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About tattoo artist Fabien Madeleine
"If you want an exceptional tattoo, you must get to know your tattoo artist and their style" ~ Fabien
How do you choose the right tattoo artist for a custom design?
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Identify the tattoo style niche for your design ideas. Select someone who is capable of executing said design.
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Confer with the artist regarding the arrangement, focal priority and placement of the tattoo. The artist's feedback will demonstrate an understanding of visual structure and best practices.
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The artist will then describe his approach to building the composition of the tattoo and further explain priorities and process.
5 Questions with Fabien Madeleine of
Malefic Tattoos
Q - What is your tattoo style?
A - It's hard to say; during the past 30+ years the tattoo requests have been so varied. It's rare that I'm asked for a tattoo style I haven't done before. But, if I had to specify some of the tattoo styles I enjoy and am known for, in other words, my specialities, I'd say:
Realism - Creating pieces which capture reality in vivid brilliance is a tattoo style I really enjoy. Tattoos made using photo realism, micro-realism and hyper-realism provide freedom for the artist to work. It's not just about recreating an image - it's about bringing the substance of a piece to life through imaginative realism tattoo techniques. This is definitely my most frequently requested tattoo style.
Portraits & Memorials - This type of tattoo is probably the next most frequently requested artwork. Memorializing family, friends and pets is always enjoyable. Getting to see the look on the faces of people when these special connections are brought to life through art, is a true pleasure.
Cover-ups - Covering up an existing tattoo is definitely a tattoo specialty and one which, I think can only come from experience. Cover-up tattoos demand a completely different composition strategy. They also come with the distinct challenge that standard tattoo design does not; working with someone else's work.
Cover-up tattoos demand more strategic planning to ensure the previous tattoo's elements are completely eliminated. This needs to be done in such a way that the new design's presentation is not adversely impacted by previous pigmentation, bleed through or line work.
Q - What should people know about why you Tattoo?
Firstly, each tattoo I create is an important piece of artwork to me. There are currently 15,739 people walking this planet with a Fabien Madeleine tattoo; and every time I think about it I am humbled by it.
As I've always said:
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"It's important to remember that to each person their tattoo is the most important tattoo in the world"
This has always been my philosophy.
Q - What is your tattoo procedure?
The artwork of tattooing is only possible when you take great care with the fundamentals of proper procedure. I'm meticulous with my work, equipment, procedures and process.
I may be an artist at heart, but I'm also very methodical when it comes to focusing on the inclusive parts that make up a great tattoo. The standards I hold myself and my work to, continue to be raised as each new piece of artwork expands the depths of my capability and imagination.
My furry pals Dobby and Lulu (my shop dogs) hold down the fort here in the shop. Some people still get uneasy during tattoos, that's okay!
Dobby & Lulu are professional tattoo support dogs. Feed them a treat and they'll befriend you for life.
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If you prefer not to be greeted by our friendly dogs at the door or during your appointment, please let us know.
Q - How did you get started in the artform of tattooing?
You could say that certain life events conspire to lead us to our passions. For me, this occurred at the age of 12. That's when my father took me for my first tattoo. Yeah, it's true!
Some of your jaws may be dropping right about now - but for me, I was on cloud nine with excitement. It may sound absolutely absurd, and most people wouldn't approve of it nowadays, but I was GOOD with it! It was a different time (obviously), but you'd be hard pressed to be anything cooler in grade 7 than already being tattooed; or at least, in my 12 year old mind.
Sometimes you choose your art, and sometimes the art chooses you. When you're a kid and you want something, you've got your parents at a disadvantage and I was relentless. I bugged them incessantly from the age of 10! It would take two full years with what I thought were reasonable arguments, to make any headway. At the age of 12 I finally broke them. My dad took me for my first tattoo and I was utterly elated! Swept up in the excitement, my dad decided to get his first two tattoos the very same day. It was a day that I look back on fondly.
This was the day that foreshadowed my lifelong connection to the art form of tattooing.
Q - What keeps you tattooing after 30 years?
The short answer: I'm an artist, and tattooing is a natural outlet of expression for me. And after 32 years and almost 16,000 tattoos, I am still trying to one-up myself with each new design.
The stories, reminders and powerful convictions people describe to me behind each piece of artwork is really what drives the design. Tattoos are an expression of the powerful life events and experiences that contributed to making them the person they have become and that is what it's all about.
For me, the expression and pursuit of Art, in all its forms, has been an inescapable gravitational force. It has been manifested in artwork, music, and of course in Tattooing.
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