Varvara Romanchuk, a tattoo artist from Moscow, creates magnificent compositions with dragons and flowers that emphasize the strength and grace of the owners of these tattoos.
Varvara prefers large and voluminous images, which look especially impressive on the hips, arms and backs of girls. Of course, the style chosen by the tattoo artist first of all captivates girls - both the images of the dragons themselves, and the combination of black and pink colors, and, of course, delicate floral lines.
However, the tattoo artist herself can best tell about her portfolio.
- Hello Varvara! I am glad to introduce you to iNKPPL readers! Tell us a little about yourself: how did you become a tattoo artist? What style did you start learning and working in tattooing?
- I have been tattooing for 8 years. In my last year of high school, I got my first tattoo, and I realized that this is what I would like to do. I studied at the Art of Pain studio in St. Petersburg, and at first I did everything in a row, without a certain style. Then for a long time I tried to find myself in neotrad, and then unexpectedly came to graphic.
- Tell us about how the dragons took over your entire portfolio? What features of your work would you highlight? How did you come to the style you are working in now?
- For a long time I specialized in popular "girlish" tattoos, but I have always been interested in more complex plots. So, little by little, I began to add animals to the classic flower arrangements, then snakes and dragons. Dragons really liked my audience, and gradually replaced everything else. Then came the dragons, and then I started adding pink to my work. Probably affected by the fact that I started with colored tattoos.
- How was the idea of making tattoos for mothers born, depicting them with their children in the form of dragons? Is this your idea, or did the request come from your clients?
- At first, I generally wanted to draw a dragon egg with a baby, but then it seemed to me that it looked lonely. Initially, there was the idea of mum-protector, but she still turned out to be more cute than aggressive.
- Are your dragons chosen only by girls? Are there any men among your clients?
- Basically, of course, my audience is girls. Men are more likely to come only by recommendation and then I work with their ideas.
- Dragons and peonies - suggest that you are inspired by the culture of the East. Is it so? And where do you get your inspiration from?
- Rather not, my sketches are something between eastern dragons and dragons from the Game of Thrones. I am rather inspired by the very process of communicating with a person, I draw all my projects with freehand, and I create muzzles after a personal meeting with a client.
- Are there any other motifs or styles in which you draw, but have not yet realized in a tattoo?
- I would really like to draw cranes and kitsune foxes.
- You do not show sketches to your clients in advance, and work in freehand. Explain why this is so important to you and how it affects the quality of the tattoo?
- For me, the element of trust in me as an artist is important. Therefore, I create sketches on the place, so I get an individual project that suits a particular person, taking into account his anatomy and wishes.
- We cannot ignore the question about your dogs :) How did it happen that you have 3 dogs, but in your sketches there are still representatives of the cat family more often? Will dog faces ever appear in your tattoos?
- I love dogs very much, I am a dog lover to the marrow of my bones, but I hope all dogs will forgive me, but cats really seem to me to be more beautiful in appearance. I did not plan to depict dogs in my works, but about 6 years ago, I could not imagine that dragons would be the main theme of my works, so it's hard to guess.
- You had your own studio in Moscow, tell us briefly about this experience. Was it difficult to say goodbye to it? Do you have plans to open new spaces for work?
- Yes, it was not a business, it was a dream. I really wanted to create a place where artists would work comfortably, so that everything was there: a cool location, customer service and a cool team. Unfortunately, I did not find a sufficient number of like-minded people in Moscow. Therefore, I am unlikely to want to open a new space in Russia, but it would be interesting for me abroad.
- Do you offer workshops or training for beginners? Are there any such plans for the near future?
- I used to be engaged in training, but for me it is very energy-consuming. Many come to training without a sufficient level of drawing, and therefore I cannot teach them to do on the skin what they cannot do on paper. I conduct master classes for existing tattooers individually.
- You have a large audience on Instagram, including foreign ones. How often do people from other countries come to you for a session?
- Now it’s hard to talk about it, first there was covid, then other problems. I’m rather often invited to work in other countries.
- You actively maintain your instagram, write a lot and communicate with subscribers. Tell us, what place do you think social media occupies in the life of a tattoo artist? What skills does a tattoo artist need to have in order to have a steady stream of clients?
- Social media for the tattooer are now the main tool for promoting their ideas. Unfortunately, it’s not enough just to make tattoos well, now you need to be a blogger, a manager, and a targetologist. Often this works in the opposite direction, when the average artist has a good Instagram, and he has more clients than the artists with very cool work. So you need to engage in your development not only in creativity, but also in social media. Many people go to a session with a person, not with a tattoo artist.
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