Author: Rosalie Hurr

I started out as the one and only Things&Ink intern, fast forward a fair few amazing years and I now run the blog and our social media accounts. You'll more than likely find me scrolling through Instagram (@cupofrosalie) looking for new tattoo artists to share, surrounded by my cats and a cinnamon bun or two.
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How to Pack for Tattoo Conventions

The guys over at Mightygoods chatted to tattoo artists to find out what they pack for conventions and travel. Read on to find out their best tips and tricks to help you be prepared to work at any convention…

Rhys Gordon – Has been tattooing 28 years, and he specialises in Japanese style tattooing. Rhys loves traveling, motorbikes, and everything to do with tattooing, he also runs Australian Tattoo History.

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How do you pack your gear for travel and conventions? I use Crumpler, an Australian brand. A beautiful matte black travel case, customized internally to suit my needs. After all these years tattooing, I have perfected my convention game. No need to bring my work station.

What top three things do you always bring besides the common stuff everybody bring?

  • Stencil machine as convention one generally break or a nightmare to get to.
  • Water for both tattooing and drinking.
  • Deodorant as they can be hot sweaty events not just for me but also for clients, so everybody smells nice.

What are your top tips for other tattoo artists?

  • Travel light and take more money for both fun and supplies
  • Bring a plug in battery pack to charge your iPhone
  • Cheap hotels are a bad bad recommendation after tattooing all day

 

Archana Nakhua Bhanushali – Started tattooing in 2010 after completing an applied arts course. Soon after working with her tattoo teacher for few months Archana started freelancing and then opened her own studio Ace Tattooz in Mumbai, India with the help of her husband Nikhil, who manages the show.

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How do you pack your gear for travel and conventions? I use a hard case tool box to fit in my tattoo stuff for conventions as it keeps my tattoo equipments safe from damage. I double wrap all my colours to avoid spill in case the bottle bursts (its only a safety precautions because generally they are intact with the help of my hard case). If the convention is in India, I prefer carrying my own printer and stencil copier.

What top three things do you always bring besides the common stuff everybody bring?

  • My printer, graphite rechargeable power supply and my tattoo stand table from Kings Tattoo Supply are the three things I bring besides the common things everyone brings. Because it took us very few conventions to realise that on the first day of the convention, you can waste a lot of time in case you don’t have these three in place.

What are your top tips for other tattoo artists?

  • To tattoo with passion and be consistent with the same energy from the start of the tattoo until the end.
  • It’s really important that the tattoo artist is in their best health to perform 100%. I see many having issues with their back because of which they can’t perform consistently, so yoga or any physical exercise that keeps their core fit is a must.

Discover more packing tips from other tattoo artists here. 

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Tattoo Artist: Sofia Angelita

23-year-old Sofia Angelita works as a resident artist at Low Tide Tattoo in Southend-on-Sea and she also regularly guests at Kings Cross Tattoo London and Angelic Hell Brighton. We caught up with Sofia to chat about her style and influences…


How long have you been tattooing? I’ve been tattooing for two years or so.

What do you love the most about tattooing? Now that’s a tricky question, I love most things about tattooing! I love the daily creativity and freedom I’m lucky enough to have at work and that it never feels like work! But I’m sure every tattooist thinks that! I also love meeting new people and making them happy in some way!

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You work in both colour and black, which do you prefer? In all honesty I don’t think I have a preference, colour definitely takes a different kind of thought process for me personally than black work or black and grey. Colour also takes a longer time for me but I really enjoy the both!

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Who are your tattoo icons? Or artists that you admire? There are so many artists that blow my mind  technically and for creativity. Rebecca Vincent will always be a huge icon to me, I met and got tattooed by her very early on when I was finishing my apprenticeship. She took so much time for me and was very informative and helpful and really gave me that extra moral boost I needed at that time, which she really didn’t have to do. Also loving Oliver Macintosh, Claudia de Sabe, Barb Rebello, Adam Ruff, Horiyoshi, Sarah Schor, so many artists, the list goes on!

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What would you love to tattoo? I would love to tattoo more lady faces and ornamental stuff.

How would you describe your style? I’m really bad at this question ! I’ve had some people say it’s illustrative but I’m really not sure what “box” my stuff goes in that would help me explain it? I also love tattooing ornamental pieces!

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Interview with Kelly Julio

Tattooer Kelly Julio works out of Pulse Tattoo in Banbury, UK. We caught up with Kelly to chat about his tattoo style and how his career is more than just a job to him…

How long have you been tattooing? What inspired you to get into the industry? I started getting serious about tattooing around the end of 2004, after learning a lot from working at a friend’s tattoo studio in Jakarta, Indonesia.
I had and still have a strong passion for drawing, painting and graphic design and knew I wanted to make art part of my career.


What did you do before? Did you study art? I worked in hospitality for a couple of years, but deep down I knew it wasn’t for me and what I was meant to be doing. Although I have never studied art formally, I learned a lot from friends, art books, architectural art, photography as well as from traditional and cultural arts from several countries, especially my own, Indonesia, an infinite resource of inspiration for me.


What do you like most about your work? Tattooing is so much more than just work, more than just a way to make a living. I feel extremely happy when I can translate my customer’s idea or concept into something that they are happy to get inked on their body, which will accompany them throughout their life. I also love the human side of tattooing, being able to talk about everything and anything with my customers, not only about tattooing; sharing thoughts, ideas and learning from them.

How would you describe the style of your work? I am probably best described as an all-rounder, because so many things inspire my work. I want to please my customers by translating their ideas into a tattoo without restricting them.

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What is your favorite style of work and your favorite subject to work on? What inspires you? I love color as well as black and grey, I really enjoy working on mandala, geometric and pointillism pieces. I am really inspired by Art Nouveau, traditional ornaments and patterns.

Do you have any planned conventions or guest spots? I am taking part in the Oxford Tattoo Convention on 1st and 2nd of September this year. Next year, I am planning to participate in several tattoo conventions in Europe and the UK.

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Be sure to follow Kelly Julio on Facebook to see more of his tattoos and artwork.

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In Memory of Hannah Oliver

Screen Shot 2018-08-07 at 18.34.0625-year-old tattoo artist Hannah Oliver (Han Maude) passed away this weekend from a rare form of lung cancer. Having followed and supported her short yet vibrant tattooing career, we’d like to take the time to celebrate her work and her life. We’d also like to send our thoughts to her family and friends at this difficult time.

From Jekyll & Hyde in Rugby to Infinite Ink in Coventry, Hannah grew her talent as a remarkable dot work tattoo artist, and she showed her sense of humour and passions through her work. Known for her hoop earrings, long nails, and her love of Disney and blackwork tattoos, Hannah was much respected and loved throughout the tattoo community. She was also involved in conventions and Things&Ink exhibitions; she created a super cute kewpie inspired by Sailor Moon and cats for our Miniature Ink 2 art exhibition. Our editor Rosie owns and treasures the kewpie created by Hannah and displays it with pride in her home.

Hannah was also involved in the 100 Hands Project, curated by Alice Snape,  in which she tattooed a latex arm with an original dot work design. Her hand is now on show at the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth, until 6th January 2019. So go down and see a piece of her original work. It’s a little piece of history and a little piece of her.

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Donna Reid, a close friend who worked with Hannah has set up a GoFundMe page to help Hannah’s family with the funeral costs:

We have lost our amazing friend Hannah. She has been taken from us all way too soon, and there will be an irreplaceable hole in so many of our lives now. She leaves behind so many people who adore her and who are going to miss her every single day. She has suffered with severe Crohn’s disease for quite some time now which has lead to her health declining dramatically. She was recently diagnosed with a very rare type of terminal cancer that attacks the blood vessels in the lungs. She fought it with everything she had, in true Hannah style! However, her battle with cancer was a short one, and on Sunday morning she had a heart attack and was taken from us.
It is now time for Hannah’s family’s to arrange her funeral. Before she passed, she had decided how she would like her funeral to be. I am reaching out to you all to ask if you will donate towards helping with the cost, no matter how small. Every penny will go to her family so that this awful time they are having to go through can be made a little easier. Thank you, Donna x

If you would like to donate click here.

Before she passed away, Hannah got in touch with us hoping to raise awareness about the rare form of cancer she was diagnosed with, and how she could support and fundraise for the EHE Rare Cancer Charity, so that she could help others. Sadly Hannah never got the chance to spread the word about this charity and the work it does, if you would like to donate in Hannah’s memory, click here.

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