Today, the guest of our column was a young tattoo artist from Novosibirsk, whose creative development we have been observing for quite some time.
Please meet - Robert Steinberg.
His signature styling literally stops the viewer's eyes. His tattoos perfectly combine realism and graphics, high contrast and detail.
If you have never met Robert’s work on the endless expanses of Instagram, today is your lucky day. The day when you can not only see his tattoos, but also get to know the author a little closer than social networks allow.
So, without further ado, let's get acquainted!
Robert, tell me a little about yourself and how you came to the style in which you work now?
- Initially, as many other tattooists, I worked in different styles, there was a lack of understanding of what is good and what is bad in a tattoo. I didn’t really understand styles at that time, I just did everything in a row. Over time, the taste began to appear, an understanding of how should look an aesthetically good work. Then I began to find various interesting dudes who worked in a certain style, and thought: «I want the same! Why am I not start doing something different?» I had to sort through a bunch of information to understand what I was more interested in.
Initially, I stylized frank bullshit, it’s ridiculous to recall those moments when you are already sweating, angry, but nothing comes out anyway. By trial and error, I came to my own style, but naturally, there is still possibility for development. And of course, what I am doing now - I am madly love.
«I believe that you should never stop, otherwise you will become gray, or even worse, you will die as a person.»
Tell me a little about your work?
- I like to stylize portraits, but in fact I try to stylize everything that comes to hand in the work. From gloomy images to cartoon characters. I like to work with portraits, deep contrast, with different light sources, thereby conveying the image of the character.
It is interesting to mix abstraction with your own stylization, arranging them both in a single whole, as well as just adjacent objects. I get aesthetic pleasure from it.
Now, having a little sorted out of gears in my head, I came to the conclusion that I want to make characters of games and cartoons, I want to fully switch to such heroes.
What makes your work truly yours?
- I think this is stylization itself, you can trace some repeating elements from work to work, perhaps the images also help this. In any case, I do not limit myself into any framework.
Perhaps in a year my stylization will change and I will go into other forms. Who knows.
I’ll also answer a little philosophically: my works will never be exclusively mine, because I do them for people, I’m interested in the reaction, if it doesn’t, then I’m boring, if there is, then it doesn’t.
Where do you get inspiration?
- I don't believe in inspiration. Someone of artists said: «The amateur is looking for inspiration. Professional takes and does.» You no need to travel out of town to the forest or monitor a bunch of sites with pictures to get pseudo-inspiration. You can just sit at home and draw, calmly be in the same location and come to something new and interesting. This is my opinion about inspiration. Someone possibly gets it from what I said above.
Share your plans for the future. Is there anything particularly interesting?
- Of course. There are interesting plans for the future. For example, to engage in the popularization of tattoos in my hometown. Raise the tattoo industry in Novosibirsk. Because now it is in a deplorable state. There are very few guys who really want to achieve something.
I want to take to a new level what is here. Not for nothing, I go to master classes, seminars. I like to get new knowledge and then pass it on to the guys who, just as I want to develop. It’s really cool - to make something really worthwhile out of nothing so that people move towards us.
In the tattoo, I also plan to look for something new, interesting, move on. I would also like to do painting, it’s interesting to me.
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