At least 20km from Amsterdam, in Aalsmeer, we can find Ronny (the father), Jamie (the son), Manuela (the mother) and Dana (the daughter). A pleasant atmosphere over tea and coffee and punctuated with numerous jokes on the interview to come.
Ronny, the patriarch, studied graphics and spent a few years in an advertising agency creating illustrations and story-boards. When he finally got bored, he ditched everything and got into sculpting and painting. At the same time he started drawing for tattoos that himself and his friends got inked. The tattooist, Rob Deut who does ethnic tattoos, tribal and polynesian in his shop « Seven Seas » noticed his work and motivated him to start tattooing. We’re in 1996, more than 20 years ago : Ronny’s tattoo adventure is about to begin. He did his first tattoos in a private workshop in Amsterdam. He moved to Aalsmeer. Worn out by the constant trips between the two cities, Ronny then decided to open his first shop in 1999 in Aalsmeer, a tiny place of 18m². After moving twice, the shop is still in the same street but is now 100m².
Manuela, his spouse helps him run the shop, she takes care of management, solders the needles and welcomes the customers. She also has an artistic sensitivity, she started tattooing for 4, 5 years but a wrist operation stopped her career. She continues helping out at the shop and does some piercings. On another note, she also takes care of their 3 children. When their fourth child arrived, Cody, both activites got more complicated. Ronny who needed somebody to help out, asked 16 year old Jamie who wasn’t the scolarly one to help him out at the shop.
Jamie tattooed for the first time at the age of 10, on his dad. When he was a kid, he lived in Amsterdam and admired the graffities he could see passing by on the trains and quickly had an interest for this art more than tattooing. At nearly 13 years old, he started spraying everything he could, he also joined a crew but we won’t speak of that, as a precaution to avoid the cops showing up at Dogstar Tattoos. From 16 to 20 years old, he helped out his dad at the shop and started drawing for the customers without really getting into the tattoo world. But one day, a regular customer asked him « Since you did the drawing, why don’t you do the tattoo as well ? » Jamie then went from pencils to the tattoo gun. At around 23/24 years old, he really took an interest in tattooing, with the birth of social networks. He discovered on « Myspace » the work of Bez from the studio « 666 » in England and other artists from all around the world. « It wasn’t really about the inspiration but more about their technic which was a breakthrough » he tells us. With tattooing taking more of his time, Jamie gave up graffiti.
His father is his mentor: He taught him how to tattoo, showed him lots of tattoo artists, but also comics artists and sculptors. Jamie searches most of his inspiration from other forms of arts than tattooing. « In the « newschool » world, every artists knows each other. We’re all connected and so inspire each other, but sometimes when you look at something totally different from the tattoo world, you can find new ideas » he reveals to us. Graffiti is one of his influences. He admires the work of Born. K, Daim, Kram, Seak as well as many others. In digital art, he really likes the work of Jorge Sefy and Ryan Woods. Among the tattooists, he follows the creations of Timmy B., Victor Chil, Logan Barracuda, Tanane Whitflied, Kelly Doty, Tony Ciavarro and a ton of others. His style, mainly influenced by his humour and his overflowing imagination is really original.
The Ris dynasty doesn’t stop there. Dana, Manuela and Ronny’s daughter took Jamie’s place at the reception and like the others, she also does some tattoos from time to time. Dana was rewarded for a cartoon chameleon on Jamie’s leg that she did at a convention gathering only female tattoo artists. The beginning of a promising career. Cody, the youngest, already tattooed his brother Jamie at the age of 5 and his father the following year. The (lineage?) continues.
When we asked Ronny what he thought about the evolution of tattooing these last twenty years, he replied : « People are more aware of what’s possible, of all the different styles, so now tattooists can specialise in a particular style, they can focus more on what’s coming from the heart as an artist. At the time, you had to practice every style in order to work every day, we didn’t have a choice. What’s more interesting as well is that customers come in with bigger, more elaborated projects. But now, everyone tends to come into a tattoo shop as easily as any other store, there’s no more barriers. Before you had to have the balls to come into a tattoo shop, the atmosphere was dark and mysterious. Now it’s really open. We’ve lost a bit of the magic. »
A high-tech team : every « Dogstar » tattoo artist draws on a digital tablet, we discuss the technological progress which helps tattooing. Ronny explains to us that before, he had a workshop filled with equipment, spray cans, brushes, crayons, paints, easels, etc. He threw everything away and now has his whole workshop in his bag. « I love the digital era, it has brought our creativity to a whole new level, you have to live with your time. It’s so much more practical. » he tells us. « He who follows progress can evolve faster », he says while trying to translate a dutch saying. Jamie continues : « It’s just as if somebody was asking you to learn how to tattoo with coil machines instead of cheyenne or inkjectas or soldering your needles now. What is the point, we go faster with today’s gear. The tablet is kind of the same thing. The objective is to create what you have in your head, if inkjectas, cartridges or the Ipad can make it easier, then why not use it ?… What’s more important is to advance as an artist, what counts is the final result. People who want a painting or a tattoo don’t really care how you managed to do it, what interests them is the result. » Ronny also says : « It doesn’t really matter, you have to know how to draw anyway, it’s not a technology that would allow you to vocally give commands like « Draw me a frog with a crown » and the next day the drawing is done. » We have to admit that this kind of equipment opens new horizons. Such as the possibility to do collaborations with artists who live on the other side of the planet. For example, Jamie made two illustrations with pro create on the Ipad Pro with his friend Tony Ciavarro, who lives in Kingston in Massachusetts. There's quite a few kilometers between Holland and the USA. Of course, the arrival of the tablet doesn’t mean that the « Dogstar » artists don’t work with other mediums. If you go on their instagram and facebook pages you’ll be able to admire their numerous illustrations made with acrylic and other ustensils.
The cartoon style, very colored and the great technical qualities of Jamie Ris allowed him to participate in many tattoo conventions all around the globe. This allowed him to make many encounters and make new friends who sometimes pay him a visit in Aalsmeer. « Dogstar Tattoos » as well as having very good tattoo artists within its walls, also has the luxury of welcoming guest artists of international renown such as Timmy B., Kelly Doty, Teresa Sharpe, Leo Valverde, Nathan Evans, etc etc.
We can also admire at the shop the work of two artists who shares the premises with the Ris family. Bas who joined the team in 2013, specialised for a time in letterings, he now does a lot of realistic pieces. There’s also Robert, present since 2015, who practices ornemental, graphic and dotwork tattoos.
In conclusion, we can announce Jamie’s first book, coming out spring 2017, which will regroup illustrations, sketches and paintings. A big thanks to the « Dogstar Tattoos » Team for two great days spent in their company. See you soon ! Report by DHK, James C., Sid L-Boy
