ANDY ENGEL–GERMAN PORTRAIT ARTIST

By Travelin’ Mick

Photos by Andy Engel, Travelin’ Mick

Andy Engel

He might be a rather quiet and humble man, but Andy Engel from Kitzingen in southern Germany has become one of Europe’s foremost portrait and realistic tattoo artists. Long years of hard work are finally paying off! It’s not like he was destined to become a tattoo artist. Andy Engel’s first passion was rock music. Touring with a successful German cover rock band took up most of his free time for a long time, and only a few years ago did he decide to put away his drumsticks and fully focus on his tattooing career at his own shop, Andy’s Tattoo, in a suburb of the Frankonian town of Kitzingen.

Andy has always been a shy character, rather untypical for a tattooist. This very pleasant character trait had been a steep obstacle on his way to becoming a skilled artist, when, in 1994, he decided to start tattooing. Back then, established tattooists in this part of the world discouraged newcomers as potential competition, and any knowledge was treated as trade secrets, not to be given away, but sold to the highest bidder.

A friend, who had taken an extraordinarily expensive “tattooing course,” let him in on a few tricks and got him his first kit. A long and unsuccessful period of experimenting on friends followed. “I went to conventions, but never dared asking any questions or approach anyone,” remembers Andy about the tough, old days.

Only in 1998, when he met realistic specialist Maik Frey from the Stuttgart area and Mattes of Bechhofen through DOT, a newly founded German tattooists’ association, that he made progress. “I owe these people a lot. Finally, the very artists I admired actually helped me with my work. I could call them whenever I needed anything. The same with Tattoo Tomas from Erlangen near my home.”

Andy’s humble appearance, which for him has a lot to do with respect for his older and more experienced colleagues, is not necessary anymore. He has worked his way to the top of Germany’s tattoo scene and can now be considered one of the best portrait and realistic tattooists in Europe. His waiting list is usually capped at one to one-and-a-half years and demand is still rising with clients coming from far away.

This reputation is the result of hard work, always trying to improve himself and his tattooing skills, by slaving away in his shop and attending the best conventions (often just to watch a single artist for the whole weekend, as in London 2008, when Andy got tattooed by portrait maestro Bob Tyrrell for two consecutive days). Tyrrell, one of Andy’s absolute heroes, has agreed to let him work with him in his private studio in the U.S. in 2009, and they are planning on attending conventions together.

When I talked to Bob about Andy, the American master expressed admiration for the determined German. “I wouldn’t be ashamed of showing Andy’s work in my own portfolio,” said Tyrrell. “Such a nice guy, and he is so talented.”

Andy’s portraits are determined by clear and deep shadings. Freshly tattooed, they tend to look a bit too dark, for which he, of course, already prepares his customers. Only when the tattoo is completely healed and settled in the skin does the image unfold its entire beauty and depth. “It is essential to slowly work your way through the shading, getting darker and darker. The lines, if necessary, should only be tattooed at the very end, since they set the final image,” says Andy.

Like Tyrrell, Andy doesn’t lay down so-called “water-lines,” which some of his colleagues use as initial guidelines for the tattoo. Andy is surehanded in his genre, and his sense for the proportions and expressions of the human (and animal) face is excellent.

The TV shows, like Miami Ink and L.A. Ink have created a huge demand for memorial, i.e. portrait tattoos, which flooded Andy Engel with even more applications for appointments. But, for now, he is handling the business with his exuberant wife, Heike, co-tattooist Lajos Tornyosi (originally from Hungary) and apprentice Tina. It seems that, for Andy Engel, the long and tough path to success has finally paid off, and he has definitely reached one or two of his goals, even if he would never admit it himself. He is way too humble for that.

ANDYS TATTOO & PIERCING STUDIO

Andreas Engel

Mainbernheimer Strasse 6

97318 Kitzingen

http://www.andys-tattoo.com

http://www.myspace.com/andyengel