Experience is not only a number of years or a list of awards. Its value appears in the assessment of an idea, design development, understanding of the body, choice of technique and the decisions that prevent a strong subject from becoming a weak tattoo.
I acquired my first professional tattoo equipment in 2001. At a time when there was no developed professional tattoo scene in the area, knowledge was built through practice, study of equipment and materials, analysis of my own work and continuous correction of mistakes.
Anita and I opened Anubis on 19 March 2004. The studio has changed together with my working method, but the underlying intention remains the same: to create a serious project for a specific person rather than simply transfer an image to skin.
The development of the studio is described on the About us page.
Development did not end when the studio opened. I attended tattoo conventions, followed professional seminars and learned from experienced artists, including Mike DeVries and Joe Capobianco. New knowledge mattered only when it could be tested and applied in real work.
Colour realism played an important role in my professional development. Today I also work in black and grey and combine realistic, ornamental, geometric, decorative and other approaches when the project requires it.
The focus expanded from a single image to composition, anatomy, readability, the relationship between detail and size, and the way a complete project moves with the body. The approach is explained in the Tattoo section.
After years of work I developed Think What You Ink, my own approach to tattoo decisions and project development. An idea is not assessed separately from the design, the smallest important detail, the required size and the placement on the body.
In 2014 the approach was shaped into a guide and a seminar for clients who wanted to understand the decision rather than learn how to tattoo.
In 2016 I wrote the original story The Magic World of Tattooing. It presents the process of moving through Think What You Ink and the difference between an image somebody likes and a project that can genuinely become a strong tattoo.
Anubis is now a private studio in Čepin. Most of my work is focused on individual and large-scale projects, connected compositions, cover-up and rework situations, and projects that require several visual approaches to be combined.
Tattoo with Character explains what it means to develop a project around the person, idea and body instead of a ready-made template.
Experience does not mean accepting every idea. It means recognising limitations before work begins, anticipating consequences and explaining what a project needs to remain workable, readable and meaningful over time.
The first step is not ordering an image or paying a deposit. It is a free individual consultation that establishes what the project actually requires.