A tattooist for 12 years, Filip Fabian creates beautiful watercolour tattoos at Black & Blue Tattoo in San Francisco.We chatted to Filip about the inspiration behind his abstract pieces...
I grew up inspired by artists such as Rothko or Pollock. I studied art and drawing but I also got inspired by all of the great people I’ve met along the way. I also find a lot of inspiration in nature, every walk through the Golden Gate Park brings me a ton of inspiration. I often come home with ideas for new designs of the birds or flowers that grow there.
I love to tattoo nature and animals. My clients inspire me the most. I love to use geometry, brushes and textures in my work. And of course a wild palette of colours.
My cousin had his own tattoo studio in my hometown. I saw him working, and got immediately attracted to the whole process. Tattooing seemed magical to me. Then I ordered my first machine for $20 from eBay, did my first piece on my own knee, and never put the tattoo machine away since (I now have different ones, the eBay one actually fell apart when I was doing that first piece!)
I sometimes freehand my pieces, but I mostly spend a lot of time with each design prior to the tattoo day. After I meet a client for a consultation I take all of the references I have, all the thoughts and memories they express. These inspire me, and I combine that with my own touch.
I always try to include the personality of the person who I am tattooing into the piece, and the mood the piece is supposed to have. That’s why I don’t like realism that much. I find abstract designs more capable of expressing the mood and the fluctuate nature of life.
I hope that I get to see my tattoos and art on all of my clients’ bodies all over the world. That is my favourite gallery. You do not need an entrance, you just see it it while you casually go through your day.
Be sure to follow Filip on Instagram for more nature inspired tattoos.
Leeds-based freelance illustrator Alice Needham creates artwork with vibrant colours, detailed lines and graphic styles. Alice also created this beautiful tattooed woman just for us, read on as we chat to her about her amazing tattoo collection and the art she creates…
Can you tell us about your tattoos, do you have a favourite or favourite artist? I don’t know how many tattoos I have these days but I still have plenty of space left to fill, always got ideas ticking along for what I want next. A large proportion of my tattoos have been done by the lovely people at Easy Tiger in Leeds, I’ve been going to Lucy O’Connell since I first got tattooed and she is the artist who has done my botanical sleeve and the huge whale on my thigh that we call Susan.
I’ve got two blackwork pieces on my shins by James Butler of Lord of the Rings and The X-Files and a chameleon that I got done for my mum by Barney. I just think they’re all amazing and seriously nice people, Easy Tiger is definitely my favourite studio. All the people I’ve been tattooed by are fabulous and I highly recommend them all for their individual styles; Nat Hues at The Aviary, Luke , Collette at Snake and Tiger, Lucy at Cobra Club, Joshy at Rose and Thorn, Hannah at Rose and Thorn and I have to give a specific mention to Chloe who did the Van Gogh piece at the top of my arm, I put her way out of her comfort zone and she did such an incredible job!
When did you start getting tattooed? What was your first? It was my 18th birthday that I got my first tattoo and it was part of what now makes up the sleeve on my left arm all done by Lucy O’Connell. I got my full inner forearm done, it’s a floral piece with a Poppy, Rose and Forget-Me-Nots. I’d always wanted to get tattoos and I booked in a year in advance with Lucy for my birthday with that idea because I’d been following her work for so long. It covers up self-harm scars from when I was a teenager and reminds me of my growth.
I hate when people ask what tattoos mean but I would say that my first is probably my most meaningful, I always used to say it is inspired by the Edvard Munch quote, ‘From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity.’
Have tattoos affected how you see yourself and your body? Having tattoos has helped me with loving my body, I like being a walking piece of art and that I can show so many different stories through my skin. They just make me feel more comfortable even if they do attract unwanted attention at times, it usually makes me laugh.
What inspires your illustrations? How would you describe your style? I’ve always been interested in illustration but I went to uni to do Fine Art which drew me away from traditional methods of art making, it was only in my final year that I started doing my illustration work on the side that I really got back into it. I tend to take inspiration from what’s going on in the world, feminism and representations of the body but I also love anything to do with botanical illustrations and bold tattoo work.
I’ve always wanted to get into the tattoo industry and it’s become what feels like a bit of a pipe dream for me, I think that’s why I like creating work that takes inspiration from tattooing but with my own style on it that works for illustration. I would say my style is bright and bold with detailed line work, I tend to work in a range of styles depending on the client or what works best with an idea.
What medium do you use? How do you create each piece? I work digitally mainly through Procreate, it just offers the freedom to be able to work wherever I need to and there are no limitations. I do occasionally work in pen and ink but it’s been a while since I have! Most of the time when it comes to creating I just get an idea that pops into my head, usually if I’ve seen something that has inspired me.
I tend to do a quick sketch to get a rough idea of what it’s like then build on the detail as I go, I think I’m fairly methodical with it and I like to use colours that are complementary even if they aren’t realistic to what is being portrayed. If I’m working on a commission then I follow the client’s brief in a similar way.
What message do you hope to share with your work? Or is there a driving force behind what you create? I think a lot of my work is a bit of fun and it’s something to brighten up their spaces. Though a lot of my pieces do have a political or social stance to them which I think is important.
Do you do commissions? Where can people buy your art? Yes, I do! I’m always taking commissions and the best way to commission me is to have a look at my website then give me an email. I also currently sell my prints through Etsy.
Transforming dreams into tattoos and bodies into works of art – tattoo artist Maxime Etienne, owner of Leonart studio in Bondi, Sydney, Australia chats to us about his humble beginnings, the process behind his designs and his charity work…
I have been getting tattoos since I was 18 and always loved art in terms of creation. Painting, sculpting, drawing and tattooing have always been industries I’ve wanted to work in. But, I never thought I could have the skills to do any of them until I tried to draw in late 2016. I started drawing with a lot of geometry pattern and in an abstract version of realism.
I started tattooing in late 2016 at home when I realised I could actually draw a little. I wanted to get more tattoos but couldn’t afford them. So I ordered a $40 tattoo kit on eBay and started to practice on my legs, my arms and even my chest and stomach before tattooing some friends.
I never thought I could be a professional artist of any kind. But after tattooing a decent number of friends for the about eight months loads of people contacted me via Instagram and my follwers increased. I realised that maybe I could become a real tattoo artist one day. One night I met a bunch of tattooists that loved my chest piece that I did myself. They told me “if you can do that on yourself and it heals that way then you can definitely become a tattoo artist.”
So, after roughly 10 months I decided to apply for my licence here in Australia and started in a studio as soon as I received it. After 10 months working in that studio, I opened my own and now it has been two years and I work more than I ever expected.
After some researc I discovered so many artists that inspired me and realised what I like is already there and what I could do would be appreciated by a certain audience. I pushed my creativity further and came up with what I do today. Realism, abstract and detailed pieces that are done to tell a story or express a feeling. I am inspired by everything that comes into my mind and what I love. Nature, animals, astronomy, women’s features, architecture and scientific research illustrations.
Most of my designs are from my clients’ stories. I am trying to turn their feelings, dreams, or their past into images. I design everything one day before the appointment and finalise it on the day after asking further questions. I work that way because I really put myself into their story or project and so I don’t work on several designs at the same time. I only book one client a day to ensure we can get the best out of their future tattoo.
I see myself as a designer more than someone who draws, as I often mix up several elements all together.
I try to give my designs the best contrast and shape for the placement that is given to me. I cannot freehand my designs as they require great details and geometry. Floral and extra small pieces in a piece can sometimes be free-handed, but I prefer having a stencil on to ensure the result will be the best and let my client really visualise what it will look like.
My style is really hard to describe in one word. It is composed of micro realism, abstract and geometry. A dream project would be a full body covered of many designs that would express the wish of freedom and the love for nature and earth. I love the diagram patterns used from engineers and would attach all designs together that way to turn the body into an actual book of human feelings and perception of life on our planet. What we are doing on earth, thanking it for the beauty of it and mixing different feelings most of us are going through to express our strength and fragility.
I see my art lasting through time as I am constantly trying to evolve, learn and create. I am a dreamer and a hard worker at the same time. I always give everything I have to achieve my goals, but if one day my art isn’t appreciated any more and I am forced to only execute clients’ thoughts without having the opportunity to create on my own, then I will do something else.
Tattooing became a passion, it’s more than a job. It has never been a way to make money for me, but a dream that became true – to live by doing what I love and making people happy.
Tattooing is an industry where we are in contact with people for hours and deep conversations occur during the process of tattooing. I’ve met so many incredible people that have told me real stories of what they have been through and their issues. Which are unfortunately not mentioned enough to a general audience, including domestic violence issues. I have been raised by my grandmother and my mother and grew up with one sister. Women are everything, they made me who I am today.
I work with an organisation called Karmagawa created by two really close friends of mine, Mat Abad and Thimoty Sykes. I travel with them and help them on different events around the world and design clothes for charity. They both inspire me not only with their charity work, but with their personalities and open minds. They showed me that we can do more than just work for ourselves and we must all help when we can.
Domestic violence, which isn’t always physical, on children and women is something I would really like to help with. Organisations are here to help those in need and money is often necessary to ensure they can keep running. Doing a tattoo fundraiser isn’t only for the money but to reach people that might be in need or even to help them realise what happens to them isn’t normal.
Social media as a platform is powerful, me doing a tattoo fundraiser with posts and stories might push other artists to do so too. I have done similar with the Australian bush fires and given the money to people that were helping those on the spot not just to the organisation.
That’s what I would like to do here. I would like to raise money of course by giving all the profit to organisations, but I am sure that just posting about it could help to raise awareness and I will do that a couple of times every year. My future project is to open a studio in Amsterdam and work with artists that will be willing to do some flash days every year for different causes.
Hayley, the Kiwi in Derby-based Kiwi and the Bear, chatted to us about running a “weird little colourful indie biz” with husband, Aaron (Bear). K&TB started as a hobby back in 2015, they now sell art prints, reusable face pads, scrunchies, pin pennants and more…
I’ve always been a craft lover and loved trying new things until something finally stuck which turned out to be tie-dye. After I spent a couple of months tie-dying everything in sight, I wanted to take it a step further by adding artwork to the dyed fabric, so I taught myself to hand embroider. What followed was a wall full of embroidery hoops containing tie-dye and 2005 emo lyrics with a little bit of Taylor Swift thrown in, somehow that Taylor Swift hoop made its way onto Buzzfeed and shortly after onto her legal team so that hoop was swiftly retired.
Around this time we invested in an iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil, this right here was the game changing moment for me, I just didn’t know it yet. I started to drift over onto a blank canvas and began playing around with little doodles and eventually adding more art to my lettering which, was weird for me as drawing just wasn’t something I ever did – like, at all.
I didn’t study art, I didn’t consider myself artistic – crafty yes but artsy not at all. At this point I had been following tattoo artists and illustrators on IG that I found so much inspiration in and it had never occurred to me that I could add my voice via my own artwork to the community. I was so nervous about putting my illustrations out into the world, I thought people would think it was a joke.
It was discovering the incredible creative community on IG that taught me art was whatever I wanted it to be and it could mean whatever I wanted it to mean to me, and suddenly I was free to just create. I was having the most fun and finally felt that feeling of being somewhere you were supposed to be the whole time.
So in 2018 we decided to take Kiwi and the Bear a little more seriously, we wanted it to feel more like a brand, something that really reflected who we are – a couple of weirdos trying to live life a little more positively while still remaining sarcastic and foul mouthed. We just wanted a space where we could really just be our obnoxious selves!
We made a few of my illustrations available to buy as prints alongside the embroidery hoops and it felt liberating, so new, so scary, but so exciting! We started developing more products using our hand dyed fabric, purely for selfish reasons as we were making things that we wanted in our own home. It’s selfish but it’s also the best way to find ‘your people’, those that love the same things as you, customers and friends and even better sometimes both!
Our new products and new direction came at the perfect time for us as I had to take a step back from hand embroidery due to my chronic illness making it near impossible to carry on. I’ve had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since I was seven, two hip replacements and two shoulder replacements later, what hasn’t been replaced is painful and awkward and waiting to be replaced!
I dislocated my thumb while drying my hair, that’s all it took, they couldn’t get it back into place in A&E and soon after, I saw a specialist that showed me my x-ray, and explained that I actually had five chronic dislocations. I’d just learned to live with them. When you’ve been disabled since you were a kid you become really adaptable especially when you’re a stubborn Taurus, so when someone tells you that you can’t do something because of your disability you find ways around it. I couldn’t physically carry on with the hand embroidery, I was grateful we’d discovered things like our pennants and illustrations, so removing the hoops didn’t have to be the end for us, if anything it felt like the start of a new chapter and I found a way to keep drawing and making even with the dislocations.
When people realise I make and create what I do with my sad little hands they often don’t believe it, but for me it’s the most natural thing to keep going, stay positive and stay medicated. Plus, having a high pain threshold really helps. It also helps with really long tattoo sessions, I think nearly every tattoo artist I’ve spent time with has said that I sit like a rock, I mean come on I have to look for the positives in this disease right?
Positivity is a huge part of what we’re about as a brand, it’s strange to say as two emo kids in their 30s who almost always opt for black everything, but somewhere around my 30th birthday I wanted to be kinder to myself. Every day is a battle for my body so I really wanted to focus on the positive things, however small. It was around this time that I fell in love with colour which was super out of character for me, as the only place I ever had colour was my pink hair, but suddenly I was wearing bright fun dungarees and I realised I could be a colorful emo. I found my sweet spot and I’ve stayed here ever since.
It was around my 30th birthday that I received one of my favourite tattoos, it was a real life changing moment for me, like real-life movie montage material of me coming out the other side a bad ass b!
For the longest time I had left gaps on my body that I was too afraid to get out in a tattoo studio, something switched in me when I turned 30, I learnt to love my body no matter what size it was, I learnt to separate the disease I hated from the body that housed it.
I made a tattoo appointment with Mike Love to get my first hand poke tattoo on my sternum, I was really, really testing my limits and I loved it. This piece is so important to me, it marks the beginning of a new era for myself, I faced my fears and got ‘1989’ hand poked into a space I never thought I’d be able to get tattooed, yes it’s my year of birth (I’m a proud 80s baby if only just clinging on to the very end of the 80s) but it’s also a nod to my favourite Swift album, and this one her legal team can’t take away.
We have been a couple since I was 16 and Aaron was 17, so the longest stretch of our tattoo journeys do end up intertwining at times. We have a few “couple tattoos”, for instance he has “Player 1’ on his inner wrist and I have “Player 2”. We’re huge nerds and play video games together any chance we get, and after 15 years together it feels pretty safe to include our story on each other’s bodies. We do have plans for a couple of matching pieces that relate to our favourite Walt Disney World adventures together. During our trip last Halloween I got to show Ariel my Ariel piece and Aaron got to show Mary Poppins his bag and umbrella piece by Lady Chappell Tattoos, yeah we’re those kinda nerds too, and it was so freaking magical!
The one thing I’ll always thank younger me for was being obsessed with filling my arms leaving my legs bare for when I was more educated about the industry. So my legs are home to my most favourite pieces that I’ve collected through my 20s, my absolute favourite is my Rachel Baldwin piece.
Tattoos have 100% had an effect on my relationship with my body, I began getting tattooed when I was underage (I know, I know!) I think as a sick kid this was to have some control over my body when I felt I had none.
Eventually getting grew into a way to love my body, my body art plays a huge part in my body confidence and I’m finally at a point of accepting that I’m like a colourful weird little marshmallow and proud.
Occasionally someone will ask why I describe myself as a marshmallow, it’s actually a kind of sneaky way to refer to myself as chubby (also fluffy, plump and pink it’s the actual food version of me). I don’t use it to replace chubby because I’m ashamed, because I’m not, it’s been a really long journey to dig who I am. I use it because when you refer to yourself as chubby or fat in a positive way, you’ll more than likely experience someone with good intentions trying to tell you you’re not fat. Most people have received an “omg you’re not fat babe” once in their chubby and proud lives, some people can’t see it as anything but a negative, so it’s easier for me to refer to myself as a “leel marshmallow” so I just get to live my fat and proud life. Also marshmallows are pretty dang cute and if just makes someone think of something pink and chubby well, duh, hello!
We have a lot of plans for the future of Kiwi and the Bear, firstly nap with the pups, then celebrate our 15 year anniversary that we worked through, AND then we want to keep adding new illustrations to the shop. We will still take commissions (hand lettering, illustration, custom dyed pennants) most things in the shop you can make a custom request on. I hope to be lucky enough to carry on doing freelance illustration for companies with the same values as us.
The biggest plan we have is to make a zine about being chronically ill which we started working on before everything was flipped upside down. There’s also talk about possibly releasing our first ever pin, which makes sense with our ever growing collection. Really we just aim to keep being a part of the community that we love and making the things we love while making new friends.
Claire Louise Tarrant creates cute girly tattoos with a tough edge at Gravity Tattoo in Leighton Buzzard. We chatted to Claire about her tattooing style and inspiration...
I was first inspired to become a tattoo artist when I was at university studying fine art. My work has always been illustrative, but I never thought tattooing could be a “grown up” career. Nowadays, I think it’s the most intense job I’ve ever had! I was very lucky with finding a studio where I could learn to tattoo, but found the male dominated studio and industry difficult to navigate.
When I first started dating, before I met my partner Josh, I got the typical weird questions about my tattoos and if it meant I liked pain. Even now I often get the odd customer who says comments such as “women with tattoos are sooooo sexy”. It’s boring! People who have loads of tattoos or can easily get tattooed, honestly forget that they’re a big thing to other people.
I quit tattooing around three to four times due to anxiety and fear of what committing to tattooing meant. It’s such an amazing, insanely cool job, but it’s also overwhelming. It’s helped shape me as a person in more ways than I can count.
I’m now at a all female studio, Gravity, run by the fabulous Holly Astral. Having a female mentor who understands what being a woman in the industry means has given tattooing an entirely new light. It’s now fun and exciting! Tattooing makes me feel like my inner child is playing every single day; I get to be creative, I get to chat with exciting people all day and I get to travel around and discover new places all the time (well before lockdown I could).
I feel as though I’m doing what I was put on earth to do; I practice Reiki and I’m studying to become a counsellor as well. I get to use these tools I’ve learnt on clients too and I feel so connected to the people I tattoo and other tattoo artists. I hate getting tattooed as I’m a huge baby, but the powerful feeling of having another piece of art on me forever reminds me how clients must feel!
I would describe my style as traditional, playful, feminine and illustrative with a pastel and muted colour palette. In the future I’d love to concentrate on traditional style pieces covered in glitter effects, pink and gold!
I am massively inspired by history in my flash sheets and tattoo designs. I’m obsessed with the Tudor period; there’s something so magic about castles, weapons, royal flags and embroideries. I also love traditional styles of tattoo flash, but with the colour palette of mustard, gold, pink, mint and maroon.
I like the idea that something tough can be beautiful; women can soften anything!
I love tattooing flash sheet pieces; I only ever tattoo them once, so I like knowing that it’s been tailored colour wise to the client specifically. I do, however, love connecting with a client and understand them more to do a custom piece!
