LSD Magazine Interviews Tattooist - David Corden (Issue 6)

We have never featured a tattoo artist in LSD’s pages before, but when we were tipped off about David Corden by a supremely proud wearer of his art who was overjoyed at having something quite so breathtaking to distract from the walking catastrophe that is the rest of him, we we were so dumbstruck by the vibrancy, the detail, the love and the visual dynamism of his work that we got straight in touch with him.

How did you get your start in tattooing?


It was by pure chance really as I wasn’t looking to be a tattoo artist. I had done a design that I wanted as a tattoo and after asking around to see who was the best artist for the job I found myself in Jim Gambells chair. We got along famously and he asked to see my portfolio and after he did he offered me an apprenticeship.

How difficult is it to judge skin as a medium when you are used to drawing on paper?


At the beginning of your career it is pretty difficult. Paper is consistent whereas skin types vary greatly. The age of the skin, the body part, and a persons health all contribute to how the ink will go into flesh . It takes a while before you have encountered every skin type, and you have to work on each enough times to see how you need to change your technique in order to do the job at hand. One of the biggest difficulties is the fact that flesh moves and on top of that people cough, sneeze and answer phones without telling you...it’s all pretty challenging!

Can you give us a brief insight into how technique and art come together in a tattoo – how a tattoo actually works 


There are general rules that are held to be true in order to make ink go into flesh correctly. You have to stretch the skin with one hand in order to keep the skin as tight as possible so that the needle will penetrate the flesh. If you don’t do this the skin will give under the pressure and the needle will bounce and make your lines go all over the place. Once your machine is set up you dip the tip into the ink and when you press the foot pedal the machine will start making the needle pass in and out of the tip dragging ink as it moves. When applied to skin the needle will push any ink that passes in front of it into the flesh. Whether or not you want to specialise in realism or more graphic type work will influence your technique a great deal, what works for one artist may not work for you

How much of a responsibility is permanence?


It is the most important part of the job. We turn a lot of people away or advise them against making a bad mistake with their choice of tattoo. We have a book in the studio called ‘I wish I had listened to you’. It has been filled in by people who have come to regret tattoos they had, in most cases they are boyfriends or girlfriends names or tattoos done on the cheap by someone with an ebay kit. We will not do necks or hands on anyone if it is their first tattoo as they need to have lived with ink first in order to know the seriousness of their choices and we won’t do it if they are under 21 anyway. You change so much as a person in your younger years and tattoos are so fashionable at the moment that everyone wants to be covered as quickly as possible. We don’t do joke tattoos or cartoon characters either, if it’s not artistic then we are not interested

Laymen have this image of getting a tattoo immediately on a whim. How much thought, debate and preparation really go into each commission?


The artists in our studio are booking up to 6 months in advance. We ask to meet each client first and for them to bring any research they have done with them. We go over ideas and take notes in order to produce a design that is both original and unique to them. We will not copy someone else’s work and it will take at least a couple of months for a design. We are not machines, ideas come when they are ready to and we are up to all hours making them come to life. We take our jobs very seriously and want every tattoo to be our best. Work doesn’t stop when the studio closes, we lose a lot of sleep. Inspiration can come from anything and at any time, if a client has a problem waiting then they can go somewhere else.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN LSD MAGAZINE ISSUE 6  (Below)
EXCLUSIVELY IN LSD MAGAZINE

Open publication - Free publishing - More urban art

The Eagle has Landed - UK Graffiti Legend Busk

Old Skool UK Graffiti Legend 'Busk' is mad busy creating a new line of art which is far removed from conventional graffiti methods. Aside from creating some great commissioned works of art for some of London's most swanky venues such as The Ivy or penthouses in St Pancras, Busk is experimenting with nature.

We shot some video of him this time last year...

Inkie - Valentines Day Print Release

‘The Look of Love’ Screenprint : Pink & Blue Editions
A2 (594 x 420mm) 5 Colour Screenprint hand printed by the artist on Heavyweight Art Paper at 280gm. 

Emboss Stamped , Signed and Numbered in a limited edition of 50.
at a special Valentines price of £75.00 each plus P&P.

This is also available as a 24k Gold Leaf Edition with Hand finished heart only available in an Super Limited edition 5 of each colourway at £150.00 each plus P&P.

UK Orders received before 3pm on Thursday the 10th February
will be guaranteed delivery for Valentines day.

Exclusively available at: www.inkie.co.uk

Plus limited edition colourways of other Classic Prints, Original Canvases, Tees & Cards. Genuine Inkie original products since 1984…

Twitter: @inkiegraffiti

Upcoming Events:
February 17-20th - 20|21 International Art Fair
March 11th Street Fonts: Thames & Hudson Book launch
March 10-13th: Affordable Art Fair
April: Solo Show - Best Joined Up - Leeds
May: Solo Show - Lazarides Outsiders Gallery - Soho

Open publication - Free publishing - More urban art

Street Artist RUN New Website

Italian street artist RUN has just launched a new website...He 's a hard man to track down due to flying around the world painting though of late RUN has been creating his works of art throughout London...

http://www.runabc.org/

Open publication - Free publishing - More urban art

LSD Magazine Interviews - Pip Rush / Bert Cole - Arcadia (Issue 5)

We know our way round a party here at LSD, but this is pure next generation stuff as every single synapse crackles into a lightening bolt of gobsmacked wonder and the barriers crumble before the onslaught of thousands upon thousands of heaving minds, bodies and souls coming together in breathtaking unity and rushing their fucking nuts and their bolts off. After the spellbinding spectacle that was their field at Glastonbury, we caught up with Pip Rush and Bert Cole - the visionary nutters behind it all for a word...

Can you tell us a little about your backgrounds 

PIP - I grew up in the countryside in Dorset within a family of artists. My brother Joe had just started the Mutoids when I was born so got a lot of inspiration seeing their shows as a kid.Tried the school thing but didn’t enjoy the system, Started working on and off with the Mutoids 15 years on, learned how to build big scrap sculptures and enjoyed some wicked parties around the world. 

BERT - I grew up in the Dorset countryside with an early passion for mechanics, machines, improvisation and acquiring the skills for making things. I went to my first Glastonbury 20 years ago and witnessed Archaos aged 10 which helped my wheels get turning.  I took off on the road at 16 with tent company Kayam that took me all over the world in amongst festivals and events and was quickly made a tent master and spent the next 11 years touring the globe in the summers with a motley tent crew moving giant structures for events from orchestras to raves. In the off season I started to put on my own free parties and was becoming more interested in getting people together with music and entertainment outside of the normal system.

How did you come together to create Arcadia?

PIP - I started a traveling arts café and travelled round European festivals and squats building party environments. It was hard graft with no funding and we spent a lot of time trying to fix the trucks and acquire diesel... But it was loads of fun, and we met hundreds of creative, driven people. We rocked up at a Spanish festival one day and bumped in to Bert who I vaguely knew from childhood. He was erecting these massive tents, having fun with his crew playing about with serious machinery. I was really inspired to see the possibilities when you had quality tools and good food…and I think he was also inspired by how much fun our freestyle creative lifestyle was…


The next year we scored a good budget from a festival in Ireland and he came out to help with his crew. It was a real potent mix of crews and we built an amazing environment full of sculptures, with a big tent in the middle with bands and stuff. Sometime in the early hours we had a chat about how a linear stage and a separation between the musicians, crowd and sculpture was all wrong, so decided to try and merge it all in to one 360 arena…. From the outside we looked like a dribbling mess, but on the inside wed just hit on an idea that was about to grow beyond our wildest visions!


BERT - I knew of Pip from an early age as we grew up pretty near each other but started to get more in touch as time went on and we realized we had some common interests. I worked as part of a team Pip put together to produce an area at Electric Picnic in 2006 and there was something really positive about working together and the ball started rolling there really as the momentum gathered to try and create, make or produce things in festivals that were nothing traditional but a fusion of influences and elements that combined, made for a full 360 degree all encompassing atmosphere in which people could really let themselves go. This was made relatively obvious from witnessing years of festivals and concerts always following the same old linear formula of stage and auditorium etc. We quite clearly decided to turn it inside out and upside down and create a hub from which effects, music, energy radiates in which people are amongst rather than simply watching. Where things have got to now is a mere evolution of what started for us there.

How important is recycling and mutation in within the Arcadia concept?

PIP - Hmm, it’s massive. Anyone with a few basic skills and a welder can make amazing things out of scrap with very little other resources. Also the inspiration that comes from visiting a scrap yard and seeing mountains of machines from past generations piled up high is massive in itselfe.… We get all our stuff from military scrap yards, Its interesting seeing crates and crates of 

BERT - I feel like we start with outlandish concepts and then search for good bits of scrap as building blocks, slot then in and re arrange them. This allows the concept, design and manufacture to organically and simultaneously develop along an exciting path.

How important is wider team spirit and the essence of collaboration in the bigger installations?

PIP - It’s all about that really, building creative stuff, pushing the boundaries and having a big party at the end really brings the best out of people. ‘Arcadia’ has attracted so many amazing individuals and groups in to my life, all who have inspired me and shaped how I live. I think everybody must have a similar motive, because they all give their heart and soul to work around the clock and make it happen… and they’re definitely not doing it for the money! 

BERT - It’s all about the people, community and spirit. What we do is fuelled greatly by huge amounts of enthusiasm, focus and relentless hard work towards a collective goal by many amazing people who have a huge range in skills, interests lifestyles and ideals. Together these form a multi faceted, ever changing collective who point in the same direction.

READ FULL INTERVIEW IN LSD MAGAZINE ISSUE FIVE

50 Cool Street Art Shots - Global

Australia

Italy

USA

Various Cities

World Street Art @ LSD Magazine