The French tattooist Jérôme Crazycaps, from Meaux, near Paris, has a lot of fun creating a repertoire of designs in a colourful and fun newschool style, filled with all kinds of creatures.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
It's pretty simple, I've had a pencil in my hands since I was a kid and as soon as I was bored, I would draw. Naturally, this led me to take a baccalaureate in applied arts before continuing on to a BTS, which was aborted, and then a degree in art history... which was also aborted before the end. It was really not for me! It may have been fascinating, but it was of no interest to my professional future.
You said you started drawing as a child.
I used to copy the comic book vignettes I had at home and then, gradually, I started to invent my own characters. Over time, fortunately, my approach to drawing has evolved but I've always loved this exaggerated cartoon side.
What were your influences at the time?
Comics mainly, but also preparatory drawings used for animated films, video games... character design in general.
How did you get into tattooing?
At the time I had done some drawings for friends who had had them inked. I didn't know much about tattooing but I wanted to know what my designs were really worth. So I went to a shop not far from where I live, in order to get a professional's opinion on my work (friends are nice but not necessarily the most objective). So here I am, presenting my drawings to Katy, the tattooist of the shop, with whom I have a good feeling. She tells me that my work is pretty cool and offers me to do some drawings for her clients.
What happens next?
I spend more and more of my free time in the shop asking lots of questions about this thing I've just discovered. This interest did not go unnoticed and a few months later, Katy and her boyfriend Alain, also a tattoo artist, offered me to become their apprentice. Big blast. I had just found what I wanted to do and today I'm on my 10th year of tattooing.
It seems to me that you also come from graffiti. What difficulties does a graffiti artist face when he starts tattooing?
Yes, I have been involved in graffiti during my young adult life. But I always took the time to do my pieces in quiet places. Vandalism was not for me, I don't run fast enough! I also take this time in the drawing, I have always been a perfectionist. All this to say that the biggest difficulty I encountered was not related to graffiti but to drawing in general. It was necessary to go from a 2D support to a volume support, while making sure that it remained effective. For example, in the case of a complete arm, it must be interesting to read on all sides of the arm, without falling into patchwork. And then the relationship with the client was something new for me. You go from your solo delirium with felt pens or your bombs, to an exchange with someone. But it's a great way of sharing.
How has tattooing changed the way you draw?
I realised over time that the ageing of the tattoo was the most important thing. Once I understood that, I started to see my drawings bigger and I left aside the small details that disappear with the years. The encounters I made also made me evolve. My exchanges with people like Steph D, Dimitri HK, Jesse Smith and even Amy Mymouse have taught me a lot about how to approach drawings and compositions.
Newschool is a style in which graffiti artists naturally slip in, how did it happen for you?
It's true, a lot of newschool tattooers come from graffiti, like Noka, Jamie Ris, Lehel, or Victor Chill. A lot of graffiti artists also came to tattooing through lettering. But as far as I'm concerned, it's the exaggerated side that I like, both in graffiti and in newschool, with super saturated colours and perspective effects that are close to those of the fish eye. There is a real work of composition and dynamism in this style that I like to integrate into my tattoos. You need movement.
Do you have any other artistic practices?
Not so much lately, I'm busy with tattoos and drawings for my clients. But I would love to take the time to try modelling and volume work.
What is a good tattoo for you?
First of all, it's a good placement, with a good dynamic. A beautiful tattoo badly placed is always less good than the same one... super well placed! After this step, the line work is important, it's a bit like the skeleton of your tattoo. With a good structure, all you have to do is sublimate it with colours.
Which artists do you look at and why?
I watch a lot of character design. They are fabulous references for everything that has to do with attitudes, postures, body studies, exaggerating the features of a person or an animal. Again, I'm looking for dynamics. I don't like elements that are too fixed. In tattooing, I got my first taste of it when I discovered Steph D's work. I then understood that what I was drawing would not work in tattooing. Then, I had other models and tattoo artists like Jimmy Lajnen, Olivier Juliand or Ed Perdomo allowed me to get where I am today.
Your world is populated by beasts....
Yeah, I love putting these little creatures on stage. There are already so many bears, tigers and lions in the tattoo. It's not that I don't like to draw them, but I find myself much more attracted to the smaller animals. It's great fun to humanize rats and other rodents. It's fun to give them expressions, attitudes.
Small, medium or large room?
I like small and medium sized pieces. I like a tattoo session to have a beginning and an end. It's frustrating to stop and finish later. I like the satisfaction of getting a final rendering in the process. And then the big pieces require more complex compositions that motivate me less.
Europe wants to ban certain inks, what do you think?
We're reacting badly, that's for sure. I've been in denial a lot lately but we have to face the fact that this is going to have a huge impact on the European scene. I don't see myself having to tell my clients that I love working in colour, but that Europe has decided otherwise. I'm waiting to see how this will play out and I hope that the industry will find an alternative in the coming months. In the meantime, we'll keep our fingers crossed. + IG : @jerome_crazycaps Studio Morbleu 9, rue Saint-Christophe 77 100 Meaux
