“A team of artists who don’t just tattoo – they create art, immortalize stories and grow every day.”
This motto perfectly reflects the spirit of Old Dragon Ink, a successful premium studio based in Dinkelsbühl, Germany, led by Dimi and his team of talented artists. With a strong focus on quality, creativity, and client experience, the studio has built a reputation for delivering unique and meaningful work across a range of styles. In this feature, we invite you to explore their inspiring journey, discover their impressive artwork, and read our interview to learn more about the vision behind Old Dragon Ink.
Dimi, your name keeps popping up in the scene – whether it’s appearing several times in a row in the Tattoo Elite book, as a judge at conventions, or right here with us in InkLegends. But let’s start at the beginning: Your creative journey didn’t start with a tattoo machine, but with pinstriping and airbrushing at SK-Brush. How did you make the leap under the skin?
That’s right! My brother Stefan and I spent years letting off creative steam in custom painting, specifically airbrush and pinstriping, under the name SK-Brush starting in 2007. That was an incredibly formative time. With pinstriping in particular, you learn to draw highly precise and flowing lines freehand – a skill that massively benefits me in tattooing today. But at some point, I felt the urge to immortalize my art on an even more personal canvas: human skin. That led to the founding of our first tattoo studio in 2019, which eventually evolved into what my heart beats for 100% today: Old Dragon Ink in Dinkelsbühl. Our years of design experience flowed seamlessly into our current tattoo studio.
Today, your absolute focus is on Old Dragon Ink. What can clients expect when they visit your studio in Dinkelsbühl? Why do so many take on what are sometimes long journeys to get there?
At Old Dragon Ink, it’s about much more than just getting a design inked – it’s about a genuine feel-good experience. Tattoos are forever, and the memory of the day in the studio should be just as positive. We place immense value on relaxed, honest, eye-level consultations. On top of that is our studio setup: heated massage tables, entertainment during the session, top-tier hygiene, and a super friendly team. A huge plus for our clients is also that we often create designs digitally and project them directly onto a photo of the body part. This way, the client sees exactly how the tattoo will look before the very first needle strike. Whether it’s a demanding cover-up, fine line, or color – we simply take the time it needs.
Besides your daily studio life in Bavaria, you are known as a true globetrotter and even tattoo on the high seas on the TUI Mein Schiff fleet. How do you combine this travel life with your work in the studio?
Besides art, traveling is my greatest passion, and I am incredibly lucky to be able to combine the two. On the Mein Schiff fleet, I often tattoo right in the middle of Asia – whether on routes off Singapore, Vietnam, or Hong Kong. The impressions, cultures, and encounters I absorb there are an unbelievable source of inspiration that I bring back with me to the studio in Dinkelsbühl. For the guests on the ship, it is of course also something very special to have a lifelong travel souvenir inked under their skin while sailing the ocean.
Your studio name is strong and catchy. Rumor has it that you don’t just stop at tattoos and piercings with Old Dragon, but have now also bottled the whole thing flavor-wise?
Yes, absolutely! We just don’t do things by halves. Alongside our work as artists, we’ve created our own little lifestyle brand with Old Dragon Rum. It’s a project born out of pure passion. It simply reflects our spirit: enjoyment, the highest quality, and a damn good time.
Finally: What is your driving force for the future with Old Dragon Ink?
The most important thing for me remains: putting a smile on my clients’ faces with my art. Whether it’s with a highly complex cover-up where old youthful sins elegantly disappear, or with extremely delicate mandala projects. We want to continue expanding Old Dragon Ink as a premium studio in the region, cultivate the vibe in the studio, and simply do what we love every single day: create unique works of art.
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