We met with Cartoon at the Milanese celebrations of Air Force 25th. Here is what he told us.

What was it that initially got you doing tattoos?

I’ve just been drawing my whole life. And tattooing was something I grew into, I had to wait for the doors to open up for me to learn the professional way. I was doing it homemade style on the homies, but I knew that there was a difference and that I had a choice, to do it with professional machines.

How long have you been tattooing?

More than 10 years. I’ve been a professional artist for over 20 years. Let’s put it this way, the majority of people outside of Southern California know me for tattoos, but the people in L.A. knew me since I was 16, doing lowrider murals. I was the youngest illustrator for Hustler magazine. I was already doing interviews and being known before I picked up a tattoo machine. I came to tattoo in my mid 20’s.

What distinguishes your work from other artists?

think what makes me different and original is that I draw each and every customer a custom original tattoo, I don’t do anything twice.

There are no patterns in the shop, as far as walking up and picking number 9. Even if you want something already done, I’ll change it up. I specialize in black and grey, I don’t use any colors. One bottle of black and some water, that’s it. I don’t go out of my style, that’s me, that’s what I do. I wouldn’t do nothing on anyone that I wouldn’t wear. Personally I respect color tattoos, but I wouldn’t put any on me. That’s because of how I grew up, that’s our style.

You seem to be working on a lot more than just tattoos, what else are you involved with?

Well, I’m building a 1963 candy tangerine ice cream truck, with the plasma screen in it, 20 speakers, 10 TVs. And I’m designing my own shoes right now, with Nike. I have a limited edition skateboard, Stussy.

Rumour has it that soon Mr.Cartoon will become the first tattoo artist to make a movie. The title will be Ink - The Movie, and a short trailer is already available online. Can you tell us something more about this project? Is it a documentary on your life?

You know, at first it was meant to be a documentary, considering that Estevan [Oriol, his partner] has been following me with a camera for 15 years. Now we have a lot of footage, and we’re gonna work on that to make the real movie.

We took some of those images to make a trailer and build up a little hype. We managed to secure a deal with Brian Grazer, who produced stuff like 8 Mile and A Beautiful Mind. Big movies. Then, we had to decide whether we wanted to make a documentary or a classic Hollywood movie. If we had chosen the documentary, we already knew it was gonna be an elite thing. So we decided to think big and produce something that could have a wider distribution and a larger audience. Making a movie is a great thing, but it’s a very, very slow process. We’ll start shooting soon, but it’ll take a while for us to finish it. I think it won’t be released before 2009.

Aside from the movie, is it true that, among your projects, there’s also a comic book?

Yeah, it’s gonna be a graphic novel, a nice hardcover book. We have aleady presented a few art-toys inspired by the comic book, the Lost Angeles Toys [produced by Super Rad Toys (www.myspace.com/superradtoys), they cost about 130$], presenting the main character of the story, which is set between Tokyo and L.A. I’m afraid this is all I can say about it for the moment.

Speaking of Tokyo… we know Mr.Cartoon is in love with Japan, a country where tattoos are a very serious matter. What’s the difference between the Japanese and the American tattoo culture?

Japan is really where it all began: the Japanese did extremely modern tatoos well before the advent of electricity, covering their whole bodies. Of course tattoos are very popular in other countries as well, kids love them. But the main difference is simple: in terms of tattoos, the Japanese are way ahead everyone else.

We shouldn’t forget that there have been many changes lately, cultures are mixing. So, it’s not unusual to see Western guys with typical Japanese tattoos, as well as many Japanese boys with American tattoos, L.A. Style. Stuff like this [he produces a small book from his large pockets and flips through the pages: it’s a special issue of Frank 151(www.frank151.com)]. Here, see? Our whole culture is summarized here.

It is certainly true that tattoos are almost a normal thing for young people these days, but lately there’s been a further step forward, related to girls. On the street these days we see more and more tattooed girls, even with very large drawings, even with full back pieces…

Yeah, that’s totally true. If you’re asking me if I like tattooed girls, then… well, sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I think some girls look better without tattoos, as if they were purer, know what I mean? Maybe some of them do it to look like tough girls, but lots of tattoos you see around aren’t good, they make them look like junkies. Maybe they just don’t have enough money to pay for a decent tattoo. The difference is always in the hands of the tattoo artist: if it’s drawn professionally, it’s more likely to be good. In this case, even a back piece can make a woman more attractive.

Today we celebrated sneaker culture. But we wonder how can a tattoo artist relate to a mass product like the Air Force One. We know Mr.Cartoon proudly claims never to draw the same tattoo twice. So, what do you think whan you see it reproduced in thousands of copies, on a consumer good like a sneaker?

They’re just two totally different things. Of course, if I had hand-drawn each shoe, I’d have made ten a year: it’s a mass-market product, so it cannot work that way. I never do the same thing twice, but only when i draw on people’s bodies. When you talk about stuff like apparel, jeans… well, that’s just different from a tattoo.

How long did it take you to create your Air Force One?

About a year. It always takes a while to make a custom, and Nike is always very busy.

Are you a sneaker collector?

No, I’m not interested in having a display of shoes I don’t use. I like to wear them. Here’s another thing that makes me an old-schooler.

So what are your favorite ones?

The Nike Cortez, the Air Force One, the Vans Era Classic and the Slip On are the ones I’ve used the most.

What was it like to collaborate with Vans for the Simpsons pack?

We had a hell of a lot of fun and it was super cool. The only problem is that I didn’t get to have a sample for myself: Vans did everything so quickly that none of us got anything.

Do you collaborate often with the guys at Undefeated?

We’re working on a thing together, but I really can’t tell you more. You know, it’s their policy.

What are you wearing today?

The Nike Air Force One, which are also the reason why I’m here in Italy, where -by the way- I can have a great pizza.

What do you think of the fact that Nike, Adidas and all the other brands keep re-issuing past models?

I think that’s right, it’s a good way to educate the new generations. Otherwise we’d lose a piece of sneakers culkture history.

Clothes designer, comic book artist, Hollywood producer and movie star… with all these side projects, do you still have time to work in your tattoo parlor? Many other tattooers abandoned needles and ink to become designers or graphic artists.

Oh, that’s never gonna happen to me. I wanna do tattoos forever, I love this job, I’m gonna do it as long as I’m alive.