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What’s up everyone? I hope you guys get as excited as me to start this new section of the blog: Get to know a tattoo artist! And for my first Q+A I would like to introduce you Chris Brunner, a young blackwork artist from Austria.  Could you make a quick introduction about yourself for my followers? Hey! I’m Chris from Vienna/Austria. I’m 23 years old and I am tattooing for about one and a half year now. Besides tattooing and painting I am into trackbikes, music and other artforms such as photography. But I am known for talking 24/7 about tattoos. haha Do you remember what was the first design you ever tattooed? What was it? My first few tattoos I did on myself. The first one on someone else I did on my good friend Lucas Wagner. Just a really small mandala. It looked liked shit but you have to start somewhere…

What got you interested in the business? Well…I got my first tattoo when I was about 15 or 16 years old and I instantly fell In love with it. I was drawing my whole life anyway so after that day it was clear to me what I wanted to do in the future. It took me a while but somehow I am pretty happy that I did not start to tattoo earlier.    If you had free reign and absolute creative freedom, what would you tattoo on someone? Or what have you always wanted to tattoo on somebody, but haven’t gotten the chance to yet?  I am happy with my customers who are giving me a lot of creative freedom. But I really hope that I get the chance to do some bigger projects in the future.

Is there any advice you would like to give to newbies wanting to get tattoos? First of all make sure you know what kind of style you are looking for. Find an artist you like and fully trust. Be aware that the idea out of your head will not look like the artists finished design. You really have to give some freedom. Thou there is no problem with changing something up. And do not get something because it is a cool trend at the moment. Get it because you really like it personally!

Do you ever feel like you will one day be bored with being a tattoo artist? I often ask this myself but I don’t think so. Tattooing is a new challenge every day. You can try a million of different things out and for an obsessed perfectionist it is the perfect thing. I do a lot of things besides tattooing also, so no worries yet. This is my passion and if I take a break sometimes I miss it a few days after. haha 

What was the weirdest place you’ve ever given someone a tattoo? Until now I have not tattooed in some weird places. But I like the idea. A few artists do that these days. We’ll see. Maybe on the moon one day…

What would you say it’s the most annoying thing people do when going to your shop? Bringing their whole family and friends with ‘em!

How do you feel about using pictures pulled off of the internet/stolen tattoo ideas? It sucks, but as an artist who uploads his work into the web you should not be suprised or pissed if that happens. I used to get angry myself, but now I think this is part of today’s social media promotion. I guess I really don’t care anymore.

What would you say is your favorite part of the job? Like I said, it’s the challenge for me! I love it. I am obsessed with tattooing. Also tattoo history is something I am really into. Tattooing to me is the perfect mixture of art and craftmanship. And building tattoo machines is another thing I am looking forward to do in the future.

Are there any artists, tattooists or not, that have influenced you? Or artists you are inspired by? Oh boy…a lot! Too many to mention them all. Guy Le, Philip Yarnell, Rafel Delalande, Servadio, Belmir Huskic, Thomas Hooper, Duncan X, and many, many more! But everything can be inspiring…music, movies, art in general…

Have you ever suffered any kind of discrimination because of your tattoos? If so, how do you deal with that? Not really…some stupid jokes here and there but nothing personal. Maybe I just don’t get it or don’t want to.

What would you recommend to someone wishing to get into the tattoo business? Study tattoo history and the machine at first! That is most important to know where it comes from, who where the big names who changed the history and to know how that damn thing works. You should know how the machine works before you even think about doing your first tattoo. And draw everyday! 

Thank you very much Chris and the followers for suggesting some of the questions! I hope you guys liked the Q+A and don’t forget to follow Chris to keep up with his awesome work: instagram: @chrisxbrunner​  tumblr: http://chrisxbrunner.tumblr.com email: [email protected]