![]() It’s the way the world goes: digital, internet, connections, information. How do you feel about the current commercialization of tattoo? I heard this the other day and I liked it (laughs). I like Japanese and Indian art for instance. If I find something I like I take it, I copy it. I think it doesn't matter where the design comes from, as long as it is a good design, it is in the right place and you do a good job tattooing it. ![]() Does it bother you when tattooists “copy”?įor me it is not important that everything is drawn “originally”. That’s what I like to do: make my own version. When you study the Japanese work, you notice that every artist did his own little thing. I’ve learned the rules and I have changed them. Japanese tattooing goes hand in hand with strict rules and some consider it as a demanding and difficult tattoo style. I knew that if I did a graphic style, I could do more tattoo work in my life. There is nothing you can do to stop that. It takes a lot of energy and time and the skin changes through the years, as it is alive and it’s going to spread out eventually. You can shade it a little bit and you can add different things. The Tribal bodysuit is beautiful too but if it’s wrong, you see it immediately and moreover I find it much more difficult. The back is the centre, and the arms and the legs are the accompaniment. What I also like about it is that it is one design. I like Japanese because it is so graphic. I went to Japan when I was seventeen for the first time and I got to see all these men with bodysuits in real life. Why did you choose Japanese tattooing in the first place? What attracted you towards it? There are other non-Japanese artists, that do really beautiful and very traditional Japanese work, like Shad from Belgium and Ivan Szazi from Brazil. Ed Hardy was also very influential for me. I do the best I can and I mix everything I like. I am not Japanese, so I don’t have the full understanding of it and I don’t study enough. My Japanese style is influenced by different things a little bit of American, a little bit of Indian, a little bit of Rock 'n' Roll. What was your influence? What led you to your style? You got involved with Traditional Japanese tattoo, a tattoo style with great history and strict rules and you interpreted it in your own way, a way that has influenced many. I learn a lot when I work on some very good tattooist. So it’ s more like playing than working exchanging ideas, exchanging designs, and working on the designs together. It’ s a big part of my work, and it is very enjoyable because I work with people who understand the business very well. Over the years, I have worked on a lot of tattoo artists. Many of them have characterized you as “a genius”. So far I had interviewed for HeartbeatInk some very respected and charismatic tattoo artists. In two or three years a bodysuit is finished. So you reckon that children are much harder work than skillful tattooing?Ībsolutely. I love children I just don't want to work so hard. Nothing has changed however we are still a very united family. Now, everyone has wives and husbands and their own houses. In the past the Leu family lived all together in one home. I live with my wife Titine and my mother Loretta. How is your relationship with the rest of your family? You never stop being influenced by learning. I get older, my life changes, my mind changes, and my design choices change. Then I travelled and I learned more every year. My father was my teacher and made me who I am. How much has your family influenced you as a tattooist? However, I was fifteen when I started working properly full-time everyday like my father did. I was already tattooing by the age of twelve. How many years you’ve been tattooing now?Ībout thirty-two years. I am happy though because I like tattooing. You know, you stay around tattoo a little while and it totally catches you. In the beginning I didn't like tattoo so much. He was an artist, he made jewellery and batiks. My father Felix was doing many things before tattooing. They had a different life before and then decided to become tattoo artists, which I find interesting because I never really thought about it it was natural. The London Tattoo Convention) I realized that most of these people chose it. The main thing I can tell you about my life and tattooing is that I didn't choose it my father and my mother did it first. He spoke to us about his long life relationship with tattooing, the reasons why he chose Japanese tattoo, the responsibility that every tattooist carries, the importance of a great design, his thoughts on copying, his admiration for strong women and the everlasting bond of the Leu family. The ingenious Filip Leu, gave his first and only interview up until today to a Greek medium, HeartbeatInk Tattoo Magazine.
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