culture// robert atkinson
Robert Atkinson
by Courtney Kittner
I’m going to admit that in the beginning, the thought of interviewing Robert Atkinson kind of intimidated me. I wasn’t sure if I was capable of conveying, in words, what a remarkable talent he is. After a couple of emails, I decided that instead of telling you about him, I would ask him what I wanted to know and let him put it into his own words.
What kind of art were you doing, besides airbrushing, in the beginning?
I’ve been drawing since as long as I can remember. As a kid I was always
perfectly entertained with paper and pencils or crayons. I spent most of my days
in school daydreaming and drawing instead of paying attention. I did a lot of
graffiti style artwork in high school, always pictures with words, girls’ names with
flowers, abstract shapes and colors.
Did you have tattoos?
I got my 1st tattoo soon after I turned 18. There was a tattoo shop up Sierra Hwy
close to where we lived, back in 1988, there were only a handful of shops within
100 miles. My dad had a paratrooper tattoo from his army days and one of his
closest friends, Butch, had a lot of tattoos. I always thought they were so kool.
My 1st tattoo was a shark on the shoulder blade, I went back for a rose on my
arm soon after.
Some tattoos are fun and some have meaning. Which of yours mean the most to
you?
The small tattoos I wear are the ones with the most meaning, ‘sweetheart’ in
Dutch, my kids names, small tokens from my friends. The big tattoos I have are
more about the way they look than the meaning. My friend Manny Lorenzana just
did PMA with the lightning bolt, a takeoff from Elvis’ TCB on me.
A few of your friends got together and bought you your first tattoo kit. Were you
tattooing before that or did they light the fire under your ass?
No, I didn’t start until that point. I had no idea what I was doing, probably a lot
like what’s going on around the world now! Ha ha, I always had very good hand/
eye coordination. My lines were always straight, I never really messed anyone up
too bad. Information about tattooing wasn’t available at all back then. The first
two years for me I worked alone mostly in my hometown and on the road
between here and Seattle, hitchhiking, airbrushing t-shirts at fairs, hanging at
Grateful Dead shows, having fun...
It seems like your work progressed very fast, from when you got your first
machine, to when you were in Denmark. Was it only 4 years?
After 2 years on my own, I got my first real job at Melrose Tattoo, I worked there
for 2 years with Stefanie Suhm. It was definitely a turning point for me. I learned
a lot about being a professional, dealing with people, how to make a stencil. She
really helped me a lot. She introduced me to Henning Jorgenson. I wrote him a
letter about always dreaming of going to Europe, 6 weeks later he walked in the
shop and asked me to come over.
Why Denmark? Why not another shop in L.A. or the U.S.?
Henning was and still is one of the best tattooers in Europe and the world. The
opportunity to go there, learn from him, experience another culture, nothing
could have been more appealing to me. I’m from Los Angeles, I really always
wanted to see something more and still do. It really changed my life, I realized
how much I didn’t know when I got there. It was very busy and I was scared I
wouldn’t be able to keep up. I probably did more tattooing in 4 months than I had
in the 4 years prior.
Most tattoo artists have a signature, a style they are known for. Did yours come
about due to request or personal preference?
It probably had more to do with personal preference. Looking back, I was always
fascinated with the work from Hardy, Filip Leu, Eddie Deutsche, Horiyoshi III.
All the large scale tattoos really stood out to me, the bodysuits, I always wanted to
do that style. Western oriental, it’s so kool! I love the timeless subjects and never
get tired of doing them. Dragons, snakes, skulls, flowers, koi fish, waves, wind
bars, they will always make great tattoos in my opinion. Tattoos that are clearly
read from 8 to 20 feet away, that’s what I like to do...
To fit the large scale tattoos properly, do you work freehand more so than with
stencil?
It really depends on the body part and the subject matter, and my energy level.
I mostly do a consult and find out what people want and how they think they want
it to go, bounce ideas back and forth, get a rough thumbnail sketch on paper, then
rough drawing on the body, then trace it off, set a date to do it and work out the
drawing mostly on paper. I stencil 2/3’s of the big work and freehand backgrounds
areas usually, every situation is different.
Doing back pieces and body suits takes great dedication from both the client and
you. Is it a bit frustrating when someone comes in for a large piece and doesn’t
stay on top of completing it?
It does take a lot of time, money and dedication to get large scale work done.
I have so many big tattoos started on so many people. Nowadays, I don’t really
want to start big projects unless people are really ready to get in once a month and
keep it moving forward. It’s really hard to start something and only work on it a
few times a year. Generally, it takes about 1 year to do a back piece if someone
comes and gets 2-3 hours every month. I’m doing a lot more smaller tattoos
these days, it’s nice to finish something in 2 to 4 sessions.
From what I’ve read about you, you seem pretty self-taught. Before you found
yourself in Denmark with Henning Jorgensen, did you have a mentor or
apprentice under anyone?
I never did an apprenticeship. Back in ’92 information was really hard to get. You
had to get tattooed if you wanted to see anything. You couldn’t just turn on the
internet or TV to see what was going on, a totally different world than now. It
was underground, it was dangerous! It wasn’t mainstream and that’s what I loved
about it. I knew who all the best tattooers in the world were and there weren’t
very many. A few handfuls....
Were you worried at all about how you would do in Scandinavia, or were you up
for anything?
I was tripping when I got there, I didn’t really know anything about doing flash
tattoos. Most of the work I did on Melrose was custom, I took my time. I thought
I was busy if I had 2 tattoos to make in a day, it was a real eye opener for me.
I remember making my needles everyday. I even made my own needle bars!
Helsingor in the summer was off the hook, all the Swedes would come over from
Helsingborg to buy beers and get tattoos! I went back and forth that 1st summer
between Denmark and Hamburg, Germany, working in the red light district of
Hamburg was out of control, tattooing people from all over the world, it was a
great experience...
You were doing a lot of tribal work. It isn’t so popular now, is that something you
think about; “Is this person getting this because it’s a trend?”
I did do a lot of tribal tattoos back then, I think anyone tattooing in the mid 90’s
did their fair share. In Denmark, they went crazy for tribal. I hate to use the
word ”trend”, but it definitely was a trend.
A lot of artists out there are influenced by others. You seem very much focused on
your own creativity. Have you always been so strong artistically?
I’ve always been somewhat creative, I’ve spent years studying the work of the
artists that influence me. After so much time spent thinking about tattoos, the
way they work on the body, drawing and figuring out better ways to make things
work, I guess you start to develop a style. Nothing I’m doing hasn’t been done
before, I draw the same subjects over and over. I just try to do it a little different
than the last time. My biggest strengths are making things flow and fit
naturally. Also the desire to keep improving and staying motivated.
It’s really big that you have taken on your own style of Japanese inspired art,
rather than claiming to be, and stenciling out of a book. It appears that not just
your talent, but your honesty, has carried you, yes?
I’ve always been honest with people about what I can and can’t do. I know my
limits and always try not to bite off more than I can chew. I’m not Japanese and
have never tried to make my work look like I’m pretending to be. It’s the subjects
I’ve always been drawn to, dragons, koi, flowers, snakes, waves, the backgrounds.
They are strong and timeless, popular, but I wouldn’t call it trendy, just classic.
I don’t think people will ever outgrow oriental style tattoos. If something looks
good on you when you stand 8 feet away in a mirror, it will be easy to live with.
Do you still find yourself looking for the opportunity to learn more?
I learn something new everyday. After working alone privately for 3 years, it was
time for a change. Last October I moved to Dolorosa Tattoo to work with Alex
Garcia and Chris Paez. We all interact a lot artistically. I’m always interested in
other artists’ opinions about drawings and tattoos and why this and why that.
I work 2 or 3 conventions every year to see what other people are doing. There’s
so much great tattooing going on these days, inspiration is all around us, dealing
with people and being in their personal space is a constant learning
experience. Everyday is different.
You belong to the Beatniks C.C., which is full of artists. Do you find that being
surrounded by these guys helps trigger your creativity or is it strictly about cars?
Absolutely. A lot of the guys in the club are guys I’ve always looked up to. I’m
not going to name names, but the club is full of the guys that were and still are a
big deal in the car/tattoo scene from when I first started. Guys I respect that have
huge personalities and the best style when it comes to kustom cars. We drive our
cars fast and far and we are always having a great time. It’s a lifestyle thing, we
love tattoos, people, art and kool cars and we really love to give each other a hard
time. You can find out more at www.beatnikballbusters.com.
Your customized Vans have sold successfully. Have you had any interest in
collaborating directly with Vans or do you prefer to just work independently?
I started my Vans project almost 5 years ago. I’ve probably done over 250 pairs,
all handmade/one of a kind. They have been shipped all over the world. I still do
a few pairs a month. We sell them at Eltons Men’s Clothing Store in Mandalay
Bay, Las Vegas. I’ve never been connected with Vans, I never cared enough to
pursue it like that, probably because I’m not a big business man. I just want to
keep it simple. It’s just something I do for fun, but if anyone out there wants to
show the big boss over there what I’ve done, I would definitely take the call!
When you are tattooing, it’s very time consuming and up close and personal.
Have you ever had a client that you just didn’t like?
I don’t deal with people I don’t like. We are either on the same page or we are not.
I’m not the artist for everyone. Most people that come thru are very polite and
friendly. I’ve made some very good friends through tattooing. We are always
having a laugh at the Dolorosa, but when it comes to tattoos we are serious as
a heart attack.
With so many tattoo shops everywhere, you find more and more people that are
concerned about price rather than getting a high quality piece of art. Has that
affected you in any way?
Some people are and some people aren’t. You get what you pay for like with
anything. If you want a good tattoo made by someone that really cares about
tattoos and takes pride in what they are doing, it’s probably not going to be
cheap. I used to have a 1 year wait, nowadays it’s about 1 month. Day by day,
we will just do the best we can.
Just having tattoos I get people stopping me to ask where they should go to get
tattooed. How would you suggest people go about finding the right artist for
them?
Yes! I get asked a lot to do things I don’t do. I can always refer people to the right
guy for the job. Look online, do research, and get the right artist. As my good friend
Baby Ray says:” You will have the tattoo a lot longer than I will have the
money...”
www.atkinsontattoo.com
