Fed up with humorous publications such as 'Fluide Glacial', Mikado has retained a love of comics and good fun. Inevitably, when he decided to tattoo, the French tattooist turned to newschool, a style that allows for all kinds of creative delirium. Originally from Nantes, Mikado has just moved his nozzles and pencils to a new studio away from the City of Dukes, in order to preserve his tranquillity but also to bring his artistic curiosity to life with the organisation of exhibitions.
Quick introduction!
My name is Mika alias "Mikado". I'm 48 years old and I'm from Nantes (city on the West part of France). I have no hair and my feet are Greek.
After more than 15 years in Nantes, you've just moved to Nort-sur-Erdre, Are you one of those people that the confinement made you leave the city life ?
Not particularly! I had already wanted to leave the centre of the City of Dukes for a few years, but I had a lease on it. The muscular demonstrations of the yellow waistcoats, the grimness and the ambient stress of the last few years only confirmed my desire to leave, in peace! And my partner "kico" was in the same perspective!
Can you tell us a bit about this new shop? I saw that there was an exhibition room, what can we see there?
We bought this place about two years ago, in the centre of Nort-sur-Erdre. It's a large, bright space - the old shop lacked that! - with a large enough reception area to hold exhibitions of paintings, photographs, and anything else that can be hung on a wall, and at the same time, the possibility of welcoming people for openings. The tattoo room is open (we like to share our rotten jokes) and I work there with my colleague "kico". We've been tattooing together for many years and he's become my "brother"!
We wish you all the best! Let's go back to your background and your beginnings. You recently posted on Instagram the cover of an old tattoo directory from 1997. Was this something that was on your mind for a long time back then?
I used to draw tattoo designs for a buddy and I thought it was fun to see the designs I had done on someone. When I was doing my military service in Djibouti (in the 1990s) I came across the first issue of Tatouage Magazine (first French tattoo publication) lying around and it just clicked! I was blown away by the quality of modern tattoos! I found a first apprenticeship in Les Sables d'Olonne, but it didn't last long. The real start was with Bruno, at Atlantic Tattoo in 2003. When I got out of the army I got a tattoo from Yann, from Tattoo Mania in Rennes, who also gave me some advice on how to get started and also allowed me to buy my first tattoo equipment from Micky Sharpz! At the same time, I was devouring all the tattoo magazines that came out, I was even enlarging the flashes of Riton visible at the bottom of the Jet France brand catalogues to have a base of visuals! As I'm naturally shy, it took me a long time to get into it!
Concerning your graphic culture, it seems to me that comics had a big influence on you?
My influences are very wide, but the base was really the magazines like 'Fluide Glacial' ! Cartoonists like Gotlib, Edika, Coyote, etc... made me piss my pants !!!
The links on your site refer to urban culture and graffiti. What place did these disciplines have?
I discovered graffiti when I was a teenager but I didn't really practice it. It was when I started tattooing at Atlantic Tattoo that the tattoo artists there - Just (now at the Mystery Tattoo Club in Paris) and Mache (Manouche Caravane in Brussels) - introduced me to it; they were into it. As a result, a lot of my friends are in graffiti. When I see what's being done today in terms of colour treatment and space management, it's really interesting! As far as I'm concerned, I don't practice much though!
Nowadays you do a lot of newschool style pieces, have you always done them?
It's always been the guiding thread in my work. If you put a pencil in my hands, I will unconsciously draw like that. I don't force my line! In fact, it's more custom than newschool, a personal reinterpretation of reality influenced by all the comics I read and copied when I was younger. At the moment in this style, the Spaniards are sending out some heavy stuff: Victor Chill, Javi Saez, Briel Medina... I love watching what they do! As I was working in a street shop, I had to adapt to the styles of the moment and know how to do everything.
What is a good newschool play according to you?
Pfff, it's very complicated to answer this question! You should rather ask what is a good tattoo! As much as in the Old School style, we don't go out of the codes, as much as in the newschool everything is possible (that's just me!). In a way, it's like seeing reality on LSD! (laughs)
Is this great freedom of creation the most important thing for you?
Everything around us offers great creative freedom! On the contrary, compartmentalising styles restricts it. For me, the creative process is the basis of my life as a tattoo artist. Without the preparatory drawings, the tattoo would have no interest.
At the same time, you cultivate a certain eclecticism. Is it a way of remaining available to your customers' requests or a way for you not to go round in circles?
As I said before, I learned in a street-shop where you met your customers and their customers almost on the day of the appointment! I can tell you that you had to be "flexible with your brain". I actually prefer to do a little bit of everything and I prefer to do it moderately rather than excel in one style. I don't feel legitimate to refuse this or that tattoo project because it's not my 'thing'. And then the demand for newschool is not big enough to devote myself entirely to it. And trying different things, challenging myself, that's good for me too!
How do you stay fresh creatively now that custom tattooing has become the norm?
It's not easy with the social networks flooding with images and stuff that is high on a daily basis! But I think you have to put it all into perspective and go at your own pace, not be focused on tattooing 24 hours a day. Exhibitions, movies, concerts, current events, all that allows you to appreciate different visions of Art in general. And, to come back to your question, I'm not sure that custom is the norm in contemporary tattooing. On the contrary, I think it's getting "Pinterized", leaving little room for creativity. Gluing 4/5 images together to make a tattoo - which we see a lot of (and I admit to indulging in it sometimes...) - is not creativity for me.
How have the demands of your clients changed since you started?
As I do a bit of everything, the demand is varied. We still manage to steer people towards what we like to do - newschool, japanaese, realism - but not all the time. But here again, the image banks make life difficult for us! At the moment, hyper-realism is very popular. I guess it's reassuring for people in general. As it's realistic, it must be well done!
In spite of everything, you seem to cultivate a certain tranquillity and your presence on social networks too. It's possible to be a tattoo artist today without posting every day?
< The older I get, the more I put things into perspective! My nickname for my family is "father", you can't make that up... And my priority has always been my family. So yes, I don't do many conventions, not many guests... But I'm fine with that! As far as social networks are concerned, I'd like to say it's generational! I don't know how to use it and it's very time consuming. The race for "likes" is something I will never understand. However, you have to keep in mind that it's essential for the visibility of your work, you are so quickly forgotten! When you see the multiplication of tattoo artists these last years, it is necessary to do the minimum.
In terms of digital tools, which ones do you use and why?
They are basic. A website, Instagram/Facebook for networking, Procreate and Photoshop for creative software. I discovered Procreate with Ipad a few years ago and I think they are pretty crazy tools! It gives you great flexibility and speed in making last minute changes. But, anyway, I'm sticking to my pencils! + Mikado Tatouages 1, rue François Dupas 44390 Nort-sur-Erdre Tel. : 02 40 20 04 05 www.mikadotattoo.com Instagram : @mikadotattoo
