Hello Evgeniy Ignatov! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions for our readers. It's always a pleasure to share some of my thoughts with creative people, there is so much that can be learned so maybe some of our audience will find this interview inspiring enough to start their journey in this business.

Q: When did you got interested in tattoo art?
A: I started tattooing about 10 years ago.

Q: Was it hard to learn the basics?
A: The beginning was quite difficult. I grew up in a small town where there was little information and only 2 tattoo studios.

Many young aspiring artists are struggling to get apprenticeships today, so there are some tattoo schools that just recently popped out, as well as tattoo seminars. What is your opinion about this type of training?
-The industry is developing and competition is growing. That's OK. School tattoos can be useful for beginners. And seminars can be useful for masters who work more than one year.

Q: Where do you find your inspiration?
A: I draw my inspiration from everywhere, art, film, music and other tattoo artists.

Q: You have very interesting style, very unique. Your ability to put a personal note in each of your designs is fascinating, even when it comes to portrait tattoos when it's almost no room for experimentation, but you're very creative and you do each in your own way. Tell me something about the creative process, do you draw a bunch of sketches before the session or the inspiration comes naturally while tattooing?
A: I believe that I am still in search of my handwriting, my individuality. This happens in different ways, sometimes I prepare very carefully for work and think about everything, and sometimes everything happens by itself and I add freehand.

Q: Do you give your clients some suggestions on size, placement, perhaps sometimes you've changed someone's mind on theirs first idea for tattoo? How much is important to gain trust both from a client perspective and you as an artist?
A: I change someone's first impression of how it should look like a tattoo. Trust is the first thing that should be between the artist and the client, it is very important.

Q: What reaction from your clients makes you feel happy when the tattoo is done?
A: The client's reaction is the best reward for the artist. This is what motivates to do every next job better and better.

Q: Nowadays, we have so many tattoo conventions, expos, seminars, tv shows etc. I guess, we should all consider this type of events at least as a good, fun experience, and of course sometimes a great way to connect with many artists and form great friendships with the audience. What's your options? How often do you travel for work, like doing guests spots etc?
A: I have a pretty busy work schedule at the moment. On average, I spend half of a year in Europe, mostly in Germany and Iceland. The second half of the time I work in St.Petersburg, Russia.

Q: I must say that it's so rare to see a Russian tattoo artist with bad skills, almost impossible. Very creative and very talented people out there! ; ) Do you have any artists you look up to or just feel inspired by?
A: Bad tattooists are everywhere. I follow some tattoo artists whose style and work I really like, for example @samuraistandoff, @thomascarlijarlier, @david_vega83 and others.

Q: How much the talent plays a big part of becoming a pro in this field? I've seen many people who work years and yet almost never level up creatively and technically? How much is important to strive for progress?
A: Having talent is great. But there must also be a high capacity for work and a desire to develop. The desire to achieve the ideal in technique and creativity.

- Do you have one of those moments when you look back at your old works and see how much you've grown?
Of course, I see that in recent years I have grown in my works. But I don't want to stop there, even for a moment.

Q: If you can give yourself an advice to your younger self back when you were starting, what would that be?
A: I would advise to find a good mentor, tattoo artist and save a lot of time.

Please write down your contact info and studio location.

Saint Petersburg, SainTrue tattoo studio
https://instagram.com/evgentattooart
https://vk.com/evgentattooart
https://www.facebook.com/evgentattooart/
evgentattooart@gmail.com

Mr. Ignatov, Thank you for the interview,
Kind Regards,
The team