Volken is the new tattooist at Old Bastards Cluj-Napoca. He’s an awesome and very nice guy and I had the pleasure of asking him a few questions.
Where are you from and how did you end up at Old Bastards Cluj-Napoca?
Volken: I’m from a small village in the North of Israel. I moved to Cluj with my girlfriend, who had decided to move here to study veterinary medicine. I used to work in a studio in Tel Aviv and a few times a year I still go there to guest spot. Before we got here I did some research on studios in the city and came across Old Bastards and some others. This is the one I liked the most so we went there to present myself and ask if they need another tattooer. Luckily Dorin liked my work and said he will take me. I was very glad because I liked the studio even more after visiting in person and meeting the artists and feeling the good environment they had there.
How long have you been tattooing?
Volken: I have been tattooing for about a year and a half after a 2 year apprenticeship.
How did you end up doing this?
Volken: I finished the army and realized graphic design doesn’t really excite me. I needed a job and was looking for a job as a waiter, and somehow found myself the same day getting a job in a tattoo studio in a village close to my home. It took me a long time to understand what it is to be a tattooer and to feel prepared to be one. At the beginning I did the custom designs and management of the studio.
How would you describe your tattooing style?
Volken: I don’t think I have a specific style so far. In Israel I am mostly known for doing dotwork. Most of the tattoos I do are custom design. Now I try to move to a bigger size of work influenced by neo traditional and Japanese. I really like cartoon style and animation, especially animals. I’m trying to make a unique design for every client and do it only once. It is getting harder. In the beginning I worked mainly with my own designs but now I have clients asking for specific things they saw on the Internet and you need to work with what they ask.
What kind of stuff are you most excited to tattoo?
Volken: I get excited about tattooing in general, but mostly when I have big pieces, Japanese or neo traditional influenced.
Is there any particular thing you would want to tattoo and haven’t yet?
Volken: I would like to do a big work, entirely my own design, on someone who has no problem with anything I come up with. A human canvas with no opinion. But seriously I really like animation and Japanese and would just like to design a big piece entirely my own ideas in these styles. For example one of my water paintings I did recently of a mouse samurai giving flowers to a cat geisha.
Who is your favorite tattooist? Who do you want to get tattooed by?
Volken: It’s a really good question and a very hard one also. There are so many good artists I know, so it is hard to answer. I really wanted to make an appointment before we came to Romania with a tattoo artist called Logan from Barracuda tattoo in Sevilla Spain. I think he is really awesome. He works in a similar style to what i want to tattoo and he is a great inspiration.
What would you say about the Romanian clientele?
Volken: In general I like them. They usually respect my opinion and give me freedom to design the work. They are very polite and it is a pleasant experience to work with them.
Much love, and I for one can’t wait to get a piece by him!