Tag: Tattoo artist

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The Black Hat Tattoo

Dublin reserves a warm welcome and a pint of Guinness to everyone who crosses the sea to discover the country. This multi-cultural, festive and friendly environment has seen Dublin become one of the best destinations for tattooing in Europe. You will find here no less than 200 tattoo studios and 2000 tattoo artists from diverse origins sharing the same passion of tattooing, all contributing to the development of the tattoo industry in Ireland.

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Thanks to them, the city is an open museum to modern art where street painting, music and tattooing contribute to the amazing spirit of Temple Bar. Dublin has became the home of some of the most talented tattoos artists in the world and as a group of artists we’re happy to be in this city.

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The Black Hat Tattoo was created in 2016 and the studio has built a strong collective of artists that belong together because they share the same values of what qualitative and professional tattooing needs to be. They are both artists and tattoo artists, and the collective has become one of the most popular tattoo parlours in Dublin.

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However, the tattoo shop didn’t get where they are simply because of the quality of their tattoo artists, body piercer and staff. But thanks to their customers who not only come from Dublin but travel from all over the world, bringing their ideas, good vibes, trust and support.

Thanks for supporting us when we started. Thanks for spreading the word year after year to your loved ones, friends and mates. Thanks for helping us to grow and to believe in what we believe.

Today The Black Hat Tattoo is one of the trendy places to visit when you reach the city as we keep a traditional atmosphere that you can experience everywhere in Dublin with the warm Irish welcome we are proud of.

This post has been sponsored by The Black Hat Tattoo. 

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Interview with Anna Mimink

Tattoo artist Anna Mimink, works as a guest artist in several shops, and she can often be found at Artoria Tatouage in Paris, we caught up with her to find out more about her travels and tattoos…

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How long have you been tattooing? What inspired you to become a tattooer? I have been working as a tattoo artist for five years now. I’ve always had a strong bond with drawing; when I was a child, I started to talk quite late on and drawing was my first way of expressing myself. But, I never fitted in when it came to art lessons and education, so I just kept drawing alongside my studies.

I was working in Paris in a luxury hotel and I felt burnt-out, and fed up with my career, so I went to see a friend who owned a tattoo studio. I ended up coming to the shop everyday, just to draw at first. But I really liked the carefree atmosphere and the positive impact that the tattoo had on the clients. So when he proposed that he would teach me, I was more than happy, even if it wasn’t my vocation at first.

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What is it about tattoos that you love so much? What especially do you love about black and line work? For some people, it’s very hard to truly express themselves. I love it when a client comes to me with a project is, that is a true expression of their inner feelings. The human contact is so important to my job. We are talking about people not just art! I am still very moved when people I don’t know trust me enough to mark their skin for life.

I regards to the art, I have always loved art that is clean and well defined. I am quite manic in real life, and I think it comes through in my art. I also like the simplicity, or the efficiency of the blackwork. It gets straight to the point, no flourish. That’s how I like to express myself. Two other things that are important to me in a tattoo piece, and can be found within blackwork are; there is a good contrast and the tattoo will last very well with time.

What do you love to tattoo? What would you like to do more of? I really love to tattoo manga pieces. I am quite a geek, especially towards the Japanese culture. So these subjects are so much fun for me to work on. Especially, when I can rework them. It’s very intimidating but also rewarding to follow the steps of great mangaka (manga authors) that I love and admire. So of course, I would like to do more of manga pieces, especially some lesser known ones. I like doing some Naruto or Dragon Ball but it’s also great to work on other titles.

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You have travelled and worked in so many countries, which was your favourite? Good question! I will split your question in two, my favourite country for travel and my favorite country for work. China was my favorite country to travel. It’s so big and so diverse! It gave me the feeling that you could spend your whole life trying to know more about it. And it’s the origin of so many Asian cultural streams. For the work, I would say Australia, the clients are very open-minded and they easily trust your work even if you are a foreigner.

What country/experience has inspired you the most? Where would you like to go back to? The Taiwan Tattoo Convention was my best memory of working in another country. I only spent a few days there, but the customers were so nice, they were very interested in my work. The local artists are so good and so open-minded and welcoming. Taiwan was like a perfect mix of China and Japan, and last but not least, the food was great! I really want to go back there one day !

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Who has been the most influential person you have met? Or the one that has taught you something new about tattooing? Lately, I traveled around California with my family and I met an amazing artist in San Francisco, Brucius Xylander, owner of Black Serum tattoo studio. His sense of detail is just amazing, and it really gave me the will to work in a different way and develop new techniques to bring more details and more precision to my work.

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Has becoming a mother changed your outlook towards your career? Or your style? It hasn’t change my ambition to become one of the best tattooers one day. But it really changes the way I look at my own work. I always considered myself as a dark person, and my drawings were a reflection of that. But after becoming a mother, I just wanted to spread more joy around me. And that’s where I started to specialise in manga. I wanted to tattoo more positive and innocent pieces. Even when it’s a sad or trash manga, it’s only  fiction, it’s less sad than a crow skull or dead flowers to me. So yeah it definitely changed my style. And I am very happy about that change, I don’t have to carry the weight of my clients bad feelings like I had to sometimes, now I just share a common passion with them. It’s just perfect!

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Interview with Karac Wilson

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…

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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Interview with Tattooist Joe Ankave

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…

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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How to Pack for Tattoo Conventions

The guys over at Mightygoods chatted to tattoo artists to find out what they pack for conventions and travel. Read on to find out their best tips and tricks to help you be prepared to work at any convention…

Rhys Gordon – Has been tattooing 28 years, and he specialises in Japanese style tattooing. Rhys loves traveling, motorbikes, and everything to do with tattooing, he also runs Australian Tattoo History.

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How do you pack your gear for travel and conventions? I use Crumpler, an Australian brand. A beautiful matte black travel case, customized internally to suit my needs. After all these years tattooing, I have perfected my convention game. No need to bring my work station.

What top three things do you always bring besides the common stuff everybody bring?

  • Stencil machine as convention one generally break or a nightmare to get to.
  • Water for both tattooing and drinking.
  • Deodorant as they can be hot sweaty events not just for me but also for clients, so everybody smells nice.

What are your top tips for other tattoo artists?

  • Travel light and take more money for both fun and supplies
  • Bring a plug in battery pack to charge your iPhone
  • Cheap hotels are a bad bad recommendation after tattooing all day

 

Archana Nakhua Bhanushali – Started tattooing in 2010 after completing an applied arts course. Soon after working with her tattoo teacher for few months Archana started freelancing and then opened her own studio Ace Tattooz in Mumbai, India with the help of her husband Nikhil, who manages the show.

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How do you pack your gear for travel and conventions? I use a hard case tool box to fit in my tattoo stuff for conventions as it keeps my tattoo equipments safe from damage. I double wrap all my colours to avoid spill in case the bottle bursts (its only a safety precautions because generally they are intact with the help of my hard case). If the convention is in India, I prefer carrying my own printer and stencil copier.

What top three things do you always bring besides the common stuff everybody bring?

  • My printer, graphite rechargeable power supply and my tattoo stand table from Kings Tattoo Supply are the three things I bring besides the common things everyone brings. Because it took us very few conventions to realise that on the first day of the convention, you can waste a lot of time in case you don’t have these three in place.

What are your top tips for other tattoo artists?

  • To tattoo with passion and be consistent with the same energy from the start of the tattoo until the end.
  • It’s really important that the tattoo artist is in their best health to perform 100%. I see many having issues with their back because of which they can’t perform consistently, so yoga or any physical exercise that keeps their core fit is a must.

Discover more packing tips from other tattoo artists here.