Tattoo artist and illustrator Joe Capobianco has unwittingly created a homage to the Suicide Girls -- an art book dedicated to America's long time obsession: cheesecake...of the pin-up variety. What's Not to Like? is a compilation of illustrations that have graced skin and canvas filled with pages of pouty lips and Double-Ds. But beyond it's obvious sex appeal, the book's artistry shows just why Joe Capobianco has been called one of the world's best tattooers by trade magazines worldwide.
We talked at the London Tattoo Convention about the allure of the classic pin-up.
Marisa DiMattia: Youre the perfect interview for Suicide Girls because of your tattoo tributes to pin-ups. You also have a new art book out devoted to pin-ups as well, so lets talk about that first.
Joe Capobianco: That started as an idea to do a sketchbook. A friend of ours, Brett Bryan who owns Pulse Tattoo Supply suggested that we do the book, and I put together a bunch of work that I had kicking around -- sketchbooks, art work, everything, -- put them in folders and sent it over there. He sat on it for two weeks and came up with the idea of not doing one book but two books. The first book, the art book, is pretty much the last twelve years of artworkeven more, 15 years, because some of the artwork is from before I even started tattooing, but the majority is the last 6 to 8 years. And the sketchbook includes some art from my sketchbooks we had about twenty sketchbooks to go through and some of that artwork were artwork for tattoos and others were just drawings and doodles and stuff like that. Mainly, we put that together in one book to get it all out to the public.
MDM: And its mostly pin-ups?
JC: The majority is cheesecake, yes. Theres a handful of paintings that arent pin-up related, like a painting of a dog, but the majority is pin-up, straight-up.
MDM: Whats the attraction to this kind of art -- beyond the obvious, big boobs, lips?
JC: [laughs] To be honest, I always had a thing for it, I always loved looking at pin-up work. It started with an artist named Olivia hers is the first work I saw and then from her stuff, I got into Alberto Vargas, Hajime Sorayama, then into the older guys like Gil Elvgren, Earl MoranAnd pretty much fell in love with it.
MDM: For much of their work, theres a high artistic quality to them; theyre more than the just sexy images.
JC: Oh, yeah. Theres something about paint as opposed to photographs. I mean, I really enjoy the photographs, but theres something a bit more wholesome about the [painted] pin-ups. And on top on that I just like that its painted. Its something someone created.
MDM: With two books, thats a lot of pages of pin-up imagery. How do you come up with ideas for your girls?
JC: A lot of the ideas come from clients because I mostly do sketches for skin. I also search the web to find images that strike a nerve and different ideas will come to light. Or Ill start with a general idea and flesh it out on paper, finding some kind of photo reference to go along with it. A lot of it, though, just strikes like lightening and just turns out the way you want it to.
MDM: Do you have a particular muse?
JC: Theres a handful of models I circle around: Aria Giovanni, Masuimi Max, the higher-end fetish models. Those two strike a cord when I think of a type of look for the girls I draw on my own--shapely women with big eyes, heavier lips. But I cant say theres one muse in particular. Its the female form in general.
MDM: Didnt you do a tattoo of Suicide Girl Amina?
JC: Yeah, a customer of mine from Nebraska wanted a tattoo that looked like hernot exactlybut he definitely wanted people to know it was her. I chose to do a portrait/bust piece of her, drawing from what he gave me. He sent me tons of references. He definitely knew what he wanted. Actually, it was pretty freaky. I understand that shes particular about her image, so I joked while doing the tattoo that we could get sued by copying her tattoo and her image, but he sent [a photo] of it to her and she was fine with it.
MDM: What is it about cheesecake that makes people want to tattoo it on their skin?
JC: You know what, I honestly believe that its like that old Sailor Jerry stuff, its never going to die. Theres something about a pretty girl that everyone can appreciate, whether it be male or female, young or old. Sailor Jerry pin-up girls have been around since the thirties and there have been pin-ups even before him, obviously, and this is just the next incantation of that. And you have other artists take these same types of ideas and designs and doing them their own way. People will never get tired of it, I dont think. Its one of those things that will continue to live on and it will never become old hat.
MDM: Do you have a lot of female clientele?
JC: I cant say I have a large female clientele, but those that are getting tattooed are getting sleeves and backpieces, large-scale work, instead of those tiny tattoosI think its pretty cool, its a good trade-off.
MDM: Lets talk about your tattoo studio. How long has the Hope Gallery been around?
JC: The Hope Gallery started with Eric Merrill, Julio Rodriguez, and myself and our third year will be this month at this location. We just hired Tim Harris and the four of us pretty much come and go as we please. Its set up as a gallery so when you walk into the main room its not just flash and a couple of couches. Its a huge space, about 1,500 square feet with nothing but art work. Well have occasional art shows to show people what were doing and other artists. I wish we had time to do more.
MDM: With having a tattoo studio/art gallery, do you believe that tattooing is a fine art itself?
JC: I dont consider myself to be such an artsy-fartsy guy that I consider tattooing a fine art. I look at a tattoo as a tattoo. If you want to put more meaning into it, thats fine. But for me, a tattoo is a mark on your body. Youre doing it because its on you and you want to make a statement, whatever. A lot of people put their heart and soul into someone elses piece and theres nothing wrong with that. I dont do that. I put pictures on skin.
We talked at the London Tattoo Convention about the allure of the classic pin-up.
Marisa DiMattia: Youre the perfect interview for Suicide Girls because of your tattoo tributes to pin-ups. You also have a new art book out devoted to pin-ups as well, so lets talk about that first.
Joe Capobianco: That started as an idea to do a sketchbook. A friend of ours, Brett Bryan who owns Pulse Tattoo Supply suggested that we do the book, and I put together a bunch of work that I had kicking around -- sketchbooks, art work, everything, -- put them in folders and sent it over there. He sat on it for two weeks and came up with the idea of not doing one book but two books. The first book, the art book, is pretty much the last twelve years of artworkeven more, 15 years, because some of the artwork is from before I even started tattooing, but the majority is the last 6 to 8 years. And the sketchbook includes some art from my sketchbooks we had about twenty sketchbooks to go through and some of that artwork were artwork for tattoos and others were just drawings and doodles and stuff like that. Mainly, we put that together in one book to get it all out to the public.
MDM: And its mostly pin-ups?
JC: The majority is cheesecake, yes. Theres a handful of paintings that arent pin-up related, like a painting of a dog, but the majority is pin-up, straight-up.
MDM: Whats the attraction to this kind of art -- beyond the obvious, big boobs, lips?
JC: [laughs] To be honest, I always had a thing for it, I always loved looking at pin-up work. It started with an artist named Olivia hers is the first work I saw and then from her stuff, I got into Alberto Vargas, Hajime Sorayama, then into the older guys like Gil Elvgren, Earl MoranAnd pretty much fell in love with it.
MDM: For much of their work, theres a high artistic quality to them; theyre more than the just sexy images.
JC: Oh, yeah. Theres something about paint as opposed to photographs. I mean, I really enjoy the photographs, but theres something a bit more wholesome about the [painted] pin-ups. And on top on that I just like that its painted. Its something someone created.
MDM: With two books, thats a lot of pages of pin-up imagery. How do you come up with ideas for your girls?
JC: A lot of the ideas come from clients because I mostly do sketches for skin. I also search the web to find images that strike a nerve and different ideas will come to light. Or Ill start with a general idea and flesh it out on paper, finding some kind of photo reference to go along with it. A lot of it, though, just strikes like lightening and just turns out the way you want it to.
MDM: Do you have a particular muse?
JC: Theres a handful of models I circle around: Aria Giovanni, Masuimi Max, the higher-end fetish models. Those two strike a cord when I think of a type of look for the girls I draw on my own--shapely women with big eyes, heavier lips. But I cant say theres one muse in particular. Its the female form in general.
MDM: Didnt you do a tattoo of Suicide Girl Amina?
JC: Yeah, a customer of mine from Nebraska wanted a tattoo that looked like hernot exactlybut he definitely wanted people to know it was her. I chose to do a portrait/bust piece of her, drawing from what he gave me. He sent me tons of references. He definitely knew what he wanted. Actually, it was pretty freaky. I understand that shes particular about her image, so I joked while doing the tattoo that we could get sued by copying her tattoo and her image, but he sent [a photo] of it to her and she was fine with it.
MDM: What is it about cheesecake that makes people want to tattoo it on their skin?
JC: You know what, I honestly believe that its like that old Sailor Jerry stuff, its never going to die. Theres something about a pretty girl that everyone can appreciate, whether it be male or female, young or old. Sailor Jerry pin-up girls have been around since the thirties and there have been pin-ups even before him, obviously, and this is just the next incantation of that. And you have other artists take these same types of ideas and designs and doing them their own way. People will never get tired of it, I dont think. Its one of those things that will continue to live on and it will never become old hat.
MDM: Do you have a lot of female clientele?
JC: I cant say I have a large female clientele, but those that are getting tattooed are getting sleeves and backpieces, large-scale work, instead of those tiny tattoosI think its pretty cool, its a good trade-off.
MDM: Lets talk about your tattoo studio. How long has the Hope Gallery been around?
JC: The Hope Gallery started with Eric Merrill, Julio Rodriguez, and myself and our third year will be this month at this location. We just hired Tim Harris and the four of us pretty much come and go as we please. Its set up as a gallery so when you walk into the main room its not just flash and a couple of couches. Its a huge space, about 1,500 square feet with nothing but art work. Well have occasional art shows to show people what were doing and other artists. I wish we had time to do more.
MDM: With having a tattoo studio/art gallery, do you believe that tattooing is a fine art itself?
JC: I dont consider myself to be such an artsy-fartsy guy that I consider tattooing a fine art. I look at a tattoo as a tattoo. If you want to put more meaning into it, thats fine. But for me, a tattoo is a mark on your body. Youre doing it because its on you and you want to make a statement, whatever. A lot of people put their heart and soul into someone elses piece and theres nothing wrong with that. I dont do that. I put pictures on skin.
VIEW 14 of 14 COMMENTS
i love Joe!