done this some weeks ago...really happy with the colours

I'm in the magazine TATTOO FEST...a polish tattoo magazine

1. Your name is Daniel. I do not know how you sign… For how long you’re involved in tattoo scene? What made you go this way? What was the most powerful factor when you start to tattoo?

I used to sign my work with B.H. That stands for Bläck Höfler and is a made up name I used before I became a Tattoo Artist. I didn´t necessarily wanted to use my real name at the beginning, especially when I signed up for Facebook. After a while though, I realized that signing with Daniel Hofer is easier and understandable for most people. Therefore, I decided to change my Facebook name to my real name and the signature for my work to D.H.
It has been a year since I really work as a Tattoo Artist in a studio. However, I started to make Tattoos already before that, in 2009, in my room at home. I draw since I can remember and always knew that I wanted to work in a creative field. I started to be interested in Tattoos pretty early on. Not until a school-based internship at “Clockwork Tattoos” though did I know, how much they fascinate me.
It has always been important for me to have a job that allows me to interact with people and to have a lot of freedom. I just want to be myself and don´t have to worry about a dress code or other things like that.
One of the biggest factors for me to become a Tattoo Artist was that you can learn something new every day. There are always new inspirations and you can keep improving and working on your style and technique. Furthermore, there are constantly new challenges, customers, body parts and projects to master.

2. You are very young. Can you relate your future with this profession? Maybe you are good at something else yet?

I can definitely relate my future with this profession. As long as I have all 10 fingers and my eyes are working, I want to continue doing Tattoos. I know that I have other strength too, but I am lucky to be able to follow my dream at such a young age as 22 and as long as I don´t lose the passion in my job, I don´t see the necessity to try something else.

3. Clockwork Tattoos located in Italy. How did you get there? Where are you from? Please describe your shop, workmates. (Where? Who do you work with?)

I first got introduced to “Clockwork Tattoos” when I got my second Tattoo. It was Fabian, the owner of the shop, who made it. Thinking back now, I would have never thought that I would work there someday. At that point of time, one of my friends was working there in the customer service and also did the cleaning for the shop. When he couldn´t do that anymore because of temporal reasons, I got the job. After a while, I was able to make a few sketches and drawings for the guys there until I decided to start making Tattoos by myself at home. Fortunately, I have a lot of friends who didn´t mind me trying my skills on them and I was able to get better and better with each Tattoo I did.
When Fabian heard about my tattoo attempts and saw my work, he wanted me to start in his shop before I would start working for the competition - that was a dream come true! That is how I got from a part time job to a full time working contract at the beginning of 2011. Now I am part of the probably best Tattoo Studio in Northern Italy.
I am from the heavily indebted country Italy, from South Tyrol to be exact, which is an autonomous province in the North of Italy. There I live in a little town near Meran with approximately 11.000 residents. Most of the people in South Tyrol speak German as their first language, just like me. We also speak Italian and English though. It is a beautiful place to live at. However, people are a little bit conservative, which makes working as a Tattoo Artist not always easy.
The “Clockwork Tattoo” Studio is located in Naturns, about 30 minutes by car from my hometown Lana, where I work with 3 of my now best friends. Each of us has their own style. Fabian, the owner of the shop, mainly does the big projects, like sleeves or back pieces. He likes to use a lot of color and keep it in the neotraditional style. However, he also does realistic motives with ease. Manuel is a little freak - with his maori and dot-work he can let himself go by using different 3D patterns. The probably craziest one in the clan is Omar. He outdoes himself with his completely freaky comic tattoos – the more unusual the better. What I like most about this job is that I have a lot of fun and get the opportunity to work with my best friends every day.

4. It's a tough question. What do you think about your tattoos?

Hm, that is pretty difficult to describe… I am very critical when it comes to my own work. It happens a lot that, after finishing a drawing or a tattoo, I think back and feel like I could have done something different or change one of the details. However, that doesn´t mean that I ever regretted one of the Tattoos I made. I think that using self-criticism is very important in order to get better and to work on you. It shows that you want to improve yourself and don´t want to stay on the same level. The most important thing though is to make a clean and good Tattoo and to satisfy the customer and yourself.

5. What effects do you want to achieve in your works? Which aspects are the most important for you? What you would like to improve?

The main goal for me is to make a clean and good Tattoo. I do like it though if customers have a background story for the motive they want to have or if it has a deeper meaning.
There is always something to improve, you never stop learning and getting better – that´s how it´s supposed to be. However, I don´t really know what exactly I would like to improve for me.

6. Do you prefer when a client comes with a fixed idea of a tattoo or is it better to leave you all the thinking and designing?

At the beginning I mainly had to do Tribals and Chinese Symbols. Back then I thought it would be best to have complete freedom when it comes to the design. However, if I have too much freedom, it is hard for me to decide what to include in the design and what not. I like it best if the customer comes to me with an idea and then gives me some freedom to design the motive and let my imagination run wild. A deeper meaning or theme behind the motive makes it even easier to find a harmonious combination for the design. In such cases, I also like to do some research online or in books to get additional information.

7. What is your favorite tattoo motive and why?

I don´t really have a favorite Tattoo motive… The motive doesn´t really matter to me. What matters to me is that I can do it in my own style. That is the easiest way for me to give my best and to create a neat and cool Tattoo.

8. What do you appreciate the most in your work?

What I appreciate most is the freedom in this job. Almost always you can let your imagination and creativity run wild without someone stopping you or interfering - what counts is the quality of your work. For me, my job is not really “work”, it is more like a hobby, something I love to do and that makes it easy to get up in the morning and to look forward to. Now, how many people can say that nowadays?

9. Tell us something about yourself that will allow us to know you better?

Hm, I think people describe me as an outgoing and funny guy. At school I used to be the class clown and I was down for all kinds of pranks. I am always on the move and need to be surrounded by people. A day just being at home is noting for me. If you want to know more about me, feel free to add me on Facebook (Daniel Hofer Clockwork Tattoos).

10. Who is your favorite artist and tattooer?

It is really difficult to decide for a favorite artist or tattooer - there are just too many great people out there. It also always depends on your own taste or style. At the moment I am really impressed by the work of Adrian Edek, Peter Lagergren and Matthias Boettcher. In the field of realism I like Jeff Gogue most.

11. What other fields of art fascinate you?

The Art Nouveau always fascinated me most. I think that the artist Alphone Mucha was the most impressive one in this era. The fact that he created drawings using really thick outlines makes him special to me. Another really fascinating area in art is Graffiti. I think that Graffiti and Tattoos have a lot in common. For both you need to stay focused on the whole motive and can´t go into too much detail so you can still realize the motive on the skin or as in Graffiti, on the wall.

12. Poland - what are your associations?

Alcohol and pretty women – an explosive mix

(A)

did this anarchist skinhead boy yesterday. he fought like a champ and I think it went out
a cool subculture dedication.