Embracing female tattoo culture
Halloween is getting closer, the nights are drawing in and we’re stock piling the sweets for ourselves! To celebrate this spooky time for year we’re doing a mini series of Halloween inspired tattoos…
If you’ve got a Halloween tattoo and would like to see it on the blog, send it to us at hello@thingsandink.com
37-year-old Karac Wilson is a social care worker and tattoo collector from Sheffield. We caught up with Karac to chat all things tattoo…
What inspired you to become heavily tattooed? Growing up my older brother was heavily tattooed when I was around 16 years old, he was tattooed before it was cool. I didn’t really give it much thought back then, but he definitely inspired me to get a tattoo. As I got older I remember watching guys like Lil Wayne and music videos of heavily tattooed guys and always loved the look. Allen Iverson the NBA player was my idol growing up he was heavily tattooed and had his own style that changed the NBA. He was seen as the badboy of the league due to his tattoos that’s why I have his portrait on my leg by (Gibbo0)
When did you get your first tattoo? What was it and do you still like it? My first tattoo I was 18 I was into Ja Rule. And he had a “pain is love” tattoo on his chest. I took a print out to a tattoo shop and had the exact tattoo on my chest. That tattoo later got lasered and covered. It was one of those tattoos you get when your young and I didn’t really think about it. Lesson learned.
Has being tattooed ever helped you to get jobs or hindered you? My tattoos so far have not hindered me getting jobs, I currently work in social care with children with challenging behaviour and it’s a great ice breaker and a great talking point. On the negative side I worked in the probation service and they were not keen on all my tattoos and pretty much pushed me out because of it.
What kinds of reactions do your tattoos get? My tattoos get me plenty of attention wherever I go, even more so since my head was tattooed. I pretty much have people asking to take photos anywhere I go. Mostly positive reactions but you always get the odd negative one. But it does not bother me, each to their own and all that.
Do you have any future tattoo plans? Are you working towards a body suit? I don’t have much space left for tattoos as my bodysuit is nearly complete. It’s a a case of being really picky about my last few spots. The last three months I’ve had my stomach, armpits and nipples tattooed and they were really painful areas. I’m working towards a bodysuit and I’m 90% there, I’ve got the majority of it done in the last three years. It’s been a fun journey where I’ve travelled to many artists and cities across Europe.
Did you make a conscious decision to only have black and grey work? What do you love about this style? I started with a black and grey sleeve and then that’s all I wanted. For me bodysuit work is better with one or the other in my opinion. I love colour tattoos but I think you have to look after them much more and have good skin. Black and grey is a solid heal every time, where colour can drop out depending on your skin and aftercare regime. I have seen some amazing bodysuits in colour but black and grey works better for me.
If you could tattoo your body all over again would you go for colour or the same? If I could start again I think I would still go with black and grey I’ve been lucky to have work from Niorkz, Ben Kaye, Gibb0o, Matt Pettis, Dom Brown and Liv Frost. One black and grey artist id like a piece from would be Little Nick his work is unreal. If I could get a colour bodysuit it would have to be by Alex Wright and Ben Kaye, those guys are doing some unreal work.
All photos taken by Brendan Clayton
26-year-old Joe Ankave is a tattoo artist from Te Aviv, Israel who is currently traveling in California. We caught up with Joe to chat about his tattooing style and the tattoo scene in Israel…
How long have you been tattooing and how did you get into the industry? I’ve tattooing for almost seven years now. When I was 16 years old I knew that I wanted to develop my drawing skills and take them to the next step. After a couple of years I bought my first machine and started working privately at home and I work by myself till this day – I don’t have a master. In Israel you don’t need a license to do this, and it is quite different from the UK.
What inspired you to become a tattooer? Was there a particular person? From day one, Shige inspired me the most, and he still inspires me today actually. Shige is the one who took traditional Irezumi to the next level, he turned it into the modern form of neo-traditional tattooing.
How would you describe your tattooing style? My main style is neo-Japanese. Some would say that I do bold colour work, which is kinda funny. All tattoos must be done as bold as possible, so that they look right. In time tattoos fade more and more, so why not make it bold from the beginning?
What do you like to tattoo? Is there anything you would love to tattoo? The object that I like to tattoo the most is the peony flower. This kind of flower has great potential, especially when it comes to different sizes. You can create a beautiful movement within the tattoo and of course to do a nice bit of colour work.
What was your first tattoo? I’m not sure about that, but I think the first tattoo I did was a smile on my friend’s leg.
What’s the tattoo scene like in Israel? It’s getting better and better! People are getting more and more tattoos and also big ones! There are many new tattooers and new tattoo shops, especially in Tel-Aviv. Also every year there’s the Israel Tattoo Convention and every year more and more people are coming over. Now you can clearly see a huge difference in the amount of people that are exposed to tattooing.
What kind of reactions do your tattoos get? It’s funny to say that but people love my tattoos even those who don’t have tattoos or say that they don’t like Japanese work at all. I believe that when I try to do my best with each new tattoo, when I harness the ability to focus on the small details, I can create a sort of magic. When people look at my tattoos they can see it too, it’s hard to explain but just the way I see it.
Our guest writer Katie Houghton shares five of her favourite rose inspired tattoos…
While June may be home to ‘National Corn on the Cob Day’, and you’re god damn gutted that you missed out, June also happens to be the month of the rose, and we’re all over that. A natural emblem of love and passion, roses as tattoos have been one of the most constant designs since ink touched skin. While some signify death, some eternal love, some balance and some signify the relationship between a sailor and his favourite bird (mother dearest), we know that rose tattoos are an anything-kind-of-game, and we’ve decided to find five of our favourites.
Harriet Heath/Lone Rose Tattoo
I love the plump attitude behind all of Harriet Heath’s work and designs, and the name Lone Rose Tattoo was too good an opportunity to miss on a list of rose tattoos. The tattoo above has sass, it has slant, and the little rose touches on the head band give the whole piece a cute and continental pop that gives her portrait work a recognisable edge.
I don’t know a lot about Tommy Oh!, but I don’t think I need to. Provocative and full o’ spunk, his blackwork is bold, it’s brazen and now I want spider webs on all edges. Standing out due to the thickness of leaf, location and line work, Tommy’s work is unapologetic and pricks like a bloody thorn.
Emily Malice: Parliament Tattoo
If you’re familiar with the work of the stunning Emily Malice, you’ll know that she’s both saint and sinner combined. Generating provocative work, and bold statement tattoos alongside simple custom designs, Emily’s able to add a firm pop to a botanical rose piece like above that remains feminine, but still has grit and chew.
Jenna Hayes Tattoo: Hand and Dagger
Give Jenna a rose and she’ll give you a snake. One of the more traditional artists on this list, I think it’s not only the subtle colour work on this piece that stoods out to me, but the blend of hard edge and soft flora. Clearly able to master thick lines with an honest consistency, Jenna Hayes has got me dreaming of pythons and bouquets.
Sophie, you had me at origami. You also had me at elephant origami (with a rose shaped peony for kicks). A tattoo artist that knows colour craft and consistency like the back of her hand, not only does Sophie generate beautiful pieces (from fauna to flora) that fuse great tones, these origami pieces are creative, they’re pieced together perfectly, and can even be converted to koala should you fancy.
Peter van der Helm, owner of Walls and Skin a tattoo and graffiti studio in Amsterdam, is offering to preserve tattoos after the owner has died.
The Foundation for Art and Science of Tattooing has had over fifty people already signed up for their preservation service, in which they remove the tattooed skin, pack it in formaldehyde and send it to a laboratory where the water and fat will be removed and replaced with silicone. The tattooed skin will belong to the foundation, it can be put on display or loaned to friends and family of the deceased.
Prices start from 300 euros for a tattoo roughly 10cm in size. You can also buy gift vouchers and cards for the service.
The foundation wishes to collect different styles of tattoos from different artists, thus preserving the stories behind the tattoos. The main reasons for tattoo preservation as stated on their website include:
the emotional values of the tattoos, the interest in contributing to the history of tattooing, the preservation of the art piece or the artist work and to leave behind a piece of yourself to friends and family father death.
Image from Tattwords