Almagro works at the ‘Black Ship’ tattoo shop in Barcelona and when he uses red, yellow and turquoise he opens up new scenarios for Traditional tattooing.
Hi Almagro, I know you have tattooed in Nicosia in the past. So, are you actually from Cypro or how exactly did things happen?
Hello and thank you very much for having me! Since 1999 I used to buy Tattoo Life because back in the days it was the only magazine you could find in Barcelona. About the question, actually, I’m not from Cypro myself, but my wife is and now we have a daughter together so I live here but I travel every month to tattoo around Europe.
Let’s talk about your art: you are clearly a Traditional tattoo artist, but if I told you that your style is 90% Traditional, how would you describe the remaining 10% ?
Yes, my style is clearly Traditional, and I agree with that 90%. The other 10% I would say I reserve for exploring more modern influences and personalized touches. Sometimes I like to incorporate details or techniques that are not necessarily part of the classic Traditional style, but that brings a more original touch to each piece.
Color is a determining element of your works: do you work on it a lot in terms of inspiration or do you have reference colors and in the end you always find yourself using those?
Colour is fundamental for me. I tend to have a base colour palette that I feel comfortable with, I only use three colours apart from black, red, yellow and turquoise from Eternal Ink. This combination of red + yellow + turquoise is perhaps the one that represents me the most.
Your pieces are medium sized and otherwise very eloquent. I saw on your Instagram account that you also fully tattooed a client’s legs. When will an entire full back piece or even a body suit be made by Almagro?
Yes, I really enjoy doing medium-sized pieces, but I also like to work on larger projects such as legs or, as you mention, a full back piece. In fact, I would love to do full body works, as they are incredibly challenging and allow you to develop a visual narrative across the whole body.
I’m preparing some larger projects and hope to tattoo them in the future.
What can you tell me about your place of work, the ‘Black Ship’ in Barcelona? Would you like to present this renowned tattoo studio to our readers?
‘Black Ship’ (IG: @blackship.bcn) in Barcelona is an amazing place to work. We have a very talented team, with many artists working on different styles and a very creative environment. It’s a very respected studio in the tattoo scene and we are very proud to offer a space where clients feel comfortable and in good hands.
What relationship do you have with guest spots and Spanish or international tattoo conventions? Where will we see you as a guest in the next few months?
I love doing guest spots and participating in conventions. With the pandemic I stopped attending conventions but I would like to start going to them again next year, especially in events like ‘Gods of Ink’ (IG: @godsofinktattooconvention), Leeds and Brighton or the ‘Mondial Du Tatouage’ in Paris.
I think it’s a great way to meet other artists, learn from them and also share my own work.
And your last famous words are… ?
‘I’m not an artist, I’m a tattooer, maybe you could call me an artisan’.
