New Zealand born and bred tattoo artist Nick Noonan works from his own Magna Studio in Tai Tapu, creating incredible large scale tattoos in both colour and black and grey.

Heavily inspired by Japanese tattoo styles and incorporating both colour and black and grey realism, Nick’s tattoos are known around the world for their detail and distinctive lighting effects.

We talked about how he pursued a career in tattoos, who inspired him the most throughout his career, and his dream tattoo project!

How did you get into tattooing, and when?

Unfortunately it's not a wildly romantic story about how I had “always wanted to tattoo ever since childhood”, it was more a little more practical than that. I wasn't 100% sure what to do after high school. For my 18th birthday I got a tattoo and my little brother casually mentioned becoming a tattoo artist because I had always been drawn to art. A short time after finishing school, I contacted almost every tattoo studio in Christchurch asking for an apprenticeship. I actually remember someone telling me that getting into the industry was too hard and I should just give up.

Fortunately, the last studio I phoned was opening up a larger shop and needed some fresh blood. I assisted with the new studio's opening and they offered me an apprenticeship. I had to halve my apprenticeship under two different artists. The first was a general basic introduction; learning industry norms and how tattooing works overall. The second half was more specialised with Japanese, which is where I learnt the Oriental basis I work off today. Combined, those apprenticeships took a little under four years. It's my 13th year tattooing this year.

Who helped or inspired you the most as you started your career?

When I started my apprenticeship in tattooing, my son was almost due - I was 18 when he was born. The pressure of wanting to succeed for him really lit a fire under me. It gave me an urgent need to become good at tattooing, or at least proficient. Once I stabilised financially, tattooing become part of my identity (whether that is healthy or not is another question) and I invested more and more time into cultivating a professional career - a career that could take me further than just providing for my family, but allow us to have possibilities that weren't available to me as a child.

How would you describe your Japanese tattoo style?

I have heard it described as neo-Japanese, but I'm not sure if I completely agree with that. I don't specialise in neo-traditional but in realism, so my goal has been to awkwardly fuse elements of realism into the structure of Japanese tattoos, using elements like multiple light sources and realistic textures. The dynamic shapes are more inspired by the uniquely twisted anatomy of Japanese art. I love the contorted fingers and limbs from traditional drawing, so I try to capture that in a more contemporary and realistic way. I'm not sure if I have a definitive answer, so I'll go with "an awkward mix of Japanese and realism" and leave the rest up to public opinion. 

Are there any other styles you'd like to develop in the future?

I'm already spread over three different styles (Japanese, colour realism, and black and grey realism), and at this stage I'm happy with that. I still feel like I can develop each style further. With each next step in the different styles, it requires more and more investment. If I ever get to the point that I can move on from those styles, I have always enjoyed biomechanical. Although saying that, some artists only ever focus on one or two styles, so I think it’s pretty unlikely for me. 

How long have you worked at Magna Tattoo, and who works there with you?

I opened the location of the studio about three years ago with another person - the studio had a different name back then. I rebranded the location over a year ago to Magna. We have big plans for Magna in the future including moving to a larger studio in the city. I work with three other artists, all being close friends of mine.

Ben Clark has been working with us the longest - he specialises in butter smooth neo-traditional, and the subject matter is mostly animals and New Zealand native birds. Ricky Flavell and I have worked together for most of our careers; he specialises in highly dynamic illustrative work, along with black and grey realism. Becky Herbison specialises in anything pop culture-related, and brings her distinct drawing style with beautiful secondary light sources to her tattoos.

We also have the amazing Ainsley, she takes care of everything behind the scenes to make sure everything runs the best it can. If you have emailed us you will be dealing with Ainsley. She is great at making clients feel welcome and giving you all the information you will ever need on getting tattooed by us.

What is your favourite theme or subject matter to tattoo?

I have a split interest between realism and Oriental tattoo styles. The larger sub-categories of realism for me are black and grey, and colour. My first specialisation was black and grey realism, and I still have a nostalgic love for the negative skin breaks and stippled gradients black and grey allows me to do. Colour realism is a more challenging endeavour for me, with the warm and cold balance consideration along with the texture required. Colour is a style I constantly try more and exciting techniques with. My style of Japanese/Oriental is close to me. I have for many years created an awkward and unique mix of two opposing styles: the subject matter and movement of Japanese tattoos, paired with the finer details of realism. My own twist on this combination has to be my favourite but I very much enjoy all three.

What's the smallest size of tattoo you would be willing to work on?

At this stage in my career, I only really book full day appointments. For friends and family I do smaller tattoos from time to time, but my clients see the larger work I do such as leg sleeves, and they will mainly book in for that. I appreciate the commitment and trust my clients have in me with such large pieces. Most weeks I have at least one client sitting for multiple days. So the short answer is a minimum of one day, with a max of five days in a row for black and grey, and three days in a row for colour.

Do you prefer to work in colour over black and grey?

Black and grey is a super fun style and I personally really like it as I have a large amount of it on my skin. However, the challenge and extra tools I have within colour does mean I prefer tattooing in it. Creating secondary light sources is a large part of my personal style, and I put a lot of emphasis on those small touches along with colour texture. Bright colours contrasted against natural tone just isn't possible with straight black and grey unfortunately.

Which is harder - tattoos of animals or people?

I find it harder to tattoo traditional Japanese people than animals. I have never fluently got the specifics of traditional Japanese anatomy when it comes to people. Within the last few years, I have moved away from doing them traditionally for that reason and I have spent more time developing my own specific style. When it comes to realism, they each have their own challenges, the fur texture can make a piece overwhelming and hard to read. On the other hand, a plain human face can be overly simple and normally requires some interesting other element. There is a balancing act to each and I find them similar in difficulty.

What's your favourite tattoo that you've done in the last year?

Oh I have so many! Fortunately, I have amazing clients and they give me so much freedom when it comes to tattoos. I'll name a couple but I have too many to write down! I really enjoyed a huge bear backpiece I completed about a year ago. My client just told me he wanted a bear on his back and he let me do the rest. I'm almost done with a Lord of the Rings sleeve, it has Sauron as the main image. That one doesn't even feel like work when I'm tattooing it, I just have so much fun doing it because I'm an absolute geek for the source material - we normally end up watching LOTR in the studio. I also finished my longest tattoo last year, a Baku leg sleeve. Took about 17 days and I loved every bit of it. It displays almost every technical skill I have, it's super dynamic, and I just love it!

What's the strangest tattoo you've ever been asked to do?

Really early on in my career when I was about 2-3 years along we had a walk-in for someone wanting a symbol on their face. I remember being very hesitant about doing it - it was a pentacle on their forehead. We informed them that it wasn't to be taken lightly and to think about it further. At a later date they came back and I tattooed it. I remember being extremely nervous because it was my first face tattoo. The tattoo ended up really clean and the client was happy. In hindsight, I was too early in my career to realise how much of a taboo that was.

At this point I would be very specific on who I would say yes to in regards to a face tattoo, I think I have only done 2-3 over my career. At the end of the day, people make their own decisions but as an industry we have unwritten rules for a reason. I think as artists sometimes we have a responsibility to just say no.

Which tattoo artists working today really inspire you?

I had a lot of artists who inspired me early in my career, either in person or over Instagram. I could name countless artists that I have not met who I still look up to, but there are three artists in person who have really helped me.

The first was Andrew Swarbrick from Left Hand Path. I worked with Andy for years at LHP. That's when I started to take a more artistic, professional approach to tattooing. He taught me about compositional balancing and different light sources. Then I started to get tattooed by my second influence, Matt Jordan from Ship Shape. Matt was tattooing my sleeve and answered any questions I could throw at him - he played a big part in my technical development, specifically how I tattooed. My third notable influence was Ben Kaye, we worked together for a number of years at Ship Shape. Ben was really pivotal for my artistic and professional development, he taught me things like colour mixing, texture techniques, and compositional tricks, along with more fundamental things like communicating with clients, and inspiring me to view tattooing more as a profession.

Some notable mentions from the internet: I love how dynamic James Tex's work is and Steve Moore is one of my favourite colour artists.

If you could do a collaboration piece with anyone, who would it be?

I have done some collaborations in the past, each one brings its own challenges and rewards. I'd love to do a collaboration with Rich Harris from Dark Horse Collective in the UK, I really love his large scale colour work, it has such a strong impact. I would also love to do one with Chris Rigoni from Ravens Hollow in Australia. His combination of different textures and solid realistic work would be really fun to work along side with! Who knows… we might have some stuff already in the pipeline.

Could you please talk us through your workstation?

Sure, I use a 3.5 stroke Cheyenne SOL Nova Unlimited. I like the balance of the machine and how easy it is to use - plus the build quality is super high. I also use Cheyenne cartridges. I almost always use this set of needles: 3RL, 7RL and 9RL (all 10 gauge), 7M (12 gauge), 9RM and 15RM (12 gauge) and 7RS and 9RS (12 gauge). For inks I mainly use Fusion and have done so for years. I'm super comfortable with the pigment, some of my favourites have to be Mandarin Orange and Dirty Orange, I also really like all the Opaque Blue series. I splash some other colours like Dermiglo grey and some from Eternal. I use Hustle Butter's foam wash on every tattoo afterwards - I find it’s great to clean the skin down gently after a long session.

What’s the best thing about being a tattoo artist?

Oh that's a hard one. I constantly joke about how I don't have a job. I basically get to hang out with my friends all day and draw on awesome people. I would say the top three reasons are: firstly, tattooing seems to be one of the best ways financially to express yourself artistically. The industry has been strong for years and rewards new and fresh perspectives. It seems to constantly open up more avenues for artists to make a good living for themselves.

Secondly, I would say the people. I continue to meet interesting clients and people via tattooing, I have found all my close friends through tattooing and a lot of my clients have really interesting jobs and/or experiences they share with me. Surprisingly I'm not actually much of a people person but tattooing has taught me the social skills I need to enjoy the captivating conversations I have with clients.

Lastly, I really love the personal development, and I feel like I'm moving forward. Sometimes I think about not working late nights or doing work at home, but I think it's a double-edged sword. That workload can be crushing but I find it really useful to push me forward. Taking responsibility for your own career is scary but incredibly rewarding.

What would be your dream tattoo project?

I have ticked a lot of my dream projects off the list fortunately. But I have always wanted to do a large area of just Japanese movement, like a backpiece or leg sleeve of black and grey waves. I think it would be hard to make it interesting while keeping it simple and I love the juxtaposition of that.

What's the best way to wind down after a full day of tattooing?

I try not to doomscroll! I do watch YouTube quite a bit, I enjoy a lot of video game videos, and Magic the Gathering content. I listen to audio books too. My friend Ricky who I work with got me into Warhammer books so I try to get through a book every now and then. I love the idea that tattoo artists are "cool", I know so many tattoo artists that are complete nerds!

Do you create art outside of your tattoo work?

Not a lot actually, most of my creative bandwidth goes into tattooing and designing tattoos. I have set a goal this year to produce a large print, as I haven't done many over my career. This one will be the fourth I believe and should be out by the end of the year. I am aiming to only print about ten of them though because of the size I have in mind. I have done some oil painting and would love to get back into it. At this point it's about finding the time between working and family/personal life.

What are your hobbies?

Fortunately and unfortunately, tattooing fills a lot of that for me. There isn't much more time for a dedicated hobby, but I generally enjoy tattooing so it does fill that niche. Side note, I enjoy riding motorcycles. It's up for debate how good I am but would love to do some racing at some stage. Physical exercise is a notable mention too, it’s a good chance to hang out with my mates or partner and feel good at the same time.

How many tattoos do you have, and which is your favourite?

Most of my clients have more than I do. I have both sleeves done down to my hand, my chest, and one side of my ribs done. Also some miscellaneous stuff scattered around my legs. I would say my favourite is my black and grey sleeve from Matt. It features a large full body skeleton with teeth floating around and some beautifully shaded wolves. I have been in the process of lasering my other arm so I can get a Japanese cover up sleeve, featuring something like three large chrysanthemums.

Do you have plans for any guest spots or conventions in the next year?

I have four conventions confirmed this year. First is in Wellington, New Zealand, then off to Perth, Australia in September. Then New Plymouth back in New Zealand, followed closely by Melbourne, Australia in December. I'll be doing some posts around booking each convention as I do have some specific ideas in mind. I will be travelling up to Auckland for a guest spot at Ship Shape in August, and possibly doing a guest spot before the convention in Melbourne. I would love to travel over to Europe again and do some work either in the EU or the UK, but that might have to be next year.

What's best to do or see in Tai Tapu?

Tai Tapu is a small town seven minutes south from Christchurch, and there isn't much to do there. That's exactly why it was chosen for the private studio: it's quiet and out of the way. It's quite an affluent area so we didn't fit in immediately, but we have slowly tattooed more and more people from the small community. There is an extremely fancy manor down the road you can stay at and there is a great cafe where you can pick your own berries. Otherwise it’s mainly houses.

What does the future hold for Nick Noonan?

I have many big ideas in the works at the moment! I still don't feel like I have hit my cruising altitude yet. I will continue to try new techniques and push my style further. The amount of conventions will be good this year, getting back into them after COVID has been something I wanted. We are investing a lot of energy into making Magna the studio we all imagine. This will require a larger studio and more work from myself and my amazing team. At a later stage I would like to slow down tattooing and move into a more CGI-focused career, although that is probably at least half a decade away at this point because I still thoroughly enjoy so much about tattooing.

We hope you’ve enjoyed hearing all about Nick Noonan’s opinions and experiences - and don’t forget to take a look at his work on Instagram or Facebook!