MURKADO

What motivated you to get tattooed in the first place?

• I had always wanted a tattoo from being around my family when I was younger. My older cousins actually had a lot of tattoos and have even more now. My grandfather, who worked at sea, had a bunch of American traditional, so I guess it's always been around me. I loved how tattoos can symbolize anything you want them to be, whether it be nothing or everything at the same time.

Do you remember what your first tattoo was?

• My first tattoo was a combination of the character “Tomie” from Ito Junji's works and “Zero Two” from “Darling in the Franxx” (check it out it’s pretty sweet) in a traditional style by Adrienne from Crimson Empire.

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

• I currently have 22, 2 of which I have done myself. The most recent tattoo I have is the one on my left tricep of “Akaza”, a character from the “Demon Slayer” manga.

What have been some of the inspirations behind the tattoos that you have? Do you typically have an idea in mind before reaching out to a tattoo artist?

• I would say around 80% of my tattoos are inspired from Anime and Manga. Nearly all of them (except 2) are inspired by Japanese culture.

• I do have an idea because I don’t wanna make the artist too frustrated with me haha. I heavily plan it out myself so that I can specifically translate my ideas to them.

What type of tattoo styles have you gotten done? What do you like about those styles?

• I’m not too sure what to classify my Anime ones, but that's the style I have gotten done the most and a couple of Japanese traditional style ones.

• Everything I’ve gotten showcases exactly who I was and what I was into at that point in time. The fact that I get to look cool while showing my growth is pretty awesome.

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

• The moon tattoo that I have on my inner right forearm symbolizes the first man on the moon, Neil Armstong, whom I was named after. It’s personal to me due to fact that my parents named me after someone who achieved something great and I hope to live up to that name one day with anything I set forth to do in my life.

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

• I'm pretty safe when it comes to my placements, but near the elbow was so spicy it sucked.

Has having tattoos had any impact in your personal life?

• Not personally, which I'm grateful for. My workplace and my family are accepting of them. I definitely thought the roof would come crashing down, being from an Asian household and upbringing, but when my mom saw it, she thought it was pretty cool which means a lot.

Do you have any favourite tattoos?

• I have two! The melting face of “Kaori and Azami” from Ito Junji's works “Gyo” and “Uzumaki” on my left outer forearm, and the “Tomie” by Ito Junji from his first artbook on my right tricep (that one is my favourite because I posted it on twitter, tagged Ito Junji and he liked it). 

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

• Eden (@tattoosbyeden), Eileen (@tattoosbyeileen), Adrienne (@adriennetattoos), Jonti (@jontibalbuena), Vanessa (@vanessaspezowka) and my good friend Sebastien (@subdidink).