Our interview with Bruno Perdiz, an incredible Portuguese tattoo artist, who shares insights on his creative process, inspirations, and the evolving tattoo scene in Portugal.
Dulce & Banana: Bruno, your tattoo work has a distinct personality—if your style were a music genre, what would it be and why?
Bruno Perdiz: I love music, it is my favorite source of inspiration and it is actually essential for me to tattoo while listening to good music despite the genre. I grew up in the 90s and 00s listening mostly Rock and Metal, so in a way it’s “connected” with the personality of my work or at least in the creative process of it. However, maybe sometimes it’s possible to see the “look” of grunge, the “mix” of Nu-metal and because I like to improvise maybe a bit of jazz. But definitely rock music genre is the most present in the making of all my tattoos, and if other people see it like that im very happy.
D.B.: If you could only use three colors in your tattoos for the next year, which would they be?
B.P.: That’s very difficult to choose because I really love to work with a big palette of colors and that i’m good at, but if I had to choose only three maybe black, red and white. Black because it is the color that I always use, maybe around 30% in all my projects to give contrast and more presence as well as to make it last in time. Red, because it’s my favorite color and it always looks good. White, not just because it’s the lightest tone and it’s very important for contras but because it is perfect to mix with black to make some really nice opaque greys that I love to use, and that really work together with red.
D.B.: What’s one misconception people have about tattooing that you’d love to correct?
B.P.:I think people have many misconceptions about tattooing, but the one i would like to correct it’s that tattoos must have a meaning behind it. They don’t. Of course the meaning is what makes people get tattoos, but many become tattoo collectors, they collect several artistic pieces from different tattoo artists around the globe with unique styles just because they love the art. I think people should have a more open mind when getting a tattoo, not just stick to the meaning or the style they see most times on the internet. If they let the artist work on its own creativity its the most pure result.
D.B.: Have you ever refused to do a tattoo based on personal or ethical reasons?
B.P.:I have refused to tattoo based on personal reasons, never ethical. But most of the times, it was for technical reasons. For example, the client wanted some specific idea/design in a style that I’m not used to doing, so I advised them to go to some other artist that would do better, because at this level of tattooing, it is important that the artist is familiarized with the style to have the best result possible. Another example is the personality of the client, because tattooing is not just about the final result, it’s also an experience of understanding each other, and it has to be pleasant in order to find the netter result, so if I don’t feel any connection with one’s personality in some way, it’s better not to start.
D.B.: If you could collaborate with any non-tattoo artist (painter, sculptor, designer) on a tattoo project, who would it be?
B.P.:If i could collaborate with a non-tattoo artist, It would be with the one and only that nobody knows the face, Banksy. He has been my favorite artist since the 2000’s and it was a big inspiration for me back in the days when I was an art student, especially because of his subversive and disruptive ideas, all the thinking and risk behind the process, but also because no one knows who he is but everybody knows the art that he does and that’s what really matters. I’m sure it would be a crazy experience but I have no clue of how it would turn out in the end.
D.B.: What’s a design you’ve always wanted to tattoo but haven’t had the chance yet?
B.P.:To be honest I don’t really know because I’m lucky to have some very good clients that let me work with a lot of freedom. Every project I do is a new challenge and a unique piece, therefore is a chance for me to want to make it happen.
D.B.: What’s the most unusual or unexpected source of inspiration for one of your tattoos?
B.P.:Considering every tattoo a new experience, each one can have its own source of inspiration. It is very difficult to choose one to say as the most unusual or unexpected, but for example, i’m working on a big project on a girl and its a composition about autochthonous animals and plants from a specific area in Portugal. During the process, talking with the client about all the patterns and colours of the place, brings different solutions to connect the elements on the composition. I can’t say it’s unusual but in the end of each session the final result it’s always unexpected.
D.B.: What do you think the next big technical evolution in tattooing will be?
B.P.:Since I started tattooing back in 2012 there have been many technological upgrades in the tattoo industry, for example rotary pen wireless machines, cartridge needles, printers and apps, etc. All of these upgrades forced me positively to upgrade myself as a tattoo artist in some specific moments, and helped me a lot improve my technique in the process of tattooing over the time. So I think that the big technical evolution is within each one of the tattooers at some moment in the career.
D.B.: Have you ever had a moment where you thought about quitting tattooing? What made you stay?
B.P.:No, fortunately since I started tattooing I feel that I was lucky to find a way to do what I do best since I was a kid, that’s drawing and painting. So, everytime i might feel a bit negative about tattooing for some reason I try to remember that with tattooing I can work in the art world like I always wanted, and at the same time I can have the freedom to be just “a happy kid playing with crayons”.
D.B.: What is the most unusual or weird (or both) object that we can see in your tattoo studio?
B.P.:I think that depends on the point of view of each person that goes inside my studio, but…maybe a small painting with chickens I have on the wall of the studio, everyone asks me “why the chickens?”. The truth is that it was a birthday gift given by a artist friend of mine and its chickens for no special reason. However I like to see it as a reminder of where I came from and that works like something to ground myself.
