Hello Janos Feher! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer some questions for our magazine. Please start by telling us something about yourself and how you got into the world of tattooing?

First of all I want to say hello everyone and thank you for interviewing me, I feel honored. My story about how I became a tattoo artist isn’t a simple one, but I’m going to try and keep it short.

Q: What made you to become a tattoo artist?
A: As I child I loved to draw and from my youngest years I’ve been interested in almost any form of art, my father used to bring me to art galleries maybe that’s how it all started. As a 13-14 year old kid I was roaming the streets and spray painting every wall because I found the colors and different styles very interesting. However life can be funny sometimes as afterwards my father didn’t let me major in art college because “you can’t make a living from being an artist”. So I only kept drawing secretly because my father wasn’t really pleased by this, and you might ask why my father... well my parents got divorced and my father raised me, I haven’t even met my mother for a long time... but to get back to the story, when I was about 14-15 years old one of my friends showed me a tattoo magazine, mind that it happened somewhere in the year 2000 when the technology of the tattoo scene wasn’t all that innovative as today, but that’s about the time I decided to become a tattoo artist.
It was a funny situation as everybody laughed at me but I wanted this and here I am today, a tattoo artist!

Entering the tattoo scene wasn’t all that easy, about ten years later I bought my first tattoo equipment /micky sharpz hybrid/ but before that, I’ve worked in factories, as a truck driver and even as an electrician but my dream to become a tattoo artist always interested me way more. There is a tattoo shop where I lived back then, and a very important person to me works there, I first went to him for some advice and if he would teach me how to tattoo but all he said was “you got to keep on drawing, drawing and drawing. I took his advice and I didn’t find bullshit for a second. We’ve been having contact ever since and I think he is kind of proud of me for what I’ve achieved so far.

  

  

 

 Q: You work on many different tattoo styles. Do you have any favorite?
A: I can't really define my style, I like realistic pieces, and dark style but most of all I like to blend them all together with an artistic composition, watercolor like details, some random lines, or minimalistic objects. But basically everything starts with a realistic element.

Q: Which style is most difficult to work on?
A: I don’t know what’s the hardest style to master, I mostly do black and grey with a little color so I honestly don’t know, I never gave it much thought.

Q: What usually clients want from you? Are there any popular tattoo designs in your city?
A: People usually just walk in the studio without any clue as for who works there or what kind of style they represent, mostly with a ratcht design, and I try to make the most of it... but every once in a while a client walks in with a vague description of what they want, just a basic idea or a few elements that they want incorporated and for the rest they let my imagination flow freely and give me my artistic freedom. Most important for my clients is to be open minded about my designs, that’s the only way to keep making innovative and unique pieces in this industry.

Q: You're part of the "Blacksheep Ink" tattoo studio, there are many great artists working there. I guess It's a pleasure to be part of that... Tell me more about the collaboration with the guys, how it all started? Are you a guest artist or a resident?
A: I'm a resident at Blacksheep ink and I’m very happy to be a part of the team I have learned a lot from my colleagues. Robi Pena introduced me to the magic that is photoshop and I learned a lot from the guest artists as well (Tibor ‘Tibi’ Szalai, Cristian Radu) it all started in Hungary where they contacted my previous boss from Visions Tattoo that they are looking for people in Switzerland a.s.a.p. as I wanted to start a new life it didn’t take me long to say yes and three days later I was in Switzerland already. I worked there until the unfortunate event of my boss passing away took place and that’s when I found Blacksheep ink on the internet and I got in contact with Michael Ziefle my current boss whom I owe a lot. Anyways they are like family to me the collaboration between us is awesome, we mess around a lot, of course we have our downs as well but which family doesn’t?

Q: How much does the team work help you to get inspired?
A: Working in a team is a thing where you have to know when to give in and when to put your foot down. Teamwork only inspires me because I always want to get better and better. I don’t like being oppressed or when they don’t pay enough attention to my ideas so I always show something new that they aren’t used to from me. I find teamwork to be very constructive it’s like a basketball team there is a leader and the rest is built around him or in our case we have a leader and the rest of us is the strong core. We appreciate each others successes and I think that’s the way it should be.

   

 Q: How do you usually get your ideas for tattoo designs, do you work by some certain images or you draw a lot in your sketchbook? Tell me more about the creative process of tattooing.
A: My work is often based on photographs but my ideas come from my environment , only I’m not traveling to get inspired but I browse the web and if I see something unusual or interesting the idea just hits me. Lately I only draw for myself at home surrounded by peace, I sketch a lot and if something turns out good enough, I might incorporate it in a tattoo. Mostly I work digitally I make a basic design on my computer and during the tattooing process I adjust it or make some changes ,
sometimes some things get left out other times I add more stuff, anyway I like to let my imagination free and luckily my clients never question my work.

Q: Nowadays, tattoos are not a taboo, but somehow there are some misconceptions about getting tattooed. What are some of the things that people should know before getting a tattoo? What we should be aware of?
A: This should be interesting :D first of all: Yes it hurts! :D No you can’t wash it off afterwards :D but most of all I would like to raise awareness about how important it is to inform yourself and do some research before getting inked, but not just type the word ‘tattoo’ into your search engine and pick out a quote or an infinity sign that has been done thousands of times before, but buy a magazine look around for designs, look for a good artist and that’s how you should choose your tattoo.

 Q: Working as a tattoo artist is a great opportunity to meet lots of cool people, do you listen your client's stories before you start working on their tattoo, like why they have chosen that design, their life story etc, or you keep it strictly professional?
A: I’m the type of guy that likes to conversate with his clients, this evolves anything from their life and of course we will discuss about the tattoo as well. Usually it starts with me messing around, busting a few jokes so I could enlighten my clients mood but I pay most of my attention on my work.

Q: How long does it takes to get an appointment? What's the procedure?
A: At the moment I don’t have a large waiting list, usually I’m booked two months in advance but if anyone would like a tattoo by me they can find me on facebook , the tattoo studio has a facebook page as well, and there are many other options to get in contact with us.

Q: How would you describe your profession in one word? ;)
A: Best thing in my life.

Q: Do you have any special plans for the near feature? Like a career achievement?
A: I have them just like everyone else :D I would like to get to known by more people, start a family, and jst some regular goals.. I would like to become a well known tattoo artist.

- Any words for the new artists?
I would like to thank you again for this opportunity to share my story. For the newbies (I consider myself a newbie as well) I would like to say to keep drawing drawing and drawing and say true to your dreams.