Category: Features

Name: Rachel Halsey.
Age: 22.
Location: Harrow.
Occupation: Tattoo Apprentice.

This is a ‘get your tat out’ special, as Rachel talks about the tattoos on her own body and the tattoos she puts on other people’s…

 What got you into tattoos? I think studying illustration at university really got me interested in tattoos. I’d never realised before that there was a whole artistic background to tattooing, past the crappy flash churned out from street shops back at home.  A few people in my class at university had some really interesting tattoos and it made me realise that I could put my artistic talents to good use. My first tattoo was a tiny heart on my wrist which I got on a whim during an unplanned night trip to Brighton with a friend.

Where did you get your tattoos done? I get my tattoos done in lots of places, usually I find an artist I like via Facebook or from previously tattooing my friends. I’ve had two done at The Family Business in London, my rib piece and leg by Rachel Cavalier at Tattoo Shed in Apsley and also my Russian doll by Jake X there. Simon Erl from Jayne Doe did a Shakespeare piece on my arm and I’ve had a few small ones done by Oli Christensen. I recently travelled up to Sheffield to get a Wizard of Oz tattoo done by the amazingly talented apprentice, Amy Williams. A few of my tattoos have also been done by my boss at the shop I work in, which is a bonus as they are done for free!

Have you got any more planned? I’ve got lots more in the pipeline, but it’s just finding the time and money. I’d like to get lots more added to the Cinderella piece I have on my left arm, maybe a castle and the dress which she makes herself before her step sisters rip it apart. I’d like to get portraits of my parents on my back and more Victorian book illustration style pieces around my Fornasetti tattoo.

Where does your inspiration come from? Although cheesy, almost all of my tattoos have been inspired by Walt Disney films! I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic, so a few of my tattoos seem to be based around love and happy endings.

How would you describe your style?   I really like traditional tattoo art with a modern twist, I guess neo-traditional. Victoriana seems to be pretty ‘in’ at the moment, but I’ve loved imagery and art from the Victorian period and also renaissance for as long as I can remember.

Is there anyone you would like to get tattooed by? I’d love to get tattooed by Tiny Miss Becca, but from what I’ve heard she has a super-long waiting list! It would be awesome to get tattooed by any of the artists from Spider Murphy’s, my shop recently bought their book and every page of flash is incredible.

Do you have a favourite tattoo? My favourite tattoo is the face on my arm. It’s the famous face of the opera singer Lina Cavalieri, recreated by the Italian artist Fornasetti. He made thousands of different images using her face, and I decided to make my own version by adding the moth, kind of like the poster image for Silence of the Lambs. It was by my boss Antonis Galankis at The Grasshopper where I work.

Do your tattoos have meanings? I guess the majority of my tattoos have meanings, if I really think about why I got them. The Russian doll on my arm has ‘Mum’ written on it, because the big babushka dolls hold and protect all the smaller ones inside them.  I guess my Mum is like my protector. I have a large piece of Marie Antoinette on my ribs – I am fascinated by her life story and like the fact that she went against her heritage and lived her life the way she wanted to.

What’s it like to be a tattoo apprentice? Being a tattoo apprentice is amazing! I was so lucky to get the job, I guess I was in the right place at the right time. I was in the last month of my degree and walked past a local tattoo parlour – The Grasshopper in Harrow – and they were advertising for a new apprentice. I brought my portfolio back in an hour later, and did a few initial designs for them and the boss decided to take me on the following week. It was unpaid for the first couple of months and the majority of the time I was just cleaning grips, dealing with customers, cleaning the studio and doing some design work for my boss. Now I’ve been there almost a year, I’ve started tattooing customers and I’m in my final stages before I get my licence. I guess it’s a very competitive industry, especially with social networking being such a big part of advertising yourself. There’s so many tattoo shops within a five mile radius of my shop so, with so much competition, it’s important to try and be the best you can be.

How would you describe your style of tattooing? I wouldn’t say my style was all neo-traditional, but it can be seen throughout most of my designs. I like using bright colours and lots of pretty imagery, too. I try to look at what a customer wants and add my own touch, instead of outright copying someone – I would hate for someone to do that to me. However, with neo-traditional tattooing so popular at the moment, I guess it’s hard to constantly come up with completely original ideas for pieces.

Which artists (tattoo or otherwise) are you inspired by? There’s so many artists who inspire me at the moment. I love Rachel McCarthy’s use of colour and cuteness in her designs – the same with Amy Savage from Jayne Doe. I get a lot of inspiration for my drawings from illustrators as well, such as Tara McPherson and Lucy Oldfield. And I like to go to museums and galleries to discover new ideas.

How do you learn? Who do you practice on? Initially, my boss got me to do lots of drawing and paintings to get a feel for tattoo design and technique. I’d watch him tattooing his customers and he’d explain to me what he was doing and why. Then I went on to tattooing potatoes, to try and get a feel of the machine and depth. I have to thank my friends for allowing me to practice on them too! We’d have lessons after hours – where I’d bring a friend along and my boss would shadow me and talk me through what I was doing.  Gradually, over several months, I became more confident and then started doing small simple pieces on paying customers. I’m really grateful for everything my boss has taught me, he’s a really good teacher and has an eye for all sorts of art and design – as well as different medias such as egg tempera painting and mosaics, which was really interesting for me as I come from a fine art background.

And here is selection of tattoos by Rachel – I love her girly style

– she’s definitely my new tattoo crush and I think she is an amazing tattoo artist herself… Rachel I would love to get tattooed by you one day!