MURKADO

When did you decide to become a tattoo artist? What did you do for work prior to becoming an artist?

• After receiving my first tattoo at the age of 14, that pretty much sealed the deal. It became all I cared about and worked towards. I worked all kinds of jobs since I was 13, either labour doing demolition, or industrial painting, then later on at a gas station, and several part time mall jobs.

How long have you been tattooing for?

• I did my first tattoo in the winter of 2006.

Were you an apprentice at the beginning of your career?

• I had a brief apprenticeship at a small shop near Metrotown in Burnaby. The owner didn’t tattoo and once the guy who was teaching me got fired, I was left to my own devices. After a year or so of going it alone, I got the opportunity to work under Trent Paré at Eastside Tattoo and he really taught me a lot. It was like re-apprenticing all over again and I will forever be grateful for that.

Do you have any mentors that you’ve been learning from?

• Trent Paré continues to be a mentor in many ways. Aside from that, I try to learn from anyone I work with, whether it be folks at my shop, guests, or other shops when I travel.

How did you develop your style of tattooing?

• I think my style and type of work developed naturally. I wanted to try and do all styles. Learning various ways of tattooing early on just kinda started to click as I went along. I pursued the things that worked and learned from the things that didn’t.

What shops have you worked at throughout your career?

• Before opening my own shop (Pacific Rose Tattoo), I worked full time at various places around Vancouver trying to learn from each and take the next step forward.

• Most notably, I worked with Trent and Jess Paré at Eastside Tattoo Parlour, and Jamie McPhearson at Irezumi. In my travels I have worked at Kapala Tattoo in Winnipeg, Radio Block Tattoo in Calgary, Tahiti Felix’s Master Tattoo in San Diego, Scapegoat in Portland, and one of my all time favourites at Idle Hand in SF.

What is something about being a tattoo artist that people may not know about?

• Probably just how much time gets put into everything. There’s still a lot of mystery in tattooing despite what media has shown on a mass scale. It’s nice to be a part of something that is still shrouded in some mystery.

What is your working process like when someone pitches you an idea for a tattoo? How do you go about creating the final design?

• I usually work on several layers of a sketch until I’m happy with the direction. Then I’ll check in before going too far on it and make sure the person is happy with where it’s headed.

• I prefer to stencil the main image and freehand the rest, so there usually isn’t a ton of drawing beforehand. More so, if I can freehand the whole thing, I really love doing that. I’ll prepare a rough draft on paper to have some kinda guideline to look at while free-handing. From there I just let the markers play.

Have you ever refused a design idea from someone and vice versa? Are there any types of tattoos that you would refuse to do?

• I have and always will turn down anything that promotes hate such as racist or sexist imagery etc.

Do you have any advice for someone just starting out or is thinking about becoming a tattoo artist?

• Get tattooed. The best way to get into the community is to actively be a part of it. Bring drawings, sketches, paintings, ask for critiques, and take them with open ears.

What are some designs that you enjoy doing or would like to try doing more of in the future?

• I really enjoy any kind of nature based design, and something that I can make readable, simple and flow with the body. Snakes, birds, and other types of animals always provide a good start to work in that frame.

• I’d also really love to learn more about traditional Japanese tattooing. I’m very drawn to the way it fits and moves with the body and how much of an impact the imagery has, while the background holds it all together with a subtle. repetitive pattern.

Are there any tattoo artists out there that inspire you?

• There are so many, I try not to get too into anyones work in particular; I don’t want to accidentally mimic or copy anyone too much. What really inspires me is seeing the tattooers I work with daily just do their thing and be happy doing so. I’m fortunate enough to be surrounded by folks who are passionate about their work in a variety of different styles and that is a constant inspiration.

What motivated you to get tattooed in the first place?

• When I was a kid, I would always try to draw all of my Dad’s tattoos. He had a couple of dragons I was always fascinated about. I grew up really into tattoos, and wanted to get my own ever since I could remember.

• Instead of a lemonade stand, when I was about 6 or 7, my older brother, myself, and some pals set up a tattoo stand haha. We just drew skulls and dragons and the like with ballpoint pen, then scratched overtop of it with a stick we sharpened. After being very disappointed that they didn’t last after a wash, I closed up shop and stuck to temporary store bought tattoos until I could get one of my own, to see how it was really done.

• There was a moment when I was about 8 or so where my Dad almost let me get a tattoo (shortly after my first sip of beer). I was watching my Dad’s friend tattoo some people at a party at my house. I really wanted this spider web on my elbow, so I drew it on with pen and begged my Dad to let me get it tattooed. At the time it felt like it was really gonna happen, but my Mom was absolutely not down haha. It was probably better off that it didn’t happen.

• When I was about 14, I knew a guy who was getting tattooed by some old biker in his basement. It was pretty gnarly all around. The tattooer, who I knew only as ‘Warlock,” sat me down and handed me a beer while he used a dremel to sharpen a needle out of a jar that it was soaking in. I figured this was standard procedure, so I was stoked it was freshly sharpened. A year later when I got a tattoo in a legitimate shop, I immediately got a blood test and luckily all was good.

Do you remember what your first tattoo was?

• That first tattoo was a logo from an old punk band called “Operation Ivy”, but a more detailed version that has half the guy in a clean suit and all tidy. The other half all torn and ratty. It was all done in a tight 3, including the shading.

How many tattoos do you currently have? Which one was the most recent?

• I’m almost full at this point, so it’s turning into one big one I guess haha.

• Most recently I got a butterfly on my hand from my friend Benny Hannya at Haven Tattoo in Rutland Kelowna. Really great experience. I built him a one-off custom machine to tattoo me with, and gifted it to him afterwards. It’s a really special piece for me, covering an old one I did myself on my hand in 2008.

What have been some of the inspirations behind the tattoos that you have?

• Often big life changes or things I’m into. As I mentioned before, I love nature and animals elements, and of course Japanese tattooing. I’ve got a mix of styles as well, mostly from getting tattooed by people I was trying to learn a style or technique from.

Do you typically have an idea in mind before reaching out to a tattoo artist?

• Not really. I often pick the person before the design and try to base it on what I think they would be great at and have fun with it. There’s been a couple artists over the years where the image came first, such as the butterfly on my hand.

What type of tattoo styles have you gotten done? What do you like about tattoos in general?

• Most styles have been done on me and have been either covered or layered.

• What I like most about getting and having tattoos is the permanence and the autonomy. For the most part, you’re in charge and it can be really uplifting to do something like that for yourself. I also like the memories they provide. Each one brings me back to that time in my life when it was done, and is a bit of a road map over the years.

Do any of your tattoos hold any personal meaning to you that you’d like to share?

• They all have some hint of meaning to a degree I suppose, but mostly I like to collect them and just have them as pieces of art. Some are matching ones with friends that hold fond memories, which are pivotal times in my life, but most are just for the sake of getting them.

What were some of the most painful spots to get tattooed for you?

• So far it has been my throat, ribs, sternum, and under buttcheek/upper thigh in that order.

Has having tattoos had any impact in your personal life?

• I’ve been lucky enough to have had family members that were tattooed. Aside from tattooing since I was 17, the only jobs I’ve had outside of it were not the type of jobs to discriminate for that kinda thing.

Do you have any favourite tattoos?

• Hard to pick a favourite, but I’ve been working towards making a full body suit now. I would like to tie in any of the left over spaces with Japanese-style background and maybe layer over some older unfinished work.

• Eventually, I’d like a fully solid, zero skin body suit from my shoulders down to my ankles and wrists. Once that is more or less done, I think the whole suit as one will be my favourite.

Who are some of the artists that you've been tattooed by?

• Ryan Halter, Uncle Allan, Dan Fletcher, Phil Yau, Benny Hannya, Mason Larose, Ishi (illsynapse), Dennis (Superior Tattoo and Skate), Cheyanne Sawyer, Dan Gilsdorf, Franz Stephanik, Heath Smith, Garret Egles, Ryan Gagne, Stace (waterstreetphantom), Hannah Privè, Noah Davis, Rachel Clark, Hendo, Rad Randerson, Sam Kane, Eckle, and several others.

What artist(s) would you like to get tattooed by in the future?

• I don’t have anyone particular in mind for future work, but likely more from Benny Hannya. I’ve been wanting something from everyone at my shop, so now it’s just down to fitting in what I can into the empty spots.

Do you have an idea in mind for your next tattoo?

• I might layer some traditional frame/pattern stuff over my sleeve I started when I was 15. It’s old and unfinished and I’d love to fill it up with a dense traditional pattern/frame background and then laser and layer new stuff inside the empty frame spots.