Tattoo Artist with Nearly 30 Years of Experience
Honza has been tattooing professionally since 1997. Over nearly three decades, he has worked at several well-known Prague tattoo studios, built his own private studio, and explored a wide range of styles. Today, he focuses primarily on both colour and black-and-grey realism, although he still considers himself an all-round tattoo artist.
From Drawing to Tattooing
He first got into tattooing while he was still in high school. When one of his classmates showed up at school with a tattoo, Honza, who had always loved drawing, immediately started thinking about how it could be reworked and what could be added to it. The idea stuck with him so strongly that he eventually just walked into a tattoo studio and asked the artist there if he would teach him how to tattoo.
He started out at No Name, a tattoo studio just below Charles Bridge, and his early days were typical of what learning the craft looked like in the 1990s. At first, it was all about cleaning, scrubbing grips and helping out around the studio in exchange for the chance to watch and learn from a more experienced tattoo artist. Over time, he learned how to solder his own needles and everything else that came with tattooing back then.
Make the English sound more naturalMake the tone warmer and more personal
Honza did his very first tattoo on his mentor. He offered him a spot on his calf between some older tattoos that would eventually be covered with a blackout anyway, and let Honza choose a simple design from a catalogue. He went with a heart and roses.
The result? Shaky, blown-out lines, a timid attempt at shading, and a bit of a disaster. In other words, exactly the kind of tattoo every beginner makes.
From the ’90s to Root Down
After No Name came Primal Arts on Nerudova Street, followed by Tribo, Aries and then Bloody Blue Tattoo, where Honza spent around ten years. Later, he opened his own private studio just outside Prague, which he still runs today. Over time, however, he began to miss working as part of a team, so he joined Alien Tattoo. After roughly two and a half years there, he is now making the move to Root Down.
