you? I am inspired by feral nature, literature, poetry, animals, poisonous plants, people, the light that we can find in the dark. My imagination – like my head – is filled with a thousand little tiny creatures working, running, screaming, all the time, it’s exhausting. But I think that everything that has been done, and my head is full of images or quotes or reference, of course sometimes one can be deeply influenced and doesn’t realise it.

Do you admire any artists, do they influence your work? I admire some creative creatures such as my friend Old Hag (Darby Lagher), her photography is so mesmerising and heartening for me, she captures auras of dreamlike occult and naturalistic worlds. Also, I am always speechless when I listen to Chelsea Wolfe, I’ve been listening to her new album Abyss non stop since last week, and it gives me shivers, every time. Like Rowland S. Howard, SHIVERS.

And, of course, they may influence me, like everything, I am a super sensitive, but I already have a lot to deal with in my head, things that I have to put together on the paper.

Can you tell us about the tattoos on your own body? My first tattoo was an Icelandic magical stave on my right arm, I got it when I was a young teenager. And I still love it.

I have my shoulders and neck done by Happypets in Lausanne, it’s two black swans and an ornamental thistle. I have a drawing by Max Ernst on my back, if you look closely you can see that the skirt of the woman is hiding an older tattoo, I got it done when I was 16.

My hands are constructed like an altar. Both with sewing-technique and machines.
I also adore my big black rose from Alexander Grim, he and his wife Lamia Vox are so interesting and talented. I have a piece on my stomach drawn by Tracey Emin, a snake in my hand tattooed by Paolo Bosson, cats on my legs by Gem Love, trash poked tattoos done by Ingimar. And my latest one is a piece done by Johnny Gloom, I truly adore it.

I have lots more, and I can’t possibly name them all.

What kinds of things do you like to tattoo? I like to tattoo dark things, black stuff, thorns and rusty nails, monsters, animals, flowers, amulets, medieval faces, plants. I like to tattoo my universe. The things that I collect around me.

August 9, 2015September 14, 2015

Fangs&Ink: Maidstone John

Maidstone John is a 24-year-old freelance illustrator from Canterbury who creates black pen and ink drawings depicting nightmarish ghouls, he has created a fanged female monster, especially for Things&Ink. We chatted to him about what inspires him, his hopes to become a tattoo artist and the tattoos on his body…

Processed with VSCOcam with b5 preset Processed with VSCOcam with b5 preset — The Fang Girl John created for Things&Ink

Do you have a background in art? Yes, when I left school I studied fine art and design at Canterbury college, specialising in illustration and print making.

When did you start drawing? I’ve always drawn from a young age, it all started after school one summer when I broke my leg skateboarding. I was stuck indoors for a good three months with nothing to do, watching my friends going skating and getting frustrated. My good friend Craig Questions would come and visit all the time and I just remember him telling me that I had to focus my mind to something positive or I’d eat myself up. Craig would always visit with these incredible fanzines that he’d been working on, which fuelled and inspired me to draw my own. When the summer came to an end, I was sat in front of a body of work that later on secured my place on the art and design course and the drawing never stopped from there…

How would you describe your style? Black work inspired by old woodcut etchings. I think my work is a real diverse variety from elements of dark satanic reference to bold traditional 1920s tattoo flash.

What inspires you? I would say I’m particularly inspired by old horror films specifically hammer horrors, the devil rides out being my all time favourite. 80s skateboarding, natural history and third world culture. Those who are close to me know I’m an avid collector of antiques, oddities and ephemera, I love 80s toys. Madballs, Boglins, Ghostbusters and any monsters.

How do you choose your subject matter? I normally find a fragment of a idea from a film or a good book and then run with it until I am happy. I’ve recently had quite a few people email me with some really cool ideas for commissions, mostly album covers for bands, clothing and skateboard graphics which is awesome. I am always happy to run with any idea, it doesn’t always have to be a dark and gnarly design.

Are there any artists you admire? Do they influence your work? Most certainly, there is a never ending list of people who I look up to, many of which I am lucky enough to call my friends. Without them, I’m not sure if I would even be doing the things I love right now like drawing and skateboarding. French (Richard Sayer), Craig Questions and Dan Singer gave me the original inspiration and the kick start I needed with their insanely detailed illustrations.

I look up to many different tattoo artists (past and present) from Daniel Higgs and Stoney St Clair to the amazing blackwork by DuncanX and Philip Yarnell. All of these guys have their own quirks and calling cards that to me makes them unique not just as artists, but as individuals. I spend every Thursday at Classic Ink in Herne Bay, owned by my pal John Slack, drawing along side Scott Banks and John has really helped me creatively and they are always filling me with advice and confidence, which I am so grateful for. Some day I hope to learn to tattoo and me and John are doing a little trade soon, which I am really excited about.

What medium do you use? I normally prefer to work with pen and ink, uni pin fine liners are real good, but I’m trying to push myself with my painting.

How long does it take to create a piece? It all depends on the size and intricacy of the piece, but I am getting much quicker these days, I’ll spend around six hours on an A3 sheet at the longest.

Do you have any tattoos? Can you tell us about them. Of course, I’m nearly complete from the waste down and I have some cover up work on my arms but, as of now, I’m in the process of filling my front. I have been tattooed by some really incredible artists and I still have a long list of artists who I long to get some work off. I can appreciate all genres of tattooing but I am particularly fond of traditional black work.

John’s bat by tattooist Philip Yarnell

I have a lot of rad and exciting things coming my way towards the end of this year, if you’re interested in being a part of my journey, find me on Instagram @maidstonejohn…