Kim Rense

Kim Rense is from a family of graphic designers and was one for three years before a tattoo shop surprised the Dutchman with the offer of an apprenticeship.

The Hague-based artist, better-known as Papanatos, recalled to Parloir how while working as a graphic designer and attending art school in the evenings he regularly got tattooed, which led to him swapping careers.

"During that period I spent my off time a lot at a local tattoo parlour and got tattooed a lot there," he said.

"I never thought about getting into tattooing but liked every aspect of it. Eventually I brought some sketches with me to them for inspiration for a next piece and they asked me if I was interested in getting an apprenticeship with them. I immediately said 'yes' because I remember when I was young I wanted to be an illustrator but never really made it happen. So this was actually exactly what I wanted."

Rense continued working part-time as a graphic designer while he learned the tattooing trade for two and a half years.

When he wasn't offered the chance to "advance" Rense downed tools and marked customers from the comfort of his home instead.

Soon after, Rense says, his friend Daniel Derksen from Double D Tattoos asked him to work at his shop, which he did for a year and a half doing, "mostly walk-ins and mostly traditional work... I learned a lot there".

When a "unique building came on my path", the tattooist explained, he decided to open his own shop, and with the help of his family, Papanatos Tattoos was born in 2011.

"Right away I worked there seven days a week doing walk-ins and doing some more traditional work."

Rense then started drawing more in the style "that I did when I was really young".

"When I was a kid I would be at my father's studio tracing old woodcuts. One of my favourite things to do at the time," he recalled.

That later became Rense's signature style when a friend asked him to design him a tattoo in that mode.

"So that was the beginning of the fineline work that I do now. Being inspired mostly by absurd and surreal artists in art, photography and movies. And mostly my weird ideas and stories come from my father. So I've always made designs in that area."

Parloir has always admired Rense's quirky compositions - a feast of absurdity, perfectly executed in fine lines on the flesh.

Recently Rense did a front with a pirate-theme, so Parloir reached out to him to find out how that, and other cool-collections of his tattoos, come together.