exclusive interview with ivana tattoo art | book promo 08/10/2014
Hello Ivana! Thanks for taking the time to answer
some questions for our readers. It's a great honor having this
opportunity, just to share some of my thoughts with you again. After
the interviews we did, people are asking me
all the time about you, your work and yup, they are impressed by
your talent... You are one of the well know female
artists around, your work is recognizable, and if there is
anyone trying to copy your unique style seem to fail :) Trust me, I've
seen some "damaged" people :)))
You published a tattoo book "Narcissistic Rockstar"
with bunch of tattoo works and most importantly, there were
published lost of great stories behind the ink, which makes the book
even more special and unusual.
Most recently you came up with a new tattoo project "RemixIT
Design", a nice collaboration with your great friend who is mixed
media artist-TADPole.
Q: How this collaboration happened?
A: She's been a friend of mine for a couple years. I've had the idea
to make those prints for about 3 years ago and I thought she would
be the perfect person to collaborate with on mixing both my work and
her graphic design style. I think both our styles compliment each
others work perfectly. The reason why I start to do this new project
is very simple- people who like my work cannot always afford to get
a tattoo done from me or they are living on the other side of the
world, so this way they can have at least this kind of artwork for
me.
Q: Talking about friendship, seems like nothing is better
than working with a dear person who knows your creative ideas,
supports them and add their own. How much time it took to have the "RemixIT
Design" project done?
A: It's honestly quite amazing to work with someone that understands
my direction and artist approach. The overall process was about 5
months. It took awhile to put together our ideas and see just where
we wanted to go with this project. There are lots of new, different
things coming out of this project in future!
Q: Every piece of art is a unique one, so this means people
should be hurry with choosing their favorite and buy it. ;) How many
designs are available?
A: So far we have 50 limited prints for each 3 designs. After we
sell all of them, they will never be printed again. We wanted to
make them like a collectors item so it can have more meaning to each
individual knowing their prints will be limited. We will have new
designs starting the next year, which will also fall under the same
process.
Q: Where people can buy their favorite?
Please share some links.
A: http://www.ivanatattooart.com/print-store.html
This is the Link to find all 3 designs. All you have to do is click
your favorite and add it to your cart. Also if you're feeling lucky
you might get yours for free. You can check my site for full details
about the giveaway.
Q: These are just print designs? Have you ever thought to
work on a clothing line or any other art medium, like skate decks
etc?
A: Our Print designs are true fine art pieces, printed on high
quality art paper, using archival inks. Each print is signed,
numbered, and embossed with our logo which will is our mark of
authenticity that the client is getting a true RemixIT piece.
My absolute dream is to have my own clothing line, but for now the
print designs are another step in that direction. In time you'll
find an assortment of different ideas and mediums.
Q: I know you both are very creative
ladies, did you support all your ideas every time or there were some
negotiations in a while? :)
A: I would be lying if I said we didn't have our negotiations, but
that's what happens when you have two artists collaborating on one
project. It's all about finding the middle point, once you have that
it's a breeze from there.
Q: Sometimes, being super creative, makes the brain hurt..
:) tell me little about the making process. How the end result came up?
A: I don't think "a lot" could describe the extent of how many
sketches we went through. haha.
We just kept working on them until we both could reach the point
where we naturally knew that this is the end result. We didn't want
to rush, we wanted these print designs to be the best of our
ability.
Q: What was the funniest/most interesting part of working on
this new project?
A: While we were doing lots of edits of our final sketches, I would
add random pictures and text to the work and send it to Traci. At
times where we may have felt a little frustrated it would always end
in a good laugh.
- Do you feel even more inspired after
this project and ready for a new one?
Of course. Once when we were done with our first 3 print designs I
felt a sense of accomplishment. It was something new, fresh and
different which brought lots of inspiration to me.
Q: When thinking of you... I imagine a
creative, young, super cool, talented girl, always busy tattooing or
on the road, visiting tattoo conventions ;) How do you manage your busy
schedule?
A: I truly love to travel, so having a busy schedule and living out
of my suitcase isn't too bad. Whenever I'm hopping from one
convention to the next I always try to leave a couple extra days to
explore but sometimes that doesn't happen. To deal with stress
involved I am eating lots of ice cream in my bed at night. :)
Q: I know you travel a lot... How much does the current
place helps you to get inspired? Do you have any favorite places to
visit?
A: I think traveling has a lot to do with my inspiration, most
definitely. Experiencing different cultures and people help me push
my boundaries to better my work day by day. When it comes to places
I like to visit, I like those I can get lost in. Visiting the Amazon
is one of my dreams, but I have gone on quite the trek through
jungles before. I really find peace in that. I love being in nature.
- Any tattoo conventions you're attending?
Currently I'm at the Barcelona convention, but as of right now I'll
be attending the Milano Tattoo convention in Milan, Italy and Le
Mondial du Tatouage in Paris, France. For future convention check my
Facebook page or my official page www.ivanatattooart.com (NEWS
section) for updates.
Q: I saw lots of cool photoshoots on your
website. You look stunning, covered with tattoos but still beautiful
and feminine, so I can definitely connect your tattoo style with
your personal style. In a way... Cool, sweet but rocking as well :)
Would you agree? heh
A: I think I may be turning a bit red. Haha. I've tried to change it
up this time around. I want my photos to resemble what I do and
that being an artistic person. Hopefully I've captured that.
Q: You're also an award winning artist (worldwide), Would you say that
having an admiration from so many people (all around) is not just a
success, a great feeling, but a responsibility as well?
A: Awards mean a lot to me, but my clients' satisfaction means the
most. Whenever I feel down, I think of all those individuals that
truly believe in what I do, because emotions/feelings mean so much
more than a tangible thing. I think the hardest responsibility would
be that people have expectations of my work, but I feel the same
goes for any person and their career/occupation.
Q: Do you have any favorite award, a favorite memory from a
tattoo convention?
A: I would say I have two awards that I'm happy and proud of. I got
Tattoo of the day at the New York Tattoo Expo and 2nd place for
small color tattoo at Le Mondial du Tatouage in Paris. I won many
awards, but for some reason those 2 are the most precious to me.
Please feel free to share your work info/ website.
Ivana Belakova/ Ivana Tattoo Art
working at Outer Limits tattoo, Long beach, California, USA
instagram.com/ivanatattooart www.ivanatattooart.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Ivana-Tattoo-Art
You can read our other interviews with Ivana:
www.skin-artists.com/interview-with-ivanatattoo.htm
www.skin-artists.com/exclusive-interview-with-ivana-tattoo.htm