Hello Denis Tidan! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. Please start by telling us something about yourself, how it all started? It was a long time ago, in 1995, when the first tattoo shop opened in my hometown Rostov in Russia. At first I just wanted to get a tattoo. I wasn't going to be an artist. I thought, only few people could be tattoo artists. I started drawing sketches. It was completely unprofessional because of insufficient information about tattooing at that time. There was no Internet, I couldn't get magazines in my town. However I started tattooing. It happened in 1997.

Q: Your first clients?
A: My friends were my first clients. I was practicing with their help, they were completely satisfied. I didn't have any coaches, high quality consumables and equipment as well. I was using what I had. Every time when tattoo healed properly and colors remained bright, it was a small victory. Things changed for me when the first St.Petersburg tattoo convention happened in 2004. I met experienced Russian tattoo artists. Since 2006 I started visiting conventions regularly and even got a lot of prizes.

Q: Tell me about the creative process. Do you draw sketches before the session?
A: From the start of my carrier I focused on realism. This style is considered as "advanced aerobatics" I worked in my hometown until 2014. I experimented with different styles, but realism was what I did best, because I put all my effort on this. But creativity is, and was the main thing in tattooing for me. I was always trying to find new ideas for creative work. And finally I found my style in 2015, when I moved to Moscow. I moved there for one purpose-to find my style and I did it! I begun to make small cartoon characters and realistic origami as well.

Q: Is there any hidden meaning in those funny Mickey Mouse designs? To me, they look a bit sarcastic. :))
A: One of the first characters was Mickie Mouse. It's not a secret, that it's the most famous character in the world. I like the old time cartoons with Mickie. One of my favorite is Mickie's nightmare 1938. Mickie is funny, charming and multifaceted character. You can't help but liking him. Maybe for this reason I chose him. However my talisman is Sackboy from the little big planet game.

Q: Even the portraits are too funny!
A: My style is turning even real people into puppets. I'm using photo editor for it, in order to get puppet proportions, but usually I'm trying to use the real figurines or dolls. That's way they look so realistic.

Q: How people react?
A: I like to study people's reaction. When they see my work they're smiling. I love this. It thrills and inspires some, with some it causes protest-but, as a rule no one is indifferent. It's cool!

Q: What are some of the funniest experiences with the clients? Any "bizarre" requests?
A: The weirdest tattoo I've ever done was Hitler. He was in uniform, but not scary at all. Understandably I didn't show it off, it's just a caricature, that's all.

Q: Where are you located now?
A: Actually I'm on a plane at the moment I'm heading to Holland right now. I'm located in the centre of Moscow, but I'm traveling a lot lately, working as a guest spot and visiting tattoo conventions.

Q: You're a Russian tattoo artist. As we all now Russia is full with talents, even when it comes tattoo art. Do you have any favorite artists?
A: I have to say there are a lot of world famous artists in Russia. Alexandr Okharin, Valentina Ryabova, Ivan Yug and many other artists. Some of them already moved abroad and live there. The situation is similar in Ukraine and all South-Eastern Europe. It can be easily explained - artists are highly motivated to do cool tattoos to get ahead and live better. It's not a secret, people in Russia aren't living a high life.

Q: Some of the best tattoo conventions you've been?
A: I visited a lot of conventions so far. I gotta mention Zwickau (Germany) and Milan. I saw a lot of world famous artists there and even met some of them. I'm planning to visit a lot more conventions this year. I'm sure it will be very interesting and exciting.

Q: Do you have any plans for the near feature?
A; I have some plans for the future. I hope I can change my style. I would have to make large scale tattoo and of course I'm going to travel more, meet interesting people and find inspiration. Hope to see you soon.