EXCLUSIVE - Timothy B Boor (Dark Images) | Kokomo, Indiana 12/03/2012
Hello Timothy B Boor! To be honest, It's a great honor to talk with you. Magazine covers, working with many great artists, including Paul Booth at "Last Rites Tattoo Shop", tattoo awards etc. So much to be told and to be remembered. I'm pretty sure that you're just another role model to many artists out there...
Q: What made you to become a tattoo artist?
A: I was always into drawing and painting. I thought tattooing would
be a great way to make a living by pressuring my own art. Tattooing
has been good to me.
Q: How long have you been tattooing?
A: About 6 years.
Q: How did you start your career?
A: I started drawing at a young age and took oil painting lessons
when I was 10 at a local gallery for a couple years. I started
tattooing when a friend of mine opened a shop and gave me an
opportunity to learn.
Q: Do you have any influences?
A: I'm inspired by too many artists to name. There are so many great
artists out there to look up to and push you to be better. I see a
new artist everyday that inspires me.
Q: Some people say that it is possible to be self though
artist. What are your thoughts about this?
A: I cannot say it is impossible to be a self taught artist because
I know many who have become great tattooist. I went through a basic
apprenticeship but I also learned a lot by getting tattooed by
people who specialized in the area I wanted to learn more about.
Q: Looking at your portfolio is a great way to get inspired.
There are lots of tattoo styles that you do. What is your favorite
tattoo style?
A: I love to do realism/surrealism. I like when people give me
themes or ideas to work with and let me come up my own visual
interpretation.
Q: Portraits are maybe the most remarkable designs in your
portfolio. Do you remember when the impression for this kind of work
first began?
A: I have always loved to draw faces and copy photos. Even when I
was young my favorite artists were the masters like Da Vinci,
Caravaggio, and Michelangelo. I liked the way they were able to
capture expressions. It impressed me and I try to do that in my
work.
Q: What is most challenging part in
doing realistic
tattoos?
A: The simple fact that minor judgment mistakes can throw of an
expression or likeness of a person. You never want to make someone's
child look crossed eyed or have crooked teeth.
Q: Nowadays, people are coming up with
many creative ideas for a tattoo. Any bizarre requests?
A: There was a guy that approached me to do a tattoo about
bestiality. He wanted it to be somehow classy and passionate.
Needless to say I passed on that piece.
Q: Is there any "dream piece" undone yet?
A: Yes and no, not one thing in particular but being able to do
tattoos that lean toward my style and allow my interpretation are
what I would love to do more of.
Q: Your paintings are awesome. What kind of
supplies you use the most?
A: I use Grumbacher and Windsor & Newton oil paints. I use brushed
from many different companies and surface wise I use linen canvas
and boards.
Q: "Sea of Irony" oh Gosh, that one is really
impressive... What is the significance?
A: That's when I did a series of different sea traveling vessels.
Its about having what you want be so close but so far away at the
same time.
Q: Can you make a comparison between your painting style and
your personality?
A: Yes because all my art work one way or another has a meaning or
idea I'm trying to portray. I defiantly put a lot of me into my
work.
Q: What is the most captivating thing that viewers should
see?
A: I like the meanings to be discoverable but not spoon feed. I hide
things in the image to give the viewer something to figure out.
Maybe even get their own meaning from it.
Q: So many customers, drawings in your life, what keeps you
permanently creative?
A: Actual the customers do. They come up with ideas that wouldn't
have come naturally from my mind. It's challenging to merge there
ideas with your own and come up with something that suits you both.
Q: What is the best
lesson that you've learned from you art journey?
A: Stay humble and always realize someone out there is better than
you and is someone you can learn from. The day you stop learning is
the day you stop growing and start become stagnant as an artist.
Q: They said "The real artist is never fully satisfied"
There is always something new to accomplish, discover, something new
to try... What are your goals, or things that you might want to
accomplish in the next few years? Please feel free to share your
contact info/mail, website etc.
A: I'm definitely not satisfied. I critique my own work harshly. My
goal is always the same, to grow as an artist and keep pushing
myself forward. You can check out my portfolio at Paul Booth's Darkimages.com and
timothybboor.com