French from Bordeaux but world traveler to learn the best techniques related to tattooing, we present Lil B’ exponent of Fine Line Black and Gray and Japanese.
It’s said that the true artist is elusive and never satisfied with a single art form. In the case of Lil’ B this is particularly remarkable as he juggles both Black-n-Gray fine line tattoos and 100% Japanese work.
How do you explain this restless nature of yours?
Well I can’t really explain it! (laughs) I think it’s just how I’m wired, I’m a pretty extreme and “all in” type of person so whatever I get into I become pretty obsessive with it. I guess it’s a blessing and a curse.
Let’s separate the two…
Well, a blessing because I live a life of passion and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else and sometimes a curse – especially for the people around me! (laughs) – because it’s hard for me to turn it off. I’m constantly thinking about my next tattoo or painting etc.
You are French from Bordeaux. Can you tell me the highlights of your career?
Yes I am french born and raised in Bordeaux. When I turned 18 I moved to United States and learned tattooing there. I stayed there until I was 24 but eventually I had to leave.
That’s when I started touring around the world with my team. And to be honest I feel that my career has been filled with amazing adventures and key moments so it’s hard to pick some highlights as there are way too many.
I would say that traveling the world while tattooing and also getting tattooed by people I look up to was and still is very enlightening for me.
Do you find that an accurate and well printed photo facilitates your work regarding Black-n-Gray Fine Line tattoos or do you use as much artistic freedom in shading and details?
When it comes to Black-n-Gray Fine Line I always start from a picture for the main piece/element of the project but all background and composition is freehanded on the moment directly on the skin of my clients. A good quality picture is always best but I can use a low quality one and make up the missing part or create some extra shading etc. It doesn’t really matter to me!
Do bad photos have their perks too?
Yeah! Sometimes bad pictures make it more interesting because you have to think more and come up with something to make it work. I have no interest in being a printer, I am not into Hyper Realisme, of course my work has a Realistic aspect to it. I try to bring some flare in by adjusting shapes, lines, values to my liking.
How did love for Japanese style enter into your artistic work?
Ever since I can remember I always loved Japanese art and imagery. I first got into Fine Line Black and Gray tattooing because I was amazed by the technical aspect of it. How is it possible that you can have tattoos with such a range of values and precision on the skin? That’s what I was wondering and what got me attracted to it. Also I was living in southern California and I learned tattooing with homies so this was the style and culture available to me at the moment.
Okay, but Japanese style?
However I always loved Japanese tattooing! (smiles) I just knew that before getting into it I had to educate myself and study. I understood that this was gonna take a lot of time and effort so I decided to put it aside and first fully focus on learning to have a proper application of tattoos, then Fine Line Black and Gray and eventually 10 years later Japanese tattoo work.
After a few trips to Japan and a lot of documenting I decided to get started. I ended up living in Japan for almost 2 years, mostly painting Japanese designs at first and eventually I started tattooing them.
The more I got into it the more I found it interesting. Now I am absolutely obsessed with Japanese tattooing!
Has it been hard for you to travel less in the last while?
Traveling less hasn’t been hard as it gave me the opportunity to stay in one place and focus on producing more artwork. What has been hard is to put a lot of my clients on hold as the European borders were closed and most of my clients come from North America to get tattooed. Luckily I have very loyal and patient clients and I am now able to resume work and finish their projects.
The best tattoo artists are usually those who tattoo the most abundant portions of their clients’ bodies like full backs, sleeves, legs etc. Do you see it as a certificate of skill to use so much ink on other people’s bodies?
I came from the graffiti scene so to me the more territory I cover the better it is! (laughs) Skin is like real estate, I want it all!
What do you think about large scale tattoos?
Well, large scale tattooing is a different ball game for the tattooist but also for the client. Large scale tattoos have a magic to them. It’s technically harder to do and also physically way more tiring. It goes beyond just laying down ink on the skin.
You have to be in tune with your client and both parties have to trust each other.
So to answer your question, I don’t know if it’s a certificate of skill to do huge tattoos but I know it’s a totally different category of work than doing small/regular size tattoos.
I was really struck by these two pointers of yours on Instagram. “Documenting what I see on film” and “No tattoo talk”. I got the first one, the second one could you explain it better for me?
Ok so I have 3 Instagram profiles and I know it’s a lot! (laughs) Each one of them has a purpose. One is dedicated to Fine Line Black and Gray (@lilbtattoo), one is dedicated to Japanese tattooing (@lilb_wabori) and one is more personal. I post only pictures I take with my film camera there (@lilbhernandez). On the personal one I wrote “no tattoo talk” because people tend to send me a lot of tattoo questions via DM such as “how much for a sleeve?”. I don’t work by DM and even less through this profile which is not tattoo oriented.
Got it.
Thanks. I don’t mean to be rude but I try to work with serious collectors or at least people that are willing to take the time to follow my booking process and send a proper email to explain their project.
