Italian tattoo artist Marco Pepe is something of a rarity in the world of tattooing. Few artists combine their passions for painting and abstract art on the skin like he does. Over the last fifteen years, Marco has developed a highly personal style whose colourful aesthetic is inspired by the 1980s and 1990s, as well as surrealism.
Hello Marco, you are from Naples. Do you still live there ?
When I was 22 I moved to U.S. for a few years and then I lived in U.K , Paris and Munich, places that have formed me very much.
Drawing and painting, which comes first?
Painting is my first love. I have studied it in the US and learned a lot about the urban culture over there as well as in Paris. That’s why, when I paint, I mix the shape of the 1980’s, 1990’s and urban culture with abstraction.
When did tattooing come into your life and did you decide to make it your profession?
When I was 28 I came back from Paris to Italy to do a photo shooting with my old job and during a day free I decided to visit a tattoo convention. In that moment I decided and understand that tattooing could be a middle point between art and what I would like to do.
You haven't always done abstract work, can you tell us about your career so far?
When I started tattooing I guess abstract tattoos was very far from the people’s imaginary. From the beginning I tried to add some little abstract part into my work but obviously it was very difficult because, back into 2009, nobody have seen that. So as most of the tattooers, I started to do almost everything and I was very passionate by the neo traditional.
How long have you been doing abstract work?
It’s been about 10 years that I do abstract tattoos. The biggest difficulties with this style is making something that follows perfectly the shape of the body and matches the clients meaning. That’s why my personal approach to the abstract tattoo is painting the project directly on the skin as you can see on my socials networks accounts.
That’s right, the videos we see on Instagram show you painting with a free-hand brush, as close to the body as possible, before tattooing. What kind of preparation does this technique require?
Before a freehand brush I spend hours to imagine a flow. Once that I have an idea I start, before creating a squaring of all the area, define the spaces and what you see in the videos is only the last minutes of all the process. What you don’t see is me, looking at the client moves and changing everything I had in my mind to follow the natural movements of his body. Because abstract tattoos need to be like a second skin and looks cool with every movement of the body. In the end I think it requires a big study of the anatomy.
You define yours as "hard painting watercolour", can you tell us what that means?
Hardpainting came in 2016 when the Watercolor tattoos was very “washy” and light. I decided to bring more of the visual aspect from my paint into my tattoos so with the word “hardpainting “ I wanted to underline the idea of something very contrasted, with a lot of black and very bright colors. I wanted to make a difference between the very delicate works that I used to see and mine that is very strong and powerful.
One might get the impression that there are no boundaries between the skin and the canvas, and yet there are. What are the difficulties in achieving this watercolour effect on the skin?
When you decide to bring something that is born on a surface on a different one I think you have to find a good match between technics and what looks good. The skin changes over the years but the paper don’t, so I try to build something very solid that can keep its structure over the years. I use some shapes that follow the skin to make them look good even when the skin shape changes and gets older.
Your colours are particularly vivid, how did you build up the palette you use?
It is something that come from the painting, it’s called colometry. I start from 2 colors and then define a full range of about 20 or 25 colors. The contrast is the basement to build a good color palette to me.
Does the colour of your client's skin influence your choice ?
Yes, the skin of the client can change everything. That’s why I always suggest some kind of colors when I see the skin and my first advise is taking the skin away from the sun and not be tanned close to the appointment date.
Skin ageing inevitably leads to a loss of colour intensity over time. How do you deal with this inevitability?
Obviously colors will change. I personally think that the tattoo is a part of us and is a good think that get old with us. As the hair becomes white, I think that is cool to see people of a certain age have faded colors. Obviously, there are some techniques to make it very vibrant for a lot of years like for examples use a lot of black to build a solid contrast and make colors looks more bright.
What's the right balance between black and colours?
I think that the right balance is 40% of black 60% colors. This is the formula that I personally use in my work.
Abstract is not the only element you work with, it's combined with a little figurative and realism. What effects are you looking for?
When I put some more realistic figures in my work I try to follow the idea of surrealism. I’m looking to a meaning deforming the reality that I have around me.
What role does painting play in your artistic expression?
Very important. In this thing I am very old school. In my opinion, if you want to make art you have to study and know how to draw, to use brushes, to know the density of the paint and know how make everything that you do unique and technically very well made. + IG : @marcoencre http://www.encretatt
