Over the past 10 years, English tattooist Chris Green has been evolving in the neo-traditional style and has made a name for himself with the elegance of his pieces and their Art Nouveau influences. For Inkers, the almost 30-year-old looks back on his journey from rock music to tattooing, from his hometown of Blackpool to Manchester, where he and tattoo artist Dale Sarok have just opened their own shop: Swan st Tattoo, located opposite the concert hall that launched the band Joy Division.
How did you get into tattooing?
I got into tattooing around 11 years ago by drawing tattoos for my friends to take to tattoo shops to get tattooed by other artists. Eventually I was offered an apprenticeship at a local biker shop. (The first year or so didn’t consist of much tattooing at all!)
Before the tattoo, music was a central part of your life. Can you tell us about it?
I grew up playing in punk bands from being around 10 years old when I was bought my first guitar by dad (who has also played in punk bands for as long as I can remember). The first band I ever saw live was The Damned, I was probably way too young to have been there but it made a lasting impression on me. The last band I played in have actually gone on to be really successful so it could’ve been a totally different path for me if I’d stuck at it. These days I prefer to listen more chilled out music (especially when working) but do like to go back to my roots and listen to the noisier stuff every once in a while.
At what point do you think that tattooing could be your profession?
I was quite young when I started tattooing and still lived at home so earning a living wasn’t necessarily a concern of mine and I’ve never been money driven. Of course tattoo apprenticeships are unpaid and you can’t charge people for tattoos when you have no idea what you’re doing (you’re more or less just practicing on their skin). I’d tattoo people if they would buy me food for the first year then that slowly moved into charging small amounts for tattoos. I think it dawned on me quite early on that I was making more money from tattooing than I was playing music even with the small amount that I was charging. So I stopped playing in bands to focus on tattooing full time at around 20 years old.
Can you tell us a little about your graphic culture?
My grandad got me into drawing at a really young age and it was him who introduced me to classical and Renaissance art. I always found it to be beautiful but dark and often quite horrific at the same time, which I love. It was a whole other world to the punk rock and skate board comic style imagery that I was used to seeing so I found it fascinating. I particularly loved the sketches and etchings from classical painters.
Among all the styles, how do you come to the neo traditional?
I’ve always been drawn to solid styles of tattooing such as American and Japanese traditional. I worked in a shop amongst realism artists so I saw how their work would heal and age with time. I much prefer the longevity that solid tattooing has - how it sit’s in the skin and how it’s so readable for years to come. I set out to work in American traditional but found myself unintentionally stylising my work and making the designs a little more illustrative than what you would often find in traditional tattoos (which probably breaks all kinds of rules haha).
You quickly made a name for yourself with portraits of women, but it seems to me that you have been trying to move away from that. Are you afraid that it will limit your creativity?
Not at all, I love tattooing women! They’re possibly my favourite subject matter to tattoo along with skulls and the other classic’s. I’m very critical of my own work and feel quite strongly about the way my lady tattoos look. I’m not sure if that means I’m subconsciously a little pickier about what I choose to share online.
Your colour palette was also different, more in cool tones, mauve and blue. Now you've moved on to warmer tones. Need to explore new possibilities?
I prefer to use a minimal palette. I like tones that people already have in their skin to some degree. I feel like it looks as if the tattoo was supposed to be there if I more or less just exaggerate colours that naturally exist already. Sometimes I find blues and purples etc can be a little too aggressive or interrupting, even sometimes quite sickly. Though this depends on the tattoo of course and doesn’t apply to all cases!
What are the points that you focus on when you approach a new piece?
Considering the body and the person that the tattoo is going on is the biggest focus point for me. The body shapes and the who that individual is really helps me understand what the drawing and what the feel for the design should be. I want to design something to suit that person best. I’ve always struggled with the idea of drawing pre-made ‘wanna do’ designs because it feels quite random to me. I prefer to tailor my drawing specifically to whoever wears the tattoo!
Can you tell us a bit about your iconography, which covers a wide spectrum, from skulls to 1920s belles dames, from wild animals to circus bears, from armour to bird feathers.
My work is more or less just redraws of what has worked best for the last 70 years or so of tattooing. I really respect what was there before me and where it comes from. Traditional tattoo imagery such as ladies, skulls, animals etc.. You can’t beat the classics! I’d like my work to look timeless and I think I’ve more chance of achieving that by not veering too far away from these subject matters. I’m not sure that my work would have the same feel towards it if I started tattooing pop culture designs or portraits of current pop stars etc!
There is a kind of narrative in your tattoos. Is it important to you that your tattoos convey something other than images?
A lot of my work is inspired by different mythologies, folk tales or even sometimes poetry. I love when tattoos tell a story! Even if it’s only myself and my client who knows what the tattoo is trying to convey. I’m sure not everybody is interested in getting that deep about it!
You also draw from the decorative arts and in particular Art Nouveau. What do you appreciate in these registers?
Art nouveau is a huge inspiration. I love the elegance and simplicity of it. Because a lot of Art Nouveau was once used as posters and for advertisements - it’s very readable, breathable and doesn’t make your eyes fight to understand what you’re looking at. I think tattoos should be the same!
Do you prefer small or big pieces?
I love doing both small and big pieces. The hardest part for me is the drawing process so ideally I’d like to spend the next few years working on larger scale pieces so I can focus on spending more time on one piece at a time and put more energy into drawing for a larger piece rather than multiple smaller ones four - five days a week (it gets exhausting!)
Tell us about your tattoos, it seems to me that most of them were done by Lars Uwe. What influence did his work, also in the neo-traditional register, have on you?
Getting tattooed by Lars Uwe has had the greatest influence on me. It made me reevaluate why and how I tattoo and It also helped me understand a lot about tattooing in general. He started my body suit when I was ver young and new to tattooing. Lars has always had total free reign to tattoo whatever he wanted on me.I’ve learnt more from Lars in the hundreds of hours getting tattooed by him than I ever did during my apprenticeship, so I see him as my true mentor.
You just opened your studio in Manchester, can you tell us about it?
It was never my intention to own a studio or be a ‘boss’ as such, but covid 19 put me (and millions of other people) in positions that were unexpected and it forced me to make decisions that I never realised I would ever have to make. The last shop I worked in was very busy and loud so I knew I wanted to work somewhere more peaceful and private. I wasn’t super stoked on working for any tattooers who have a fraction of the experience that I have and I certainly didn’t want to work in a shop owned by some random business dude who knows nothing about tattooing. The best option for me at that point was to go do it myself or at least with a friend (i.e Dale Sarok) - So that’s what happened.
How did the connection with Dale Sarok come about?
I’ve worked with Dale for years, he’s hilarious, works hard and we both have very drama free lives so I knew it would be a good fit. We got lucky and found a place with an awesome view of the city skyline in a really old (and kind of creepy) historical mill building in (the cool area) of Manchester city centre. It’s a really famous, historical street in Manchester so we named it after that - Swan St Tattoo. (It’s actually directly opposite the venue where Joy Division started out!). We got the space during lockdown so we had about a year to totally redecorate and to take our time making it look how we wanted. Originally it was supposed to be just Dale and I working at Swan St but we released a video of the studio and had a lot of artists apply for a job! Now there’s around seven of us tattooing from there and it’s awesome! It’s still a very relaxing atmosphere but much livelier than I’m sure it would have been if it was just Dale and I. + IG : @imchrisgreen Swan st Tattoo Swan Buildings, 20 Swan St, Manchester M4 5JW, Royaume-Uni Tel : +44 161 839 7284
