In the video presented in this article, Stizzo offers a personal insight into his work, starting from the pages of his first book with Tattoo Life, Time We’ll Remember. Speaking from his studio in Milan, Best of Times, he shares his journey, the driving force of drawing, and how he has reinterpreted Traditional tattooing with a distinctive style deeply rooted in art and memory.
We spoke with him about style, drawing, memory, and that sense of responsibility that comes with becoming, almost without realizing it, a point of reference for an entire generation.
STIZZO. TIME WE’LL REMEMBER
ART BOOK + TRAVEL TOOL BOOK
The imagery of classic American tattooing seen through a European lens, blended with religious and folk influences that are deeply Italian, creates a new voice—personal, powerful, and instantly recognisable—in the direct, potent narrative style of Stizzo.
“I started back in 1999, drawing subjects aligned with the tattoo world, and soon moved straight onto skin. I began in a small tattoo studio on the outskirts of Milan.
The driving force behind everything I do is my boundless love for drawing. There’s this constant feeling of never being fully satisfied, always chasing the next design, the next tattoo.
Personality and interpretation are key for me to stand out, to be recognisable.
I’ve always aimed to reinterpret early twentieth-century European tattooing in a personal way that’s simple yet effective. While remaining faithful to classic Traditional themes, I like to enrich and diversify them always keeping an eye on the broader history of Italian art.
In the beginning, I worked with classic designs inspired by the greats like Bert Grimm and Owen Jensen, before going on to study Sutherland Macdonald, Charlie Malta, and others. I delved into their drawing styles, their ways of interpreting each subject.
I absorbed their simplicity, even their ‘anatomical errors’ I saw a kind of poetry in all of it. Over the years, I’ve developed a foundation built on the study of past masters, which allows me now to rework historical imagery, old postcards, early twentieth-century prints, and reinterpret them through my own lens.
I can let go of everything I’ve learned about the rigid iconography of Traditional tattooing and filter it instead through my own tastes and whatever I’m feeling in the moment.
I find inspiration everywhere: stepping into a church, walking through the city, browsing antique markets. Lately, I’ve been particularly drawn to various strands of early twentieth-century art, which I then reimagine by pairing them with classic tattoo subjects.
Angels, sacred hearts, women juxtaposed with daggers, dragons, roses. I try to distinguish them both stylistically and technically, playing with different line weights, from ultra-fine to bold needles and combining longer or shorter shading techniques to create even more contrast and depth.”
STIZZO. TIME WE’LL REMEMBER
ART BOOK + TRAVEL TOOL BOOK
The imagery of classic American tattooing seen through a European lens, blended with religious and folk influences that are deeply Italian, creates a new voice—personal, powerful, and instantly recognisable—in the direct, potent narrative style of Stizzo.
