Thomas Carli Jarlier
“Omule : Hi Thomas, can you tell me how everything started?”
“TCJ : My path into tattooing has been quite organic, so to speak life itself brought me into it. I have never planned to become a tattoo artist, however I have been fascinated by tattoo since my early teen years. Of course back then, I viewed it not as an art form yet, but rather as a form self expression. I got my first sleeve done when I was 15. I left my hometown in France to study music in London, and this is where I did my initial steps tattooing small things for my friends, from that moment I never stopped exploring the possibilities in tattooing and trying to learn more and more about it.”
“Omule : Where do you get your inspiration from? Can you remember some of your earliest influences?”
“TCJ : Any art form is often a really personal development. Inspiration usually comes when i’m not trying to be inspired, if this makes sense. Of course I spend a lot of time looking at other artists, painters, etc… But I think in general inspiration comes from deep down within ourselfs. I often feel inspired by music and by nature; those would be the 2 things that can create visuals in my mind that I can after retranscribe on skin. If we speak purely about tattooing my earliest influence was Matteo Pasqualin, Nikko Hurtado, Carlos Torres, Dmitry Samohin. ”
“Omule : Do you have an ideal creative environment? Do you have any kind of creative patterns and routines?”
“TCJ : The work environment around me does affect me a lot. I need to feel comfortable to work to my fullest. For example, I usually have soft music as background, jazz works great for me. Also many people know me for putting on the Big Bang Theory while I tattoo:) I like the positive vibe it sets! I’m a sensitive person so its important for me to be surrounded by likeminded people, artists who are passionate about tattooing as art and who like to share and grow together. ”
“Omule : You are one of my all time favourite artists. You’ve definitely tattooed some exceptional portraits. What inspires you the most for this unique style of tattooing?”
“TCJ : Thank you very much! I draw my inspiration from unusual and artistic photography. What I like the most about tattooing portraits is capturing the emotion. Of course, the techniques of shading, texturing, saturation constitute a foundation to transcribing the sensual aspect in a tattoo, but there is also something else, something inexplicable. I guess this is the magic of drawing and tattooing a portrait. ”
“Omule : Do you admire other tattoo artists? Do you have any favourites?”
“TCJ : It’s fair to say that my biggest inspiration as an artist is Matteo Pasqualin. He is a legend of Italian black and grey realism. I knew of him before I started to tattoo and I have never imagined that one day we would become close friends and would share so much in common in terms of our way of thinking about tattooing as an art, technique and industry overall.
Matteo has been tattooing for over 24 years and he has accumulated an incredible baggage of technical and artistic knowledge. I believe that he is one of the main pillars of modern black and grey tattooing. ”
“Omule : What machines, inks and needles are you currently using?”
“TCJ : I work closely with Bishop and Sunskin when it comes to machines. I truly enjoy the Bishop Wand at the moment and as well my own signature pen with Sunskin. For needles I have been using Kwadron for the last 4 years and couldn’t be more happy and when it comes to ink since the beginning I have the chance to be supported by World Famous Ink with who I made my own ink set. ”
“Omule : What do you love to do in your spare time? Do you have a favourite place to go on a holiday?”
“TCJ : In my spare time I think of what I can do to push my self forward in tattooing and in life. This reflection time for me is very important as I think when we are working too much its difficult to see our own ideas clearly. Speaking of holidays, Im not really a holiday person, I enjoy the small things in life when im not working, like watching a movie with my wife and cats. In my spare time I always find a couple of hours a day on any day off to keep my body healthy by working out. I enjoy traveling for work most of all otherwise I get bored quickly.”
“Omule : Who is on the guest list for your ideal dinner party?”
“TCJ : I’m gonna be pretty boring but simply being around all my friends at the same time which is nearly impossible because they are all from around the world.”
“Omule : What superpower would you like to have and why? Also, if you had the power, what would you forbid?”
“TCJ : If I could have super powers i would probably just want to be able to fly because I don’t trust planes. And if I could relieve people of stupidity I would too. HAHA:)”
“Omule : That would be awesome and also a tough one to handle :)). What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?”
“TCJ : To enjoy little things and to take your time to LIVE.”
“Omule : All in all, what would be a great achievement for you?”
“TCJ : For me the biggest achievement would be to give back to my community (tattooing) and to feel that I can inspire other artists to push themselves to do what they believe in. ”
