Ed Perdomo grew up in Colombia, South America, and discovered his passion for tattooing at a young age. In an interview with Tattoo Planet, Perdomo says that although tattoos were frowned upon in Colombia during the 90s, he and his friends built their own tattoo machines out of toy parts, mechanical pencils and Chinese ink. They started tattooing each other and Ed Perdomo’s interest in tattoos was born.

A jackalope, blue birds and roses are the subjects of this Ed Perdomo cartoon style tattoo. Many of Perdomo’s tattoo characters are imaginary, based either on cartoon characters, mythological creatures or designs that are born in Perdomo’s imagination. The rabbit with antlers in this tattoo is based on a creature that has been described in Northern countries for centuries. In America it is called a Jackalope, in Germany a Wolpertinger and in France it is known as a Dahu. [source]

New School, Cartoon Style or Lowbrow Tattoos?

In the past decade or so a new form of tattoo art has gained popularity. The style is often called new school – a mix of pop culture elements such as 3D animation and comic books blended with the subculture styles of graffiti art and anime. In fine art, this genre is referred to as pop surrealism or lowbrow art (in opposition to highbrow art which uses traditional art techniques and values visual quality over an artist’s self expression). Take a look at Jesse Smith’s new school tattoos and Kelly Doty’s cute cartoon tattoos for a better idea of new school tattoo art.

This tattoo by Ed Perdomo offers a modern perspective of an old school favorite; a skull with dice and an eight ball. Perdomo has given the tattoo design his signature cartoon style by adding humor to an otherwise bleak character. [source]

Ed Perdomo says that he doesn’t like to call himself a new school tattoo artist because he doesn’t want to limit himself to a specific genre of tattoo art. He describes his own style as cartoon style, a broad description which allows him room to explore his artistic talent and integrate tattoo art forms that he enjoys. After spending time in China, Perdomo’s tattoo work was influenced by Asian art and tattoo cultures. Many of the characters in Perdomo’s tattoos now have a distinctly Chinese look about them, and many mythical Chinese creatures such as dragons and luck cats have found their way into his tattoo designs.

This tattoo of a droopy dog show the influence that Chinese culture has had on Ed Perdomo’s tattoo art. The dog wears a traditional Chinese hairstyle with a Chinese comb and holds a Chinese paper lantern. This tattoo is also a great example of Perdomo’s breathtaking shading skills. I especially like the eye catching transition from pink to gray around the dog’s mouth. [source]

New school tattoos, lowbrow art and pop surrealism are all slightly different from one another. Pop surrealism is a form of surrealism which has content that is influenced by cartoons and popular media. Lowbrow art often has a comic book style or a cartoon style that is influenced by traditional (2D) animation, comic books and anime. New school tattoos seem to blend traditional and 3D animation art style while bringing in elements of both violence and humor. New school tattoos largely use characters that are designed by the tattoo artist specifically for the client, with the occasional appearance of well loved media characters such as Kermit the Frog, Bart Simpson or Nemo.

Characters from the popular cartoon series Spongebob Square Pants are featured in this Ed Perdomo tattoo. This is an example of how popular media characters find their way into modern body art. Perdomo has stayed true to the artistic style of the cartoon which is a pity because his personal rendering of the characters would likely have been highly amusing. [source]

Ed Perdomo’s Cute and Funny Tattoos

One form of art idealism that seems to influence the genres of new school tattoos, lowbrow art and pop surrealism is the unsung Japanese style of kawaii art. Kawaii is a Japanese word that means cute, lovable and adorable and the ideals of kawaii are used prominently in Japanese art culture. Kawaii characters generally have large, often beautiful eyes, bodies that are adorably disproportionate and a sense of humor built into their behavior. This humor can be snide, naive, empathetic, self-derogatory or clownish in nature, but whether the kawaii character is good or evil, there is generally some form of humor in its make-up. The kawaii element is incredibly bold in Ed Perdomo’s art, though I’m not sure if he’s even aware of the influence of kawaii on his tattoo art. His characters frolic in bright displays of activity, interaction and of course; humor, which make Perdomo’s tattoo art an excellent example of the unwitting influence of kawaii on international culture and different forms of art.

A cute little girl with a rubber ducky is about to get eaten by a tentacled monster in this Ed Perdomo tattoo. Her large eyes and disproportionate body make this character very kawaii. [source]

An angel bunny has a devilish look about it in this funny cartoon tattoo by Ed Perdomo. This character exhibits the moral duality that often appears in new school tattoos and pop surrealism by being both an angel and an evil little dude. Many new school tattoo artists express this duality in their art with visual exclamations that nothing in life is either good or bad, but a complicated mash up of both. This is a very convoluted form of humor that doesn’t seem very kawaii, even thought the character has physical kawaii elements. The character is cute but definitely not cuddly. [source]

Perdomo’s tattoos have a broad and bright color palette. He says that cheers him up, so he fills his tattoos with vivid colors in the hope that by simply looking at his art other people will lighten up a little. Every artist hopes that their work will have an effect on the people who see it and in Ed Perdomo’s case, he’s hoping that people who see his tattoo art walk by will feel cheered by it, saying “I enjoy doing optimistic pieces with some real sense of humor added and people’s response has been very good so far; besides I really think that out there are way too many people who have joined the dark side. It’s time to lighten up!”

A robot with a goldfish brain holds a glowing light bulb in this cartoon style tattoo by Ed Perdomo. Perdomo creates humorous tattoo designs with the aim of bringing joy and humor into people’s lives. His tattoo style marks how much tattoo art has changed since the days when humorless gothic style tattoos were popular. [source]

Ed Perdomo currently lives in Sweden and tattoos out of the Heidi Hay Tattoo Studio. You can visit Ed Perdomo’s website for more tattoo designs or get in touch with him through his facebook page.