Handpoked tattoos Archives

January 31, 2023January 31, 2023

Paradise Tender: Interview with tattoo artist Shreya

Shreya is a multidisciplinary artist and traveling tattooist based in a private studio in New Delhi, India. We chatted to the tattooer about her organic textured tattoos, how their purpose is to bring more joy and connecting tattoo communities during the pandemic…

What drew you to hand poking? Can you tell us about your journey into the tattoo world? I first discovered handpoked tattoos at a college house party, and loved how accessible the art form was! I appreciated this new perspective of the intimate experience of getting tattooed by a loved one as the main purpose of the tattoo rather than a perfect piece or some design with deep meaning attached to it. Soon after I taught myself handpoke tattooing by watching YouTube videos, doing an online BBP course and practicing on family and friends.

Since then I have been quite dedicated at spreading the love of handpoke tattoos around India, and helping people take their bodies less seriously by giving their friends n fam’ imperfect but really special tattoos.

Self Portrait (all handpoked tattoos on Shreya done herself

What’s the process behind your tattoos? For me giving tattoos is an extension of my art practice, I have been drawing since I was five or six years old and have kept multiple drawing books for life. So it only made sense for me to do flash tattoos in my style of drawing, which is inspired by my playful childlike-drawings with a heavy dose of colour.

I don’t really attach myself to any style of tattooing, I have been tattooing for almost six years now, and my style has developed maybe eight to nine times since then.

I am constantly experimenting and evolving into my craft and feel like I’m getting closer to my unique voice as a tattoo artist.

I am always drawing flash on paper and making final versions on my iPad (procreate ftw). Once a client picks a flash, firstly I get really really excited and then we start working on an interesting placement for the design. To me, placement is such an important part of the tattoo process and the stencil can take much longer than the actual tattoo! I am quite fast when handpoking and like to give my tattoos a raw feel, with enough creative liberty to make small adjustments to the stencil while tattooing. For me the stencil is a general marker, and not something I am trying to trace.

What inspires your tattoos and the designs? I am quite a nostalgic person, and still very much obsessed with all the stuff a five year old would be. Flowy organic lines are quite important in my designs, you will almost never see a straight line or a sharp angle! I take a lot of my inspiration from spiritual books and quotes I read on the go, if I see something sweet in nature that warms my heart, cute home decor that I spot at a stranger’s house, or just something simple like fruits and candies and bugs.

The purpose of my tattoos and designs has always been to bring more joy!

Flash sheet inspired by newfound love for handpoke + machine hybrid tattoos

What do you love tattooing and what do you want to do more of? Currently I’m obsessed with American traditional style attoos, but with my own soft touch to it! I love the idea of bold black machine lines with soft textured handpoked colours. I hope to do more pieces like this in 2023 and play around with exciting motifs and symbolism in my work.

Can you tell us about your private studio, the set up, your process, the ethos behind it? For me it has always been really important to make my clients feel at home. I love the idea of my tattoo studio looking like a cute little living room, filled with art by my friends, music that my clients choose and nice smells around the room to set the mood. Allowing someone to tattoo your skin is a very vulenerable experience and in India, there’s very few studios that cater to women and queers, my aim is to provide a space for them to feel totally comfortable in.

Can you tell us about your guestspots and travel plans? Picking up tattooing as my profession has been a blessing and curse for my love for travel, the good thing about being a traveling tattoo artist is that I can always pick up my needlesand ink and visit any city and make a few bucks. The bad part is, I have not taken a single holiday in the last four years purely for pleasure.

My upcoming trip is to London, UK and I will be guesting out of Maria Paradise Studio from 6th to 9th February 2023! We’ll also be doing a flash day on 12th February. I’m quite excited to be able to provide the brown skin toned people in the city with an opportunity to get tattooed by someone who knows how to work those skin shades. This is my second trip to London in the past six months just because I love this city so much, there’s always something to do.

I plan on doing a Europe tour sometime in September/October and Singapore and Vietnam in December as well, which I’m super excited for. Rest of the year I will be spontaneously visiting different cities in and around India and guesting out of studios owned by my tattoo artist friends.

Though this year I had hoped to reduce my traveling it seems like I will be visiting at least one city every month and spending the rest of my time in my private tattoo studio in New Delhi, India.

What have you got planned for the flash day? One of the (few) good things that came out of Instagram was that it allowed me to make creative friends all over the world! During the pandemic Bebek and I really connected, though our art styles are fairly different but our mindset about tattooing ethos, our creative practice and general lifestyle is fairly similar.

We have kept in touch the last two years and are coincidentally going to be in London, UK at the same time this February. So it only made sense for us to mash up our styles and create a collaborative flash sheet where in we both tattoo our client simultaneously. This is going to be a new experience for both us and our clients and we are super excited to make some beautiful forever kind of memories on skin with love and care.

Can you tell us more about teaching other people to tattoo, what does this involve? From my personal experience, teaching other people to tattoo involved a lot of listening and learning from the participants. As a self-taught artist myself I wanted to teach people the basics of tattooing (set up, depth and hygiene). Also part of it was teaching them to ask the right questions on the internet for them to be able to delve deeper into their education of the craft.

What my students valued most was the constant access to directly message me if they ever had any queries after our session! Just having the patience to be present for any small, silly questions and giving them the confidence to tattoo others by teaching them proper tattoo etiquette has been my biggest learning in the last five years of hosting handpoke workshops. I now offer personalised one-on-one sessions in my private New Delhi studio for anyone who is interested in learning the craft on a deeper level.

What was your first tattoo you got and the first you did? The first tattoo I got was when I was 17. I had wanted to get a tattoo for a really long time and finally convinced my parents. Nervous they might change their mind, I quickly found a cute illustration on Tumblr that I liked and went to the local trusted tattoo shop with my mum, showed the artist the design and he made it on me within 20 minutes, and I held my mom’s hand the entire time!

The first time I did a tattoo was on myself when I was 21, I was living in NewYork at that time and had ordered some stick and poke supplies as my birthday present. One night after binge watching all the stick and poke videos on YouTube I decided to just go for it! I spent one hour tattooing this really tiny design, going over it again and again cause I didn’t want it to disappear when I woke up. The next day I went to my job with my supplies and tattooed my boss and the other intern working there. And then my boss tattooed me back!

That’s when I realised the power of a handpoked experience with your loved ones.

What’s been your favourite tattoo experience? Definitely tattooing my husband one random night during the pandemic! He had gotten a few tattoos from me before, but this session just had some different energy to it. He was on his laptop making music, I was tattooing one of my flashes on his calf. We were just on our bed, the tattooed started around 2am and went on till sunrise, we were in such a comfortable zone with each other, we barely even spoke during that session but were totally in sync.

What’s the tattoo scene like where you are? Tattoos are not a contemporary concept in India, Gonna a tribal form of handpoke tattoos has existed for centuries. Different tribes in India have tattoo practices of varying styles and for different purposes.

With the rise of machine tattoos and influence from the West, you can see India adapting to the culture and getting big, bold custom tattoos as a form of self-expression. Though tattoos are still a niche and fairly looked down upon in corporate jobs there is a slow but sure acceptance of the art form.

The contemporary stick and poke scene of independent artists that I am part of is slowly gaining respect from the tattoo studios that work with cool/rotary machines. Like the rich diversity of India, the country also offers a wide range of tattoo styles and artists you can get work done from!

You mentioned you want to provide brown skin toned people an opportunity to get tattooed by someone who knows how to work those skin shades. What do you want people to know about tattooing brown skin and how can they work with different skin shades? I think many people are afraid to do coloured tattoos on brown skin tones just because we lack representation on blogs and Pinterest boards. Studying colour theory and drawing flashes on brown toned backgrounds helps a lot with understanding how to make colours pop on POC. But also, experiment, offer free colour tests to clients with darker skin tones so you can better understand how melanin plays a part in the healing of a coloured tattoo.

What have you been doing since the pandemic? Ahhh, hoenstly a lot on some days and then nothing at all on many. I experienced a massive rise in the sale of my handpoke tattoo kits during the pandemic, which helped me keep afloat and busy with work.

It was interesting to see so many people take up stick and poke as a hobby during the pandemic.

When times were good between the second and third wave we would take the opportunity to host IRL flash days, I even hosted a three city handpoke tattoo festival across India showcasing some of the country’s brightest new tattoo artists. When we were forced to go back into isolation I kept the community strong and alive with virtual flash days and Clubhouse chats with tattoo enthusiasts, which was also great because then we weren’t bound by borders and tattoo artists from around the world could join in!

What do you see for the future of tattooing in India? How do you see yourself in this? Oooh, I think the future for tattooing in India is super bright. We are definitely gaining momentum on the map as a legit place for international artists to come for a guest spot, simultaneously Indian artists travelling abroad for work and getting fully booked out.

India hosts some of the most exciting tattoo conventions, I attended one recently in Mumbai called Kula tattoo convention which was a beautiful coexistence between traditional handpoked tattoos and contemporary tattoo artists from villages of India to the far West.

Is there anything else you want people to know? In 2022 I took the leap of changing my artist name that I built over five years from Tender Pokes to Paradise Tender. I felt like this was an important step in my growth as a multidisciplinary artist, as now in addition to handpoked tattoos I also have machine tattoos and tooth gems in my skills roster.

I am looking forward to what I’ll create this year, with my new found love for hybrid tattoos that involve both handpoke and machine! Also, being the first artist doing colourful tooth jewellery in India, I am excited to see what heights I can take this form of body art in my country to!

Follow Shreya for more hybrid tattoos and guest spots.

October 13, 2022October 9, 2022

Interview with handpoke artist Poppy

We love the cosy handpoke tattoos Poppy creates at The Blackhouse Club, Brighton and K-ink, London so much so that we had to find out more about the artist behind them. We chat to Poppy about their journey into the tattoo world, inspirations and the joy tattooing brings…

How long have you been tattooing and how did you become an artist? I began learning to handpoke in January 2021 and have been tattooing professionally since January 2022. I am a self / community taught tattooist as opposed to having a traditional apprenticeship – I began by practising on fruit and fake skin with guidance from my partner (who is also a tattoo artist) before gradually moving onto tattooing myself and some very trusting friends.

After graduating from university, I began focusing on developing my tattooing practice as much as I could while working part time before being offered my first residency at a studio in January 2022 where I worked once a week. Since then I have become a resident at two different studios, The Blackhouse Club and K-ink Peckham, and I’m now a full time tattooist.

If you weren’t a tattooer what would you be? I would love to be working somewhere in the film or television industry. I studied for a Masters degree in Film Studies while learning to tattoo, originally planning (or at least hoping) to get into screenwriting, which is something I would still really love to explore in the future. I also think I would love to put my artistic skills to good use in set and prop design.

What’s your favourite thing about being a tattooer? This is a really hard question for me because there’s just so much to love! Right now I’d say that one of my favourite things about being a tattooer is the freedom it allows me. Being a self employed, working artist gives me the freedom to choose when and how much I work, allows me to easily take time off when I need it and allows me to travel all over the world (although i’ve only gone as far as London yet!).

As someone who is neurodiverse and struggles with my mental health, I also find that this freedom is a huge help in helping me take care of myself better. As I am able to take guilt-free rest and time away when I need it as to not burn myself out or become so overwhelmed to the point of meltdown, like I used to experience frequently during other jobs and my education.

I’d say in general the best thing about being a tattoo artist is the fact that I am able to be an artist full time, as simple as that sounds. Not all artists have the luxury of being able to entirely support themselves financially with their artwork, and I am so grateful that I am able to make an earning this way, especially as someone who has really struggled to make a liveable income in the past while working “ordinary” jobs, let alone through making art!

I still wake up some days in disbelief that I get to make one-of-a-kind, permanent, art on my lovely clients for a living and not just for the sheer joy of it.

Can you tell us about your experiences in the tattoo industry? Although I haven’t been in the industry for very long, I can safely say that so far my experience has been pretty great. I have had the opportunity to meet and work alongside so many incredibly talented artists, some of which I’m lucky enough to call my friends. I am so lucky to know such kind, passionate and deeply creative tattooists who I have learned so much from.

I also cherish all of my wonderful clients, the best living and breathing canvases that anyone could ask for, who have all placed so much trust in me.

Of course, like any industry, the tattoo industry does have its issues which I am no way naive to. Unfortunately and sadly almost inevitably, there are a fair few bad eggs who have made their way into this industry. From tattooists who massively overcharge clients who don’t know any better or who exploit the labour of other artists and apprentices, tattooists who unashamedly steal designs from other artists and even tattooists who are just downright creeps who prey on young, vulnerable clients and artists.

I have been very fortunate that I have come into contact with only a small handful of these bad eggs and any interactions I have had with them have been brief. I’m incredibly thankful to now work in two lovely studios that are genuinely inclusive, safe, and clean (I know this sounds like a given, but you’d be surprised).

How would you describe your work? I find my own style quite difficult to describe. I’ve been told by others that my work is ignorant style, but to me this feels like quite a tricky categorisation, especially since I often take a lot of inspiration from traditional style tattooing which ignorant style is often defined in opposition to.

I often describe my style as ‘illustrative’, especially as I started off doing illustration work and translated that drawing style into tattooing.

We love your bold line style which is not often seen with handpoke tattoos, what drew you to this style? I’m drawn to the bolder style of lines mostly because I find that bolder lines tend to heal better and are more consistent than more fine lines, They also tend to age a bit better. It’s also a style I personally enjoy myself, a lot of the tattoos I have on my body use thick, bold lines.

What inspires you? When designing flash I find that I am inspired by all sorts of other art forms. Lots of my flash is directly inspired by music, films, and fine art. I have made flash sheets specifically based on films like Midsommar and Beetlejuice, and artists such as Claude Cahun, Frida Kahlo and Henri Matisse.

I also like to take inspiration from traditional tattoo flash from artists like Sailor Jerry, as well as French and Russian prison style tattoos. However, most of the time when drawing flash I just sketch whatever first comes to mind without any references at all, and just use whatever images that come to me subsciously as my main source of inspiration.

Do you have a favourite tattoo artist or someone who inspires you? I have many, many favourite tattoo artists, almost too many to name! I’ll start by giving a shout out to all of the amazing artists I work with at my main studio, The Blackhouse Club, who are all so wildly talented and inspire me every day; @traddy_issues, @orchard_tattoo, @nolseytattoo, @amieculver_tattoo, @luna__tattoos, @roblaketattoo, @kardatoons, @loverat.tattoo, @hella._.tattoos and @hangedtattoo.

Here are some of my favourite tattoo artists from the top of my head, who I have either already been tattooed by or I hope to be tattooed by in the future; @victoria.absurd, @chop_stick_n_poke, @chaoticmotherly, @slimesistren, @alitbruce, @xia_smith_tattoo, @starttodaytattoo, @slowpuncture, @yo.pokes, @birthdae, @nancydestroyer, @ktchnwnch and @story.tatter.

Can you tell us about the process behind your tattoos? When designing flash, I often first sketch onto paper whatever images or words are floating around in my mind. I then take these sketched ideas into procreate where I draw them up digitally, so I can make sure the designs are neat and the line weights are consistent. These line drawings I can then use to make a stencil for if someone gets the particular design tattooed.

As for the actual tattooing process itself, it’s pretty simple since I use a hand poke method. Typically I tape my needle to a sterile tongue depressor with medical tape and then wrap it with grip tape to help make it a bit easier to hold steady while working.

I try to follow my clients lead on whether they want a quiet or chatty session as I don’t mind doing either (although I do find I make my best work when things are a little bit quieter and I am able to concentrate on the tattoo entirely), and offer as many breaks as they need so that it’s a comfortable, low-pressure experience. Consent is incredibly important.

What drew you to handpoke instead of machine tattooing? Handpoke is just the first method I was taught when I was learning to tattoo and it stuck! Although it requires a bit more patience, I like that I can really take my time when hand poking, and also that it can be a bit more gentle for the client. I would eventually like to learn how to use a machine so I can make bigger and more complex pieces, but I’m not in any rush.

You often use coloured ink, does this impact how you tattoo when handpoking? Coloured inks do tend to be a bit trickier to handpoke. Coloured inks tend to be much thicker than black ink, so it can require a bit more perseverance to get them into the skin, especially if you’re trying to create a block of colour as opposed to coloured lines. Even though they’re a bit harder to work with, I do really enjoy using colour in my hand pokes.

I think I especially enjoy using them because I don’t personally have any colour tattoos (not for any particular reason, I just got a lot of black tattoos and then decided that I’d committed to the aesthetic), so I get to live vicariously through my clients.

What would you say to someone who isn’t sure whether to get a handpoke tattoo? The first thing I would think about is if the person already has other tattoos done by machine – usually I would reassure them that handpokes, depending on the placement, are usually a bit more gentle and less traumatic for the skin. So you can expect the experience to be a little less intense than getting tattooed by machine and that they are typically a bit easier and quicker to heal.

I also think that some people are unsure about getting hand poke tattoos because they have some misconceptions about handpoked tattoos – some clients before their appointment have told me that they’ve been told that handpokes are a lot more painful, that they don’t last as long or even disappear completely after a number of years, or that they will take many more hours than a tattoo done by machine. I like to reassure people that lots of people think that they are less painful (although everyone’s pain tolerance is different and subjective), that some handpokers, including myself, can produce work quite quickly, and that they are just as permanent as machine tattoos as long as they have been done properly.

Of course handpoked tattoos aren’t for everyone, and people are entitled to their personal preferences when it comes to getting tattooed. If you find that you can struggle with sitting still for longer periods of time, or if you particularly enjoy the noise or the speed of being tattooed by machine then maybe handpoke won’t be your favourite. But I think it’s always worth a try, especially if you’re looking to learn how to tattoo as it’s a great way to start.

What do you like to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? My favourite things to tattoos are human faces/figures, inanimate objects and anything heart shaped. Luckily, I get to tattoo these things a lot! I find that the motifs I’m drawn to change all of the time, both in the things I like to draw and get tattooed myself – currently I seem to be obsessed with sacred hearts, sea shells and hands.

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? Are you a tattoo collector? I do like to consider myself a tattoo collector, so much so that I try to limit myself to less than three tattoos by any given artist so that I have room for as many different artists’ work as possible. I don’t tend to stick to one style for my own tattoos – I have a mixture of blackwork, ignorant style, illustrative, fine line and traditional, and I also have a mixture of handpoke and machine.

The only thing that keeps my collection cohesive is the fact that I only have black ink tattooed on me. Although I absolutely love colour tattoos, I personally only like to have black tattoos myself so that they don’t clash with each other, especially since they vary so much in style.

Do you have a favourite tattoo experience? I can’t think of any one experience that I would call my favourite, and I’m very lucky in that all of my experiences in getting tattooed so far have been positive ones. I feel most comfortable and relaxed when being tattooed by friends, and other queer and/or neurodiverse tattooers, as I feel there less pressure to mask and I feel more comfortable in asking questions and setting boundaries.

What moment in your career are you most proud of? It’s hard to pinpoint one specific moment when each day is so different. Honestly, it sounds cheesy, but I’m proud of every new tattoo that I get to make. I also must say that being reached out to by Things & Ink to do this interview is a highlight in and of itself is a proud moment for me and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to gush about my love of tattooing.

Be sure to follow @thursdaygurl_ for more amazing tattoos, fun flash and appointment details.

July 5, 2021

The Handpoke tattoos of Charlotte Bolton

Our founding editor Alice Snape spent the most gorgeous Friday afternoon inside the walls of The Gilded Rook Tattoo Studio, in Chesterfield. The studio owned by Liv Frost is up some winding stairs and it feels like an escape, there’s some seriously good vibes going on. Alice got tattooed by resident hand-poke tattoo artist Charlotte Bolton, who was gentle, patient, funny and warm; she tattooed meticulously in tiny movements while they chatted about lockdown / love / dogs (obvs). Our editor Rosalie Hurr caught up with Charlotte to find out more.

How long have you been tattooing? The Gilded Rook is the first professional studio I have worked in, and I started there in October 2020! Before then, I had been practising and teaching myself for about a year.

What inspired you to become a tattoo artist? I am a very creative person, and it has always been one of my career goals and dreams to be a tattoo artist. I just see it as another exciting art form to work in.

I’ve always had a massive interest in tattoos anyway, and knew I wanted to be covered in them myself! I also think it’s so special that people are willing to have your own unique artwork tattooed on them permanently.

I actually had a very short lived apprenticeship when I was 18. When I gave that up I always felt like I’d missed my chance at tattooing, so I’m super grateful that Liv (owner of The Gilded Rook) gave me the opportunity to come work in her studio.

Alice’s tattoo is an inky reminder of what brought her joy in lockdown – dogs and bunches of flowers!

What drew you to handpoking? Have you ever used a machine to tattoo? I actually tried out handpoking because I thought that it would be something I could teach myself and that would also be a lot safer and hygienic to do at home. I never actually realised that handpoke tattoos were done in professional studios before. When I realised that, it gave me the motivation to be really serious about learning it and being hygienic in the set up and process.

I also love how therapeutic it is. In my own creative practice, I’ve always enjoyed making things that are quite time-consuming and finicky, and I feel like there’s more control with handpoke, so it seems like the perfect technique for me. I did a few machine tattoos back when I was 18, but I would love to have a proper go at learning again some time.

Can you tell us about your process and set-up. I am a very eco-conscious person, and obviously in tattooing there are a lot of single-use products that are mainly plastic based. So for my set-up, I try to be as eco-friendly as possible and I use plant-based covers and ink caps from Greenhouse Tattoo Supplies and sometimes tin foil for my trolley. For my needles, I simply tape them to wooden lollipop sticks with some cute washi tape!

I use exactly the same needles that are used in machine tattooing, but obviously it is all done by hand. Because of this, handpokes definitely take a lot longer than machine tattoos, but I personally think they hurt a lot less as they’re more gentle on the skin, which most of the time means the healing process is a lot quicker and nicer to deal with too!

What inspires your designs, how would you describe your style? I would say my style is cute, fun and playful! I love to draw animals and characters – sometimes I just can’t believe people want my silly drawings on them, I love it!

I get a lot of inspiration from things I just have lying around the flat, I’m such a hoarder for quirky little souvenirs from charity shops that I have an endless supply of objects to draw inspiration from! I also get a lot of fun custom ideas from people too, I recently did three little ducklings that were wearing a bucket hat, a sombrero and a leprechaun hat!? I have the best clients!

What do you love to tattoo and what would you like to do more of?At the moment I’m actually such a fan of tattooing writing, which I never expected! I would definitely love to do more writing, but anything animal or character related is always a fave for me.

What would you like people to know about handpoke tattoos? Because handpokes are a bit of a niche and people don’t know much about them, everyone is scared of them! So I’d just like people to know that it is honestly a lot less terrifying than you imagine, I think it’s actually quite relaxing and a lot easier to deal with the pain (if any!). People also assume that handpokes aren’t permanent like machine tattoos, and although they may need a touch up in the future – they are definitely permanent.

Give Charlotte a follow on Insta.

March 22, 2021March 21, 2021

The handpoke tattoos of Mellowpokes

Mellowpokes from Toronto talks to us about how she got into tattooing, why she loves handpoke and tattooing during a pandemic…

How long have you been tattooing and how did you get into it? I’ve been tattooing for three years. I went to OCAD university here in Toronto and studied illustration. After university I always made time for creative projects, but generally found that they didn’t pay enough to actually make a living, so I started doing graphic design. There were parts of it that I enjoyed, but for the most part I didn’t find it very fulfilling. I found a lot of the jobs to be tedious, and often found myself working for large corporations with many different people to please.

I didn’t actually start getting tattoos until I was in my mid-20s, but once I started I got really excited by all the incredible talent in my city. I got a backpiece done by the absolutely incredible Jess Chen and we talked a bit about having both gone to OCAD and afterward doing graphic design out of necessity more than passion.

She suggested I try tattooing. I ended up mentioning this conversation to one of my best friends, Dana, and like a month later she bought me a stick and poke kit. I am so immensely grateful to Jess for pushing me on this path and for giving me a bunch of super helpful advice when I first started. And I’m grateful for Dana who forced me to actually START doing it. I did my first tattoo on Dana, and I think if it weren’t for that push it would’ve taken me a lot longer to actually take that plunge.

What drew you to hand poke tattooing? When I first began tattooing, I didn’t intend for it to become my full-time job. I was interested in learning tattooing, and I thought that the handpoke technique would feel more intuitive and similar to working with a pen. (Turns out I was wrong, and in a lot of ways using a machine is more similar to the act of drawing than handpoking is!) I intended to just try handpoking, and if I liked it, potentially upgrade to machine tattooing.

But, once I started, I fell in love with handpoking, and the quiet and intimate nature of it. I’m generally fairly tech-averse and prefer drawing most of my designs with pencil and paper. I bought an iPad and it took me about six months to actually break it out and start using it. I do intend to introduce machine tattooing to my practice eventually though, just to broaden the scope of what I can achieve!

What inspires your tattoos? I’m inspired by the world around me, although I guess that’s not a particularly interesting answer. I love drawing animals and women. I think when I first started I was really focused on making tattoo designs that looked like tattoos, but now I just tattoo whatever dumb stuff I draw.

One of my favourite exercises that generates a ton of my flash is posting on Instagram asking people what I should draw. I get so many silly submissions and I draw them all quickly, and usually without any references. Those weird moments trying to draw a crocodile from memory ended up making some of my favourite flash designs.

What do you like to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? Right now I’m in the process of introducing a tattoo machine to my practice, so I would really like to do more work with the machine. I think it will lend itself nicely to the intuitive looseness in some of my drawings, where poking was more precise and slow.

In terms of subject matter, I want to make sure I don’t get stuck in a niche doing specific things. I love doing dogs and cherubs, and they’re two of my most requested images, but I always want to push myself and expand. I would love to do more larger pieces and more experimental compositions.

Do you prefer working in colour when you handpoke? How does this differ to handpoking black ink? This has two sides. On one hand, I love tattooing in black ink because I find it easier. The ink is hyper-pigmented and the perfect consistency to push into the skin by hand. The ink makes less of a mess and is generally easier to work with. However, I love tattooing in colour because I love the end result.

Coloured ink looks so beautiful in the skin, and introducing colour into a composition gives you so many more options for where to take a design. Colour heals so differently on different skin tones and I love seeing how the colours heal and integrate with people’s bodies. I always love when a client is open to colour, even if it takes a bit longer and is a bit tougher to work with.

Can you tell us about some of your experiences getting tattooed? Do you prefer handpoke or machine tattooing? I love both methods! I think in general handpoke tattoos hurt less, and in general machine tattoos hurt more. There are always exceptions to this (depending on the artist, the design, the placement) and I’ve definitely had poked tattoos that were excruciating and machine tattoos that I barely felt.

There is also a bit of an assumption that handpokes don’t heal well or don’t last, and that machine tattoos heal better, which is also not necessarily the case. It all depends on the artist, the placement, and how you treat the tattoo while it’s healing. Anyways, I love both methods and don’t tend to choose my artists based on what method they use, but rather based on their artwork!

How has COVID affected your tattooing? COVID has been really tough on so many people and industries. We had to shut down in March 2020 for the initial lockdown, and we remained closed for five months. We were able to reopen again in August, but were forced to close for lockdown again in November, and remain closed now. It’s been very difficult.

The Canadian government hasn’t provided much support to small businesses, particularly newer small businesses who don’t have the financial history to qualify for government support. The uncertainty of things adds extra strain (both mentally and financially) since it’s impossible to plan. We have no idea when we will be able to tattoo again at this point. Not to mention that an important part of my job, and one of my favourite parts, is being able to travel and guest in different studios around the world. I had plans to travel to London and Paris to tattoo (literally had flights booked) as well as to the US. None of that happened, and now I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do it again.

I am trying my best to explore other art forms in my downtime from tattooing, and have been getting back into painting and making merch. At the end of it all, though, I am so grateful for my health and understand that COVID has hit many more people far more directly than it has me. Just want to hammer this point home – please be careful, please wear a mask, please be considerate of others!

Follow Mellowpokes on Instagram for more handpoked tattoos.

January 25, 2021January 30, 2021

Interview with Indigo Forever

Beth Park creates beautifully delicate handpoke tattoos at Grace Neutral’s Femme Fatale studio in London. We chatted to Beth about how she makes each tattoo and what inspires her…

What drew you to hand poking rather than tattooing with a machine? My husband uses a very noisy heavy machine so I was always found it quite intimidating and wasn’t really interested in learning. It was when I saw Jenna Bouma (@slowerblack) tattoo that I thought I wanted to learn. I thought it was such a calm and natural way to apply a tattoo. I’ve always loved to draw, paint and sew, so this felt like another medium I’d like to try that could suit my style of artwork.

So I was very lucky that Jenna helped me and shared a few secrets she’d learnt over the many years she had been doing it.

What inspires and influences your tattoos? So many things; artwork, jewellery, fabrics, anything ornamental. I love old book covers, and illustrators like Jessie M Kng, Aubrey Beardsley, Maurice Pillar Verneuil , Virginia Frances Sterrett and Harry Clarke. I love Japanese fabric patterns, Indian wood block prints, Egyptian jewellery and Skandanavian folk art.

I do look at indigenous tribal artwork and tattoo designs like Indian, Berber, Native American which definitely has had influence on my work. However I try not to reference something cultural too directly unless there is a personal connection for the person I’m tattooing.

Do you think working in an predominately female tattoo shop influences your work? FF is not exclusively female, however the fact that we are mainly female, non-binary and very inclusive means I can work in a relaxed friendly unintimidating atmosphere. The fact everyone is supportive and shares advise and knowledge, means I’ve been able to progress and grow as an artist.

What do you love to tattoo and draw and what would you like to do more of? What kind of designs get you excited? I love to draw for the body, like jewellery. To decorate a wrist or neckline or ankle etc. Usually starting with focal point like a talisman or symbol like a moon, lotus or eye, which have strong symbolism such as protection, strength or luck.

Then decorate with beading from there. Which is why I use a lot of dots, to represent beading, also to soften a solid line and also the practicality of it being hand poked. It also reminds me of tin punching, almost like you’re punching the skin. The sun and moon feature heavily as they are such strong meaningful symbols. I love tattooing hands, I think because it’s the perfect size to fill the space and our hands are always on show. However I’d love to do much larger pieces, like a leg piece I did recently.

Can you tell us about the process behind your tattoos? I try to never tattoo the same thing twice which means I am constantly drawing and producing new designs. Clients have the option to chose from flash (pre-drawn designs) however usually the flash is a starting point to which I then adapt to suit the chosen placement on the body. I then work together with the client, to finalise the design.

I don’t tend to take commissions unless the idea is inspiring, something that will suit the aesthetic of my work and translate into a nice tattoo.

How long have you been tattooing? How did you get into the industry? I’ve only been tattooing professionally for four years. I came into it relatively late in my artistic career. I used to manage an art gallery in east London, which I did for over 10 years. It was when I left to have our daughter, that I started tattooing. I didn’t take the traditional apprenticeship route, I was very lucky to have my husband and very good friends like Jenna and Grace Neutral guide and advise me.

If you could do anything differently in your career what would it be and why? Nothing. Everything I have done previously has brought me to where I am now, and has influenced my work. I have a huge appreciation and respect for the industry and I feel incredibly lucky to be part of such if it.

If you weren’t a tattooer what would you be? I would definitely have looked into jewellery design. Whether I’d have been any good at it I have no idea! From recently working on a collaboration with jeweller Sarah Boodi (@boodi_jewellery) I’ve had an insight into how hard it can be!

Can you tell us about your own tattoo collection, does this reflect the tattoos you create? A lot of my tattoos are hand poked and by women which wasn’t a conscious decision. But yes, most reflect my taste in tattoos and therefore a similar style to mine.

How does tattooing and tattoos make you feel? I find it really therapeutic and feel very lucky to be able to make a living from something I love so much. I’m so grateful to all the people that support me creatively and it still blows my mind that people want me to tattoo them!

If you’re not already make sure to follow Beth on Instagram for more beautiful tattoos.