London tattoos Archives

July 3, 2023July 3, 2023

Three Kings Tattoo London anniversary flash day

We absolutely love a tattoo flash day. It’s so exciting being part of a tattoo party, making friends in the queue and choosing a flash design to have tattooed on you forever. On Saturday July 15th, Three Kings London (@threekingslondon) in Deptford are celebrating their third birthday with a flash day and evening of entertainment.

All flash designs will be at a set rate of £60 from one of their expert tattooers, so check out the full blackwork flash sheets on offer here. If you’re one of the first 50 customers on Saturday July 15th you’ll receive a goody bag filled with:

Discount vouchers from Three Kings
Goodies from local independent neighbours
VIP entry for you and your pals to celebrate with the Three Kings crew to the sounds of Rinse FM loved DJ Joe Milli at Little Nan’s

So make sure you get down early!

The tattoo artists at Three Kings London — The Three Kings Tattoo London crew

We first spoke to Amanda Rodriguez in 2019 (read her interview here). With it being three years in July since Three Kings Tattoo out of NYC and Brooklyn launched a studio in Deptford, South East London under the leadership of New York artist Amanda Rodriguez, we wanted to catch up with the tattoo artist.

How have you been since we last spoke in 2019?

I’ve been really good. It’s been really up and down work wise since COVID but now it’s starting to pick up again. We’ve got an amazing crew at the shop now with five full time artists other than myself. My clientele is building slowly but surely and I’ve been able to work on some really amazing pieces in the last few years.

You’re now owner of Three Kings Tattoo, can you tell us how you got to where you are?

Just a lot of hard work and determination to be honest. My business partners from America were super helpful in getting me here to the UK also.

What’s owning a studio like – the highs and lows?

Owning a studio is different than I thought. I love the space I have curated and the artists I have chosen to work with and our employees. However, as a business owner you always have work to do and you are responsible for others’ income which is a lot of pressure. I’ve found juggling the business stuff and my own tattooing career really difficult at times as I have less time to draw and post online.

Amanda's flash tattoos — Amanda’s flash sheet

We think a flash day is the perfect way to celebrate three years, what can people expect on the day?

The flash day is so much fun! We usually have people waiting to get in at 11am and tattoo straight through to 7pm with a little lunch break. This will be our fourth or fifth flash day so I think we’ve got a good system – we take people’s details and what tattoo they want and then let them explore Deptford until we are ready for them. Our customers will get a goody bag with some merch and vouchers for local businesses and this year we are giving them to people before they get tattooed so they can utilise some of the vouchers while they wait (if they have a wait!) This is the first time we’re doing a Saturday so we’re expecting more people. Afterwards we have a party happening at Little Nan’s with a DJ. It’s going to be good fun!

What are you most looking forward to on the flash day?

We always meet some amazing new people on the day and I’m really looking forward to having new people come and experience the shop and the fun vibes. I’m also looking forward to people enjoying Deptford on the day while they wait. I really love the area and we tend to get a lot of people who don’t know it well so this is a great opportunity to get people here and see what Deptford is all about!

What does the future hold for Three Kings Tattoo?

Hopefully lots more guests and our artists being very busy! Brand collaborations down the line would be amazing and trying to give back to the community.

The flash day is open to the public from 11am to 7pm on Saturday 15th July on a ‘walk-in’ basis. The after party at Little Nan’s Grandad’s Shed in Deptford Markey Yard starts at 7pm.

Location: 182 Deptford High Street London SE8 3PR

August 22, 2022

Striving for fluidity: Interview with tattoo artist Jade Chanel

We chat to Jade Chanel, tattoo artist and owner of Vaporwave Tattoo, in East London, about her passion for tattooing and journey to authenticity…

What inspired you to become a tattoo artist and how did you become one? I’ve always loved creating. From when I can remember, I was making things, crafting, painting and drawing. Being a visual and kinesthetic learner, I’m very expressive and I love using my hands as a tool.

When I was 18 years old, I started getting tattooed because I loved the way they looked, then it all just snowballed from there. I continued getting more and more tattoos and I then fell in love with the craft. I started apprenticing at Lowrider Tattoo in Bethnal green when they first opened in 2015.

Can you tell us about your experiences in the tattoo industry? It’s been challenging at times, especially being a woman of colour. I started tattooing when I was 24 and I was lucky, growing up in the heart of East London where culture is diverse.

I had this idea that I needed to “fit in” to feel safe and to do well in the industry, but I learnt very quickly that the best thing to do was to just be myself.

How would you describe your work? I’d describe my style as fineline, black and grey. I love precision and detail I can focus in on. I also love that my work has a delicate feminine feel and I’m always striving for fluidity.

Have you always tattooed like you do now? When I started tattooing in 2015, I used bigger needle groupings, so my linework was a lot bolder. I also did a lot of dotwork and mandalas.

After using a single needle, I never really looked back. It just felt right for me and what I was trying to achieve.

Can you tell us about the process behind your tattoos? A client contacts me via my website using a form which has all the details needed to spark an idea for a custom design. If it’s an idea I’m happy to work with, I will send over more details and a booking link.

I make tattoos I feel would look best in the space on the body. Aesthetics are everything. Yeah, so I draft my ideas using key words and references, then I start drawing. It seems quite simple but it’s not!

What inspires you? Most of my work is custom based on ideas given to me by my clients. We bounce of each other. Also, being an artist in this social media era, we’re constantly over exposed to stimuli that influences our “styles” as such.

I’m constantly asking myself what inspires me, it’s so hard to say. Too many things.

You’ve done flash designs inspired by music, are songs a big part of your tattooing? Music is a huge love of mine. I literally have a soundtrack for so many moments in my life. Being that it’s another form of expression, they coincide perfectly! I’m always listening to music when creating so that’s how that idea came about.

What do you like to tattoo and what would you like to do more of? I really enjoy tattooing, and this is a question often asked by clients. One of my favourite things about being a tattoo artist is that no day is the same. New design, new client, new energy. New challenges keep my work exciting! I’d love to do a lot more larger scale projects that cover entire limbs.

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? Are you a tattoo collector? I love collecting tattoos! I never imagined I’d ever have this many, but the saying about it being addictive is true.

It’s a transformational journey. I’ve been tattooed by incredible artists, some of which are my friends. It’s special that I get to wear their work on me forever.

You have your own tattoo studio, what’s this side of the tattoo business like? When I decided to open my studio, Vaporwave Tattoo, it was important for me to not run it like a business as such and create a hub for artists to feel free to flourish.

It’s exactly what I needed and what I felt the industry needed. It’s really challenging because I really love my job as a tattooer and that’s what I wish to give all my time to. I’ve always found admin difficult, and it hit me like a ton of bricks when I started this venture.

I’m always having to find balance between being an artist and being a studio owner.

What’s Vaporwave Tattoo like? It’s full of life and colour. It’s a peaceful but vibrant, safe, welcoming and inspiring space. I’m not even being biased, it really is something special.

The choices of colour and the running theme is basically a portal to my soul, my youth, growing up in the 90s! I’ve crowned myself the DIY Queen after this project. All the décor, fixtures, fittings etc. were chosen and installed with my bare hands. It really is a labour of love!

What moment in your career are you most proud of? All of it. There’s not particular moment I can think of as it’s just been an exciting, challenging journey and each part holds such great significance.

It’s a beautiful feeling, knowing that I’ve been trusted by loads people, to decorate their bodies and create ever lasting memories.

Follow @jadechanelp and @vaporwavetattoo for more tattoos and studio news.

April 29, 2016June 7, 2016

Rachel Pitman permanent make-up

Our Managing Editor and resident make-up artist, Keely, recently got her eyebrows tattooed by the superbly talented Rachel Pitman. She kept a diary of the overall experience of having what technically is a face tattoo and how they healed over a few weeks.

As a make-up artist I have always been interested in permanent make-up and the attraction it has for many people. My mother got her eyebrows tattooed over 12 years ago when it first gained attention in the UK – I always used to think it was quite badass that my mum had got her face tattooed. But as I got older I became wary about tattooing your face with what will be a permanent feature. What if one day you didn’t want to have black eyeliner or drawn-on brows? But all of this changed once I saw the subtle and beautiful technique used by Rachel…

Luckily enough I have been gifted quite full brows, but I was always dyeing them and drawing them in when applying my own make-up, so I thought, why not take away all of that hassle and have permanent brows ‘on fleek?’ (God I hate that term…!) So off I went to meet with Rachel who is based in Soho, London, with slight trepidation and excitement. I had dragged Alice, our Editor, along to kindly take photos and possibly hold my hand… I had also been trying to convince Alice to do it with me but her fear of face tats got the better of her.

Rachel began by drawing on my desired shape and spent a long time perfecting this until I was 100% happy with the shape and thickness. We then discussed how dark I wanted them to be and agreed on a dark brown with a hint of a lighter brown to take away the edge. I was then treated to a nice surprise of an anaesthetic cream which takes approximately 30 minutes to come into effect. I was not expecting this so definitely helped to calm my nerves! The tattooing then began and I was told by Rachel not to talk due to movements in my face and that the whole procedure would be finished within an hour.

The most uncomfortable part of the whole procedure was the ticklish sensation that Rachel’s gloves made while resting on my nose… the rest was a-ok! There were parts where I could feel the needle so Rachel just added a bit more of the anaesthetic cream and moved onto the other brow but all in all, it was pain-free. She uses the tiniest of hair strokes so that the overall result is very natural and looks like actual hair, rather than a block of colour.

After Rachel finished tattooing, she then paints the ink over the brows so that some of the ink can sink into the open wounds for about 10 minutes.

Rachel then gives me the lowdown on the healing process and is very strict on what I can and can’t do. She recommends keeping my face as dry as possible for the next 5-7 days, which means not wearing make-up over the brows or soaking them in water. She also recommends staying away from any exercise for the next 5-7 days as she believes that when you exercise our skin heats up and this could possibly push some of the ink out. The ink can also be pushed out more easily on people with oily skin, which is my skin type sadly, so I agree to do everything in my power to keep my brows dry, sweat and oil free! Rachel also gives me a balm to apply once a day sparingly with a cotton bud to help with any dryness and flakiness during the healing process.

Unlike traditional tattooing, I booked in to come back in 6 weeks time to have them tattooed again to make sure that the ink holds. This is complimentary with the overall treatment as the technique used for PMU is slightly different to that of traditional tattooing… you can read more about the difference in techniques in an interview with Rachel that we will be sharing in the next week or so. Watch this space!

Before and after the tattooing

I was worried about leaving the clinic with a very red, swollen looking face and having to wear my largest sunglasses for the next few days but surprisingly there was no redness whatsoever and you would never have known I’d just been under the needle on my face for one hour! The next few days of healing were stress free and I stayed away from exercise as promised and only cleansed my face with Bioderma micellar water (which is my absolute beauty must-have, btw) and avoided putting any make-up directly on my brows.

Day two after having my brows tattooed

Day 4 and 5 saw a bit of flakiness but nothing in comparison to the healing of a traditional tattoo and after using the balm this quickly got rid of any dryness. My brows were completely healed after about 10 days and this is when I felt that I could put makeup directly over them… which wasn’t at all necessary as they looked totally made up without having to draw them in… I’m just an obsessive when it comes to a strong brow! Even though I work as a make-up artist, I do spend a great amount of time without any makeup on my face so having my brows look perfectly symmetrical and defined is my dream come true.

Six weeks later and I am back in the clinic with Rachel ready to go under the needle again. Rachel is very pleased with how they have healed and how disciplined I had been with not exercising and looking after them properly (I’m not always the most obedient when it comes to being told what to do.) We discuss whether I want to change anything about them and I decide to go a bit thicker, darker and extend them slightly at the ends. Rachel says this is quite common when people come back for their second round of tattooing, as the first time most people are a bit nervous and don’t want to go too heavy in case of not liking it.

So after having my brows drawn in and the anaesthetic cream applied we begin. The second time around hurt sightly more than the first and Rachel said this may be due to the fact that my skin was still healing hence feeling a bit tender, but the pain was nothing in comparison to a traditional tattoo. After about 40 minutes of tattooing we are finished and I am again over the moon with the result! I am really happy I decided to go a bit thicker and darker as I felt like I was ready for my brows to be a bolder.

The healing process was very much the same as the first time around and I avoided exercise and washing my face with water for the next 7 days which I do think is a must for successful healing.

My healed brows after two rounds of tattooing and 10 days of healing

Overall I could not be happier with the results and I love looking as if my face is ‘done’ without having to wear a speck of makeup. I had a recent spell in hospital which is never an enjoyable experience and I swear my saving grace for not looking like a zombie was the fact that my brows always looked amazing and framed my face. Rachel does say that I will probably want a top up after about five years due to the fact that the technique is different to traditional tattooing and can fade slightly. But without a shadow of a doubt I will be having them topped up if needs be because I could not imagine my face without my spectacular tattooed brows.

Read an interview with Rachel where she explains a bit more about what permanent make-up actually is and the difference in traditional tattooing compared to PMU.

Rachel can be contacted via her website: rachel-pitman.com or via Facebook and her Instagram @permanent_makeup_london and her tattoo apprentice page is also @p_i_t_m_a_n

November 2, 2011February 5, 2012

Tattoo crush – Claudia De Sabe

I first fell in love with the work of Claudia De Sabe at the Brighton Tattoo Convention in 2009. So, imagine my excitement when my phone starts ringing and the number that’s flashing before my eyes, is the JOLIE ROUGE (the shop where Claudia works her magic). I have managed to get myself a consultation for next week, ridiculous excitement.

Lamp tattoo (inspiration for my own tattoos)

Lady Claudia — Claudia has created some beautiful tattoos of ladies

Photos: Louise Hobin, Papercut Pictures and photos from Claudia’s portfolio.