Stories we wear on our skin
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.
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…
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.
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.
What inspires you? I’m inspired by Art Nouveau, 1920s actresses, porn and bsdm (bondage, submission, dominance, sadomasochism) subjects.
What kind of things do you like to tattoo? I love to tattoo women’s silhouettes in a romantic yet sexy way.
How would you describe your style? I would describe my style as a graphic and passionate blackwork.
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.
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…
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
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.
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!)
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!
Wolves in my Bed
Our guest blogger is Natalie McCreesh aka Pearl, a fashion lecturer, freelance writer and creator of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom. In this post she talks about the reactions she received from people while sunning herself on a beach…
This was to be my first beach holiday in years, I’d packed some vintage style bikinis and not much else envisioning long days spent in the sunshine. What I hadn’t foreseen was that with the bikinis would come the stares. I’m used to getting funny looks back home for my tattoos but I guess this was a lot closer to naked than I was used to being in public. I live in Sheffield which I’d say is a fairly tattooed city, seeing tattooed people isn’t all that unusual. On this two mile stretch of Spanish beach not so much. Sure there was the odd little tattoo but in the five days we spent there I only spotted two other heavily tattooed people. In a sea of exposed flesh mine stood out, together with my boyfriend we stood out even more.
It really made me stop and think, just seeing all that ink free skin how few of us actually choose to be tattooed. When you have tattooed friends, follow tattoo related Instagram accounts and so on it becomes the norm, you get used to seeing tattooed people. The beach line up was a bit of a reality check I guess. The stark realisation at how different you have decided to become. There is sexism in the stigma too, I could watch my boyfriend walk around with the odd glance but nothing compared to the reaction I got. Is it more acceptable, more normal to see tattooed men?
One day after some holiday cocktails we found a stack of business cards for a local artist and took them to hand out to the gawkers – what can I say we find ourselves hilarious after a few piña coladas. A bonus is that parents with screaming kids would take one look at us, decide we were likely criminals and move further down the beach, win! Away from the beach at a restaurant (not wearing the bikini just to clarify) we were asked to move to a table furthest away from the crowd, the waiters plea that it was reserved didn’t wash as we promptly left for the place opposite and watched said table sit empty for over an hour. I caused quite a stir at the hotel for breakfast too in a backless dress- tattoos not ok, stealing the entire platter of chocolate croissants totally acceptable apparently.
All I can summarise is that the behaviour of people is strange, Things&Ink’s Rosie wrote about her tattooed holiday experience in Vietnam and had various reactions. In some cultures staring isn’t considered rude and I don’t mind at all people looking at my tattoos, I just wish they could give a little smile to show its in a friendly way every now and again. That said it won’t stop me wearing a bikini on the beach!
Lynsay Neil is a 30-year-old writer, podcaster and creator of Miss West End Girl blog, from Glasgow. We chatted to Lynsay to find out how she started her blog, her style tips and tricks and her colourful tattoo collection…
How did you get into blogging? I’ve always had a deep love for writing, ever since I was a kid – when all my classmates wanted Tamagotchis (remember them?!) I was asking my parents for a typewriter. It seemed like a natural progression for me to start a blog as a platform to share my life and stories. I used sites like Livejournal and MySpace when I was younger, like most people – but it was when I took the plunge and got my own domain space that I considered myself to be a blogger.
How did you start? I started blogging under the name Miss West End Girl about five or six years ago. It started off as a fashion blog, because I was reading a lot of fashion based blogs at the time and also because I love to have fun with my own personal style. But over the years, it’s evolved into what I consider to be a lifestyle site as I love to write about all manner of things that make me excited, so much so that I have to share the details with my readers.
What can people expect to see on your blog? My blog is essentially a guide to living life with joy and style, and embracing what makes you unique. You can expect to find guides to Glasgow (my home city), personal and blogging advice, DIYs, interiors, personal style, beauty, food, travel…the list goes on! In a nutshell, it’s the things that make me smile and that I think will make other people smile or feel inspired.
You have a lot of positive messages and upbeat posts, how have you cultivated this mind set? Any important life lessons for our readers? That’s very kind, thank you! I think that happiness is a choice and it’s one that we make each day when we wake up. Negativity is pretty toxic stuff, and even though it’s easy to feel dragged down, I try to concentrate on the things that should be celebrated. We only get one shot at life, and I firmly believe we should make the most of it! Be adventurous, be kind, look after yourself and believe that you can do anything (because you can!).
Do you have any advice for people either thinking of starting a blog or who have one already? Think about what inspires you and go write about it. There is no right way or wrong way to blog – that’s the beauty of it! If you’re writing something that you don’t care about, or for the sake of it, it will show. Don’t put pressure on yourself either – some of my favourite blogs are only updated once in a while, and when a new article drops I get super excited! You’ll find a rhythm and routine that suits your writing style and your life.
How would you describe your fashion style? Where do you shop? How has it evolved? Sometimes I feel like I’m permanently dressed to attend my own birthday party – I love to wear bright dresses and statement accessories. I’m rarely seen without something on my head – be it a flower crown, a glittery slice of pizza or a massive bow. My personal style has been described as ‘cartoon-like’ which I take as a compliment!
I shop in a variety of places because I don’t tend to stick to whatever is ‘on trend’. An average outfit could be a mixture of indie designers, vintage, thrifted, high-street and high-end. I love discovering local design talent and people who are thinking outside the box. I like to have fun with fashion and dress for myself!
When I was a teenager I was a bit of a sulky goth, all black jeans and kohl eyeliner. This has massively evolved – particularly as I studied film and media at university and feel very inspired by some of my favourite colourful characters.
Does your home/homewares reflect your style? Absolutely! After eight years of renting beige nightmare flats, my boyfriend and I bought our flat last year and have been having the BEST time decorating it. I love sharing home tour posts of the flat on my blog so I can document our little interiors journey! After I posted pictures of our living room, an interiors magazine wanted to run a story on our bright and cheerful home – we ended up getting a 12 page feature in a magazine and I still can’t quite believe it! I’m proud to have created a happy home that I can relax in. It’s somewhere I can write my blog and record podcasts, as well as hang out and entertain friends.
What are your beauty secrets? Any tips or tricks for our readers? Finding products that work for you and make you feel amazing is my number one tip. I’d feel lost without my eyeliner flicks and a pop of bold lip colour! The best way to get comfortable with make up is to get in front of a mirror and practice – it’s also fun to experiment with products until you find what’s right for you.
Skincare wise, I am all about the classic advice. Look after your skin so you don’t end up looking like a second-hand handbag! Wear sun protection (minimum of SPF 50, especially on those tattoos!), drink water, moisturise plenty and always remove your make up before bed. Some advice never goes out of style!
What inspires you? I feel inspired by lots of things, but if I had to pick one thing it would be meeting other people that are passionate about what they do. That kind of feeling is infectious and you can really feed off of each others’ good vibes.
Can you tell us about your tattoos? I have 14 tattoos, and have been getting tattooed for just over 10 years. My very first tattoo was my stocking seams, which run from my achilles heels right up to the top of my thighs – go big or go home, eh? They were inspired by my love of vintage glamour and pin-up culture. This was the only grey and black work that I have had done, every other tattoo is very bright!
My tattoos don’t have too many meanings or tributes behind them – with the exception of two! I have two tattoos that are matching ones with my boyfriend. We got them on our fifth and ten year anniversaries.
I like to think that my tattoos are a reflection of my personality, as they are very feminine and colourful with a rock n’ roll twist. On one arm, I have an old fashioned perfume bottle, a Russian doll, a spider web (bright pink, of course!), a cupcake, a sugar skull, love heart candies and a lipstick. On my other arm, I have a swallow, a strip of pink leopard print and a lucky cat. My legs have identical stocking seams and I have a heart-shaped locket on my foot.
All of my pieces have been custom designed, via consultation and brainstorming with the artist so that we get it just right. I’ve never regretted a tattoo and put a lot of planning into each idea.
Do you have any future tattoo plans? Always! I think about getting tattooed all the time, and with so many amazing artists posting their work on Instagram the only question is, who to book with? I feel like a kid in a candy store.