Name: Matthew Tarkman

Artistic Focus: Tattoos and Sketch Art

Background: As the owner/principal artist of MT TATTOOS in Redwood City, Matthew Tarkman has had a passion for art since childhood. At 20, his dream to share his art with the world became a reality when he started tattooing. Since opening his first tattoo parlor in 2003 he has become known in the Bay Area for quality work at reasonable prices. Redwood City's MT Studios is Matthew's third shop, this time refocusing back to the origin of his tattoo passion; art. Already established as a talented artist with 15 years experience, Matthew is still striving to challenge himself and elevate his work even higher.

Website: https://www.mttattoos.com

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/mttattoos/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MTTattoos

The vision many people have of a tattoo shop owner is a guy going to nightclubs with tattoo models and rarely working because the vision is of a networking businessman, not a working artist. With Matthew Tarkman (MT), this couldn't be further from the truth. Upon entering his living room, pencils and eraser debris lay scattered on top of a glass drafting table that is covered in many different drawings in varying stages of completion. He balances his personal art and develops new skills while also completing an astounding amount of tattoo work. His space is hardly lit except for the radiating light beneath his table to trace iterations of his designs and the glow of a movie on the TV while he works with his dogs resting just beside him. We sit down on his couch to talk with him while he continues to work on drawings after work and witness his personal process in his native space.

(Full Disclosure: Matthew Tarkman is the owner of MT Tattoos where Lisa works and was her mentor in her apprenticeship to become a tattoo artist. Thanks, Yoda, for letting me pick your brain, as always.)

The Overalls:

Artists Mentioned

Bob Tyrrell (Artist Website)
Nikko Hurtado (Artist Website)
Roman Abrego (Shop Website)

Media

MT Youtube Playlist
Art Fusion - Paul Booth (Youtube Video)

The Briefs:

“It’s not soft … I don’t care for that.” - MT (About his photorealism tattoos)
“Weaponized Photorealism, write that down.” - MT
“I’ve never stayed with anything before and enjoyed it until tattooing…” - MT
“The way I treat a person’s skin is like a canvas or a paper…” - MT
“We are conduits for other people’s emotions” - MT (About being artists)
“I’ve never envisioned myself having a whole mess of artwork on my skin.” - MT (On his own tattoos)
“I was building relationships with my body … it ended up not happening that way.” - MT (On networking by getting tattooed)
“(He’s) still having a lot of fun and producing great work.” - MT (On Bob Tyrrell)
“What you can do on paper or canvas if you can translate it … it really makes a difference.” - MT
“You have to win your client.” - MT
“It’s not a matter of me meeting them on their level … I want to be recognized as a good artist.” - MT (Speaking on other famous artists)