Adam McDade is a PhD Design student and illustrator at the University of Sunderland. Having been a student and a tutor, McDade is now an apprentice tattooist at Triple Six Tattoo studios and is currently exploring contemporary western tattooing. Before exploring tattooing in depth, Adam McDade was primarily interested in illustration, taking inspiration from pop culture, psychedelia and wood engraving. His work includes illustrations for Tangentially Reading, Walwick Hall, The Northern Correspondent and Fighting Suicide Allure.
McDade discovered that there is a very limited understanding of tattoos in Academics and it focuses more on the legitimacy of tattoos rather than their concept, history or meaning. He wanted to exemplify the cultural value of tattoos and investigate how his practice (illustration) can be applied to it. In his practice, McDade discovered that illustration was harder to apply to tattooing because often his designs were too over complicated. To tackle this issue he discovered that doing an initial drawing with his left hand allowed him to simplify the outline.
Some of the key themes McDade talked about included what a tattooist is to him, what is important when getting or giving a tattoo and what he wanted to research. He described a tattooist as a cross between a visual artist and a crafts person - almost more like a designer who provides a service. When tattooing a customer it is important they take into account factors such as location, audience, style, relationship and pain factor. His research on this top was very in depth and interesting to me. As something that isn't talked about or published in such an academic yet accepting way, my knowledge on contemporary western tattoos was very limited beforehand. Adam McDade will continue his research towards his PhD by investigating factors of tattooing as an occupational role (i.e. functional intimacy), the medium of tattooing, earlier career stages and technology in custom practice.
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