Covered: a photo project where tattooed people bare all

Covered: a portrait project of tattooed people. This beautiful photographic project illustrates the variety of people who get tattooed and the vastly different reasons why…

Photographs by Alan Powdrill | Interviews by  | Feature from theguardian.com

Woman tattoos underneath

Victoria Clarke, 37, Coventry
My tattoos are part of who I am, and I’ll always love my bodysuit, now and when I’m 80. The respect and love I get for what I look like is what it’s all about.

Woman tattoos underneath 2

Man tattoo underneath

Graham Platts, 58, Cleethorpes
I was 51 when I started getting tattoos. I wanted one in my teens but my parents wouldn’t have agreed. About 10 years ago, I stopped smoking and thought, “I ought to do something with the money, to have something to show for it”; I decided to get a tattoo. I got one on my right arm. Then I got one on my left arm. Then on my right leg, then my left leg – it just escalated. I’ve replaced one addiction with another, but a healthier one. When I see a gap, I want it filled. Once I’m covered, I think I’ll start saving for a nice holiday.

Man tattoo underneath 2

Tattoo underneath

Izzy Nash, 48, Maidstone
I was 16 when I got my first tattoo, a tiny rose on my thigh. For me, it’s about being different. You’re never naked, because you’re covered in artwork. My bottom is always the talking point: I’m forever showing people.
I’m talking with my tattooist in Brighton about doing my neck and my legs – then there’s only my stomach left. My kids love it. I’ve told them, “When I die, you need to skin me, dry me out and put me on the wall.”

Tattoos underneath 2

Tattoos underneath photo

Alex Coates, 49, Whitby
When I started getting tattooed, over 30 years ago, it was frowned upon. It was the skinhead era, and I saw a guy with two swallows on his hands. That was it: I wanted them, too. My mum wasn’t happy. Now I’m completely covered. Recently, I asked my mother if she’d mind if I got some little tattoos on my face: a cross and a few dots. She said, “As long as they’re not too big.” I had it done that day. I woke up the next day, and thought, “What have I done?” But everyone said they looked cool and now I love them.

Tattoos underneath photo 2

Drew tattoos

Drew Beckett, 32, London
When I was 27, my hair fell out. I have total alopecia. I decided to reinvent myself so that the first thing people see is my tattoos, rather than the fact I have no eyebrows. I thought, “I’m a blank slate.” I started, embarrassingly, with a 90s tribal dragon on my stomach. I was 18, and thought it was the coolest thing ever. The artist was a Goldsmiths graduate called Thomas Hooper, who is now an internationally famous tattooist. I’m a civil servant; I check with my boss before I get a tattoo. If I was told no, that would be OK. It’s good manners to ask.

Drew tattoos 2

You can view more portraits on photographer Alan’s website, the Covered portrait exhibition of tattooed people will open on 11 November 2015 at Mother, in east London, RSVP alan@alanpowdrill.com.

The Art of Ivan Alifan

Russian artist Ivan Alifan uses oil to paint works that explore sexuality, desire and intimate gazes. His art seeks to illuminate the latent sexuality that is always present in images. He hopes to break down barriers and de-construct how the body can be seen in art, he wants to viewer to decide for themselves whether they feel sexual attraction or curiosity.

Ivan

Ivan23

Ivan4

 

Apprentice Love: Lady Bonsai

Lady Bonsai is a 27-year-old Italian apprentice working in Naples, we love her dark, simple and often naughty tattoos. We chatted to her about her classic style and what inspires her… 

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When did you start tattooing? I started tattooing in 2015 and I am apprenticing at the moment at Napoli Ink in Naples. I sent my portfolio to lots of different studios and the guys at Napoli Ink asked me to work with them.

ladybonsai

What did you do before you were a tattooist? Before I started to tattoo I used to work as a manager in a street wear clothes store. I have always been fascinated by art. I changed my whole working life to follow my dream to become a tattoo artist.

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What inspires you? I’m inspired by Art Nouveau, 1920s actresses, porn and bsdm (bondage, submission, dominance, sadomasochism) subjects.

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What kind of things do you like to tattoo? I love to tattoo women’s silhouettes in a romantic yet sexy way.

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How would you describe your style? I would describe my style as a graphic and passionate blackwork.

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We have recently released The Horror Issue, what is your favourite horror film? My favourite horror movie is Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932). A black and white movie, it is really amazing and a great inspiration to me.

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? My own tattoos are a mix of various styles, I really love tattoos to suit my body and it’s different parts. I have  a lot of different subjects from various artists including a moth by Alessandro Florio on my leg.

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Jessica Sharville Illustrations

Jessica Sharville is a 30-year-old freelance illustrator who also manages Tattoo Workshop in Brighton. Jess uses a pastel palette to transform what she sees around her into eye catching illustrations and tattoo covered characters. Inspired by The Horror Issue she has created two drawings, titled ‘Maneater’ and ‘The Pact’  especially for Things&Ink.  We chatted to Jess to find out more about her tattoo inspired drawings and her ever expanding tattoo collection… 

Jess

How would you describe your style? I think its realistic with a kind of exaggerated stylized feel, it has moments of fashion illustration and traditional tattoo art but with stories behind the illustrations. Romantic and sometimes quite sad.

What inspires you? I get told that people see me in a lot in my illustrations so I think I am inspired by people or events in my life possibly more than I realised! But apart from things in my life I would say that what inspires me the most is just people and moments I see in day to day life, perhaps a couple walking down the street laughing or someone crying on the phone and me wondering if they are going to be ok. (I am a bit of a people watcher). I work five days a week at Tattoo Workshop, and when I’m there I’m surrounded by so many incredible artists who all happen to be bloody ruddy good eggs too.

Maneater

Maneater

What medium do you use? I use heavy weight paper as I draw very heavy handed, and I only use Pentel 0.9mm mechanical pencils. I then scan my work and sit on photoshop using my Wacom bamboo graphic pad and do a bit of colouring in! It allows me to keep my original illustration and work with colours and effects and not spoil the drawing.

What do you like to draw? It’s probably obvious I love drawing people and tattooed people but I also love drawing patterns and text too. I have painted a few murals and large pieces in the last few years and found a new love for that. I think I just love little details and it has been great doing large scale things to push myself. But if I sat down with a blank piece of paper, I am nearly always going to draw a couple in bed.

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The Pact

Do you have a background in art? I have a degree in Illustration from Plymouth University and a family full of illustrators and graphic designers. I have worked lots of different jobs to support my illustrations throughout the years and luckily most of them have been creative which has helped push me with my art.

Are there any artists you admire? I am a huge Norman Rockwell fan and Charles Keeping who are my two favourite artists when it comes to capturing moments between people and creating illustrations which just silently tell stories. I also admire so many different tattoo artists and the amazing creative bubble inspires me, just being around these amazing artists (who all work substantially quicker than me!)

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Can you tell us about your tattoos? If you don’t have any are you planning to? What do you think of them? I have possibly too many to explain but I have a few favourites, I have a couple of Kate Mackay Gill  pieces, my feet are my favourites which are a mouse on a powder puff on my left foot and a perfume bottle on my right. Then I have a Kola Hari (from The Circle) Buddhist temple on my leg, a very new Peony on my knee by Jack Thomas Newton at Into You Brighton, lots of music related ones such as ‘Well I Wonder’ my favourite Smiths song, a few sneaky Arctic Monkeys related ones and many more.

I love my tattoos but I actually can be quite private about them. I enjoy having the choice of having them on show or not and sometimes people might not even realise I am tattooed at first. I also just love wearing black and layers!

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Wolves in my Bed

Tattooed Pig Heads

For his latest collection titled Pigs, New York photographer Peter Garritano asked tattoo artists to decorate real pig heads with designs of their choice as part of a project to show the relationship between tattooists and skin. Peter got the pig heads from a butcher in Brooklyn who sources animals that lead happy lives on local family farms. He wanted to show off the talent of tattooists in New York, the creativeness, strangeness and difference of the tattooing scene.

Pigy

Mehai Bakaty

Piggggg

Anderson Luna

Piggyy

John Reardon

Piggg

Kenny K-Bar

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Sue Jeiven