An avid traveller, Ed Perdomo is well known for his large-scale, colourful tattoos in which he revisits Asian imagery with a newkool twist. Now based in Canada, perhaps his latest destination, the 47-year-old Colombian tattoo artist shares with us his rich experience.
Nowadays we are all stuck at home and travel is limited but I hear you are a great traveller, tell us about it!
I’ve been in too many cities and countries to count. I started traveling around mid 90’s. First inside my own country, Colombia, and then around South America before selling everything and left for good. Regarding the Covid situation, it been quite hard to get used to but in some ways I’ve been enjoying it. I’ve been able to complete large projects in a timely manner and also trying to make the best of it.
How important was it for you travelling like you did?
I liked both the pleasure of the nomadic life and the tattoo on the road. New places and experiences provide me with personal and professional growth. It is inspiring and beneficial to your artistic maturity.
What memories do you keep of all these adventures?
There are so many memories and people that have been part of my life. I think a place is as good as its people. The connections you make in some of these places allowed me to take important steps in life. Some of the people became dear friends or even life companions. Professionally speaking, my years living in China made a profound impact in my style of work.
This is how Asian style came into your life?
I started early on. It was hard to find information about it. The Internet wasn’t yet available so I moved to China. I wanted to learn and understand their culture and iconography, to hopefully learn how to be a traditional tattooer but somehow it went the other way.
Why specifically going to China ?
Although I travelled quite a bit around Asia, I moved to Shanghai to pursue knowledge while making a living. Also, it was easier to legally migrate there at the time. I’m foggy about exact dates but it was around the year 2002. It was a great experience to so many levels. Everything was new, language, culture, food and social rules. Every single thing was new and exciting.
Did this experience meet your expectations ?
I did manage to learn about tradition and culture. My drawing just developed in a different way but the clients responded well and ultimately they have the last word.
Tattoo artists now have unprecedented ways to exchange, learn and communicate, so much so that one might ask if it is still worthwhile to travel. What do you learn on the road that you don't learn elsewhere when you're a tattoo artist?
It has definitely changed, even tattoo conventions seem unnecessary and perhaps it’s true for younger artists. In my case, I need that personal interaction with like minded artists and also every day folks, wandering new places feed my wondering mind.
Recently I have been talking to an other great travelling tattooer – Davee- and he said that the most important thing in tattooing is about the people. How do you feel about it?
I completely agree with that. It’s people who put their trust in us that has given me everything. I wouldn’t have been able to develop without my clients trust and support.
When did you start tattooing and how did it come into your life?
I started in the early 90’s and it was just by accident. I saw a guy doing it with a home made machine and I thought it will be cool to try. So I made my own and attempted to tattoo some very unfortunate friends. Although it was really bad I got other people asking me to do it for them. I did that for few years until I realized that I needed to learn how to draw so I started to teach myself and been struggling with that ever since.
How did you go about improving your drawing, by learning from great masters you met on the road?
I haven’t directly learned from any other artist. Besides great inspiration, all my learning have been from practicing and try and error.
You are finally based in Canada, why stopping here?
I wanted to try Canada for long time. I love their Asian illustrative style. I Love the Studio I’m working at, it’s a great one. Also, I’m getting old and I can’t be roaming around forever. I came here for a trying period and then Covid-19 happened. I considered returning to Europe but I’m going to wait for see how “the Ink ban” plays out. Perhaps I finally settle down and so far I like Canada.
You were mentioning the Canadian Asian illustrative style. What is so specific about it ?
I guess started in Brazil many years ago. I got to meet and get tattooed by the legendary Mauricio Teodoro who is a great influence in his country and beyond. While I’m Canada I came to realize he’s also been a key figure for the Canadian tattoo illustrative scene.
Why did you go for the newschool style?
It just appealed to me but eventually outgrow that style and moved on into illustrative Asian. I’m not very keen on classified art style I prefer to work without stylistic restrictions.
You do a lot of big pieces, what are the important things to keep in mind when doing such compositions?
To me is all about Flow and Harmony. Making a design that follows the body natural lines while been easy to understand from the distance
You recently released a book (available on the Inkers shop), can you please tell us about it?
It’s a collection of old sketches that I used for tattoos in a variety of style that I explored through the years. Thank you Ed. + Instagram : @ed_perdomo www.edperdomo.com KAPALA TATTOO 71 St. Anne’s Road Winnipeg, Manitoba R2M 2Y6 204 255 8897