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December 4, 2015December 4, 2015

Interview with Gem Carter

20-year-old Gem Carter works at Stay True Tattoo in Ashburton Devon and creates beautiful lady faces and tattoos inspired by nature. We chatted to Gem about her developing style and love for traditional tattooing…

When did you start tattooing? March 2014

What did you do before, do you have a background in art? I went to art college and I worked in graphic design for a clothing company for a little while. I tried commission drawing for a bit, but I was never sure about any of it. I had a strong art influence from my family too. I always wanted to do something artistic, but for a while I just wasn’t sure what. Tattooing is the only thing that’s really kept me interested!

How did you get your apprenticeship? It was luck really. I was sort of looking for a while but was in no rush as I was quite happy to do the uni thing. On the off-chance I sent an email to a shop who had an artist leaving and wanted an extra pair of hands to help out. He liked my work so took me on as an apprentice, I quit my foundation course and started my apprenticeship a few weeks later.

How would you describe your style? People ask me all the time and I never know what to say! I started in a small shop in a small town where I literally couldn’t afford to turn down any of the work that came in so I quickly had to pick up a lot of different styles. That’s stuck with me and I still do a bit of everything. So style wise I’m not sure, but subject matter wise, I love anything floral, animals, anything vintage, lady heads, all the good stuff. Oh and disney! Lots of disney.

Lately you have been tattooing mainly black and grey, is this what you want to focus on? It’s just what people seem to want. I love the etching type stuff and it’s a style I’m really comfortable with, I love working in black but I wouldn’t want to limit myself. So many artists have such distinctive styles and I just think how do they do it?! If I focused on one thing I would never have any work! Hopefully one day I’ll find something I can easily do forever, and that people recognise and specifically come to me for. (Watch this space!) If people come to me because they like my black work then that’s really awesome, but at the moment I’m happy to do everything, and try to improve in all areas.

How would you say your work has developed? I started off pretty timid and scared of challenging myself. I’m so thankful that I was able to move to my current studio, it’s a great environment and I feel more inclined to just give everything a go. I’ve learnt a lot. I think my work is more grown up because of it. I hope so anyway. I’ve still got a long way to go before I’m properly happy with everything I do but it’s nice to be slowly getting there!

What inspires you? Nature, plants and animals mostly. I’m so lucky to live where I do and be surrounded by these things every day! I love old books and vintage illustrations. I take huge inspiration from all the artists I follow too. It’s this constant stream of awesome tattoos and artwork, it’s amazing if you’re having a down day and need some motivation.

What would you like to tattoo or do more of? I always enjoy traditional, I don’t get to do enough, so it would be fun to do a bit more. I’ve also only ever done one full back piece which is still a work in progress, and only a small handful of sleeves, so I’d love to do some more large scale work. If that fails, just girl faces and animals please!

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? I have a few from local artists, a couple of ropey self-made ones, and a few from artists I’ve travelled to see. I wouldn’t say I really regret any but it’s definitely a weird mix match of stuff. I started off just getting tattooed for the sake of it, it’s only been in the past year or so I’ve actually travelled around the country to go and collect pieces from artists I love. I got tattooed by Guen Douglas this year and it’s honestly my favourite thing I own! I don’t get tattooed that often, it’s so difficult to find the time, but I’m in no rush to get covered, if it takes me 20 years then that’s okay.

December 3, 2015

One Hundred Years of Tattoo Trends

Casey Lubin got 11 tattoos in one week to celebrate American tattooing history. Each tattoo represents a different style through the decades and the tattoos are based on the work of some iconic tattooists, including Ed Hardy.

Cut Video create a series of videos titled 100 years to show beauty trends from around the world and throughout the decades. They advertised for a model to get 11 tattoos in a week and Casey volunteered and got tattooed by tattooist Clae Welch.

Casey is really pleased with her new tattoo collection, explaining that:

If your body is your temple, then you should be able to decorate it the way you want, right?

Watch the video below to hear Casey’s stories and see her tattoos:

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015

Luke Oakman Guests with Daryl Watson

Things&Ink contributor Maisie Manning and her boyfriend tattooist Luke Oakman travelled to Rock ‘n’ Roll Tattoo in Dundee recently, where Luke tattooed alongside Daryl Watson. Maisie documented their travels and chatted to Daryl about all things tattoo…

Luke tattooing Daryl

Nestled in a sleepy part of the country that founded BrewDog craft beer is Rock’n’Roll Tattoo and Piercing, – part of a chain that was founded in 2006 in Edinburgh, and has since expanded to have shops in Glasgow and Dundee, the latter being where tattoo artist Luke Oakman and I were, where Luke was guest artist for a busy few days. The guest spot came about when I messaged Daryl about getting a tattoo, to which he replied that he really loves Luke’s work, would like to do a tattoo trade and could sort out a few days of work for Luke. We managed to get everything arranged and it all came together nicely, leaving us ready for a few days in Scotland. Outside may have been rainy and dull, but inside is anything but, with resident artists Daryl Watson, Piotr Gie, Raf and Bart Janus focusing solely on custom work in a range of styles to suit a range of tattoo needs. Whilst staying in Dundee and spending a few days at the shop, I took the opportunity to ask Daryl a few questions.

Daryl tattooing Luke

At just 22, Daryl Watson has an impressive tattoo collection, including his face (which he is intending to add to), and goes against every stereotype that could be thrown at him. Spending a few days with him, and through conversations, I discovered him to be a sweet, considerate guy, with a lot of ambition and high aspirations.

Tattoo by Daryl

Originally from Teesside, neo traditional artist Daryl Watson, who recently exhibited a Kewpie in Miniature Ink II at the Atomica Gallery, found himself living in Dundee, after completing his apprenticeship in the Glasgow branch of Rock’n’Roll. From a young age, he was constantly drawing – encouragement from his artist dad, lead him to GCSE art and ultimately into a fine art degree. Daryl found that, for him, university wasn’t a place to evolve his style like he wanted, and felt too pressured to decide on a future career path. He had known from around the age of 13 that the art of tattooing interested him; this was around the time that his older brother started getting tattooed, which lead Daryl to start looking into tattoo artists. So after the first year of university, upon speaking to various people it was decided that he should embark on the journey to become a tattoo artist. He spent the next year building up his portfolio, before looking for an apprenticeship. Speaking of the first sleeve tattoo he completed, Daryl describes it as being his weirdest creation to date – he was given a lot of freedom, but also a lot of suggestions, which suited him fine. The whole sleeve consists of animals in costumes with accessories, including a monkey with a shirt, bowtie, braces in RayBan sunglasses.

Tattoo by Daryl

Daryl’s love of antiques, animals and flowers permeates his work, and his love of antique shopping and visiting museums with his girlfriend, Roisin, is clear through both his unique sketches and tattoos. Taking inspiration from his favourite artists, who happen to be predominantly tattoo artists (although Daryl admits that a few illustrators interest him), including Eckel, Sneaky Mitch, Matt Adamson, Håkan Hävermark, Joe Frost and the artist he has always had a connection with artistically – Uncle A. Decorative frames, bejeweled animals and brightly coloured flowers are amongst his favourite things to draw – although he expressed a desire to tattoo more of a dark style, including crows, candles and death, along the same lines as the work of Eckel, as he doesn’t really get to do much – he gets given predominantly fairly ‘girly’ design ideas to work with, which although he enjoys, would like to branch out.

Tattoo by Daryl

Our time at Rock’N’Roll tattoo was over too soon – everyone part of the R’N’R family was so accommodating and friendly, well worth a visit!

December 1, 2015

Numbskulls.ink

Numbskulls.ink are a London based company producing fully tattoo-able anatomically accurate human sized skulls in high quality silicone rubber.

The silicone skull takes and holds tattoo ink permanently, providing the next best alternative surface to real skin. They can be used to perfect tattooing methods or to create and display unique works of art.

Custom designed skulls have been worked on by Toni Moore, Electric Pick and Greg Kun. There is also a collaboration in place with the Brighton Tattoo Convention early next year, to have approximately 10-15 skulls sent around the world to various top tattooists who are working at the show. These will then be displayed at the convention on the Numbskulls stand and auctioned off for the brain injury charity Headway.

Skull by Toni Moore

They can be contacted via their website at www.numbskulls.ink or find them on Facebook and Instagram

November 30, 2015November 30, 2015

Fashion Pearls of Wisdom: The Look

Our guest blogger is Natalie McCreesh aka Pearl, a fashion lecturer, freelance writer and creator of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom. In this post she’ll be talking about how others perceive her as a heavily tattooed woman…

I’ve lived with tattoos longer than I have without, however I have only considered myself ‘tattooed’ more recently. There is a difference I think in having a tattoo and being tattooed. When you make the decision to become more heavily or more visibly tattooed, how people view you will change. You may or may not be aware of this at the time but it will happen. I first began to notice this after getting my knee tattooed, joining the other tattoos on my leg into a front-sleeve from ankle to thigh. Up until this point, though still fairly heavily tattooed the majority were in areas you wouldn’t see on a daily basis, back, thighs, feet. In passing you might only notice the large rooster on my shin. It seems there is a skin coverage ratio as to when you start to offend old ladies with your very presence.

I call it ‘the look’. There are three main stages to the look: shock, repulsion and judging. It’s not the sole prerogative of old ladies either, they are simply the most reliable audience. Being the kind of person to walk around with their head in the clouds it wasn’t me who noticed this first but my boyfriend who takes a lot of enjoyment in my new found super power. Since he pointed it out though I can’t stop noticing it, especially in the summer when I took to wearing very short shorts (from M&S just to add insult to grandma injury). Having a laugh about it when you are with your friends is one thing, having it happen when you are on your own can be quite another and I’m not afraid to admit it’s upset me at times. When you’ve had a bad day, got a plate full of worries the last thing you need is a group of strangers being rude to your face when your only crime was walking past them. More often than not I will stick my headphones in and sunglasses on, blocking out he world as I walk along. Other days I’ll ‘have it on me’ as my mother would say and crack out the biggest Cheshire Cat smile to the nay sayers, ten points if you can get a forced smile in return.

With tabloids reporting on Sam-Cam’s tiny ankle dolphin like she’s the first middle class woman to ever get tattooed it only broadens the gap between those of us who are more heavily tattooed rather than help shrink it. Having a tattoo is trendy, so long as it’s small and preferably cute, whilst being tattooed is still very much taboo. I’m not sure why anyone would particularly feel the need to have such a strong opinion on how I or anyone else choose to look. Perhaps I look like a criminal, or fallen woman in their eyes? Perhaps I’m just something to talk about in an otherwise boring day? Whatever the case I’m glad I stand out in a crowd, I’m glad I challenge the photoshopped beauty ideals pushed by glossy magazines. As for the old ladies, we’ll just have to wait until our generation are collecting pensions. Perhaps we’ll have something the youth of the day are doing to be shocked at, perhaps our wrinkled tattoos will be uncool to future younger generations. But at least we will have some stories to tell.