“I had drawn since starting high school and loved it. After spending some time with pencils in my hand, I decided to make it my living and that's when I stumbled into the world of tattooing. After having read and researched for more than a year, it was impossible for me to further develop my skills without carrying out any practical work. That's when I decided to buy myself a tattoo kit and start tattooing my friends,” says Daniel Paarup.
He has been tattooing for the past eight years, and his clientele has steadily expanded since he made his first tattoo on his friend, Kenny.
"He wanted the word 'rockstar' and a star on his foot. It's six centimetres, and today it would have taken me about ten minutes to do - back then it took me two and a half hours," he grins.
EVOCATIVE DESIGNS IN BLACK AND GREY
Daniel Paarup specialises in monochrome art,
"I find it much easier to capture a certain mood or atmosphere by only working with darker tones - very much in the same way that a black and white photo better captures a setting than a coloured one," he explains.
Some of his favourite subjects include animals and statues.
“I love to tattoo animals, because it is such a big challenge. It's technically difficult to create an impressive tattoo of an animal and your technique needs to be perfect," he says.
"Statues can also prove to be a challenge as you need to create the right contrasts without losing the given moods or feelings. Most of the time, a statue won't have any pupils. Our minds are always searching for the eyes and faces, and when you don't have any eye details to capture the audience's attention, the rest of the design highly depends on your technical skills,” he says.
SELECTIVE WITH CUSTOMERS
Nowadays Daniel Paarup is free to choose who he wants to tattoo, and he tends to be picky when it comes to choosing his customers. He prefers working with customers who have a specific wish for a design that they allow him to create.
“I'm not interested in people coming in with a finished photo of which I just have to copy. Instead, I have a desire to develop the design with the customer, but with me as the tattoo artist, I hold the overall artistic responsibility," says Daniel Paarup.
And there is great demand for his skills.
“I've just finished tattooing a large tiger on the back of a guy from Texas. He flew all the way from Texas to get tattooed by me. It's pretty crazy," he smiles.
One of the reasons why Daniel Paarup loves his job, are all the stories behind his customers’ tattoos.
"I have just made a tattoo of a jaguar on a guy who had taken care of the animal in a natural reserve in Bolivia for four months. Her mother was killed while still pregnant, so the cub was cut out of the stomach, and he then took care of it when it was very young. It was a pretty moving story," tells Daniel Paarup.
His work has brought him all around the world, including a military base in Kosovo, tattooing Danish soldiers. He has tattooed in Los Angeles, The Danish West Indies, New Zealand, many places in Europe and has several times been to both New York and Houston. Over the next six months, he's off to United States, Germany, Canada and the Faroe Islands to work.
The many hours spent on planes are one of the reasons why Daniel Paarup is fond of his shirts from LOOW.
“I tend to get too cold when I fly, but that's all in the past after getting my shirts from LOOW. I also use them when I find myself in warmer locations. It works both ways, and I always make sure to include my clothing from LOOW when I travel," he says.
“Both the design and the quality are gorgeous, and I love the fact that the shirts are high performance and incredibly durable. This fits well into my own life and work philosophy," says Daniel Paarup.
ABOUT DANIEL PAARUP
Daniel Paarup is 29 years old and from Aarhus. He carries out daily tattoo work at SinnersInc in Aarhus, but he has customers from around the world. You can see his work here:
Instagram: danielpaarup_tattoo
Facebook: Daniel Paarup Tattoo
Snapchat: DanielPaarup
www.sinnersinc.dk
Daniel is wearing a LOOW T-OLS 135 Longsleeve, Asphalt, Medium (166cm/69kg)
