2015 is upon us which is unbelievable as I have only just got used to it being 2014. Time is ticking away at such a fast pace I must of been having a good time with tattooing and not noticed.

As you can probably tell, I haven't really been posting stuff on this blog. ok ok so I'm not much of a writer but if I was I would probably be a journalist and not an artist right?  I've also been savage busy with running the studio, doing tattoo conventions and other business projects which are slowly
coming to fruition.


Anyway. Exciting times are happening for 2015/16 and I'll do my best to update this blog as much as I can.

If you want the live action from Sacred Ink HQ your best bet is to follow us on one of our social media pages which you can find below.

www.facebook.com/sacredinktattoolondon

twitter.com/SACREDINKTATTOO

instagram.com/sacredinktattoostudio

www.pinterest.com/Sacredinklondon


Merry Christmas :)

Learning the right way/the importance of a good apprenticeship

Do you remember being young and your parents telling you how important it is to get a good education? Well it’s true! Not just for kids either. And you should never underestimate the importance of learning something the right way. In case you hadn't guessed. I'm referring to apprenticeships. Yes, that oh so sought after foot in the door into the tattoo game. Famously hard to find and secure. A long lonely hard road to take. but the right way none the less. 

There are so many hopefuls wanting to get into tattooing. Most seem to only want to get into tattooing because of our rock n roll lifestyle. Though it is pretty rock n roll. I’m here drawing clients tattoo designs in the studio till 2am most nights with my iPhone shuffling through playlists and drinking endless amounts of tea. I like drawing, drinking tea and listening to music so its pretty rock n roll to me.

the number of people wanting to tattoo is increasing. I've lost count of the amount of e-mails and phone calls I’ve had last year alone! Quality of applicants varies wildly, most I won’t comment on because I might offend someone.

Luckily it’s pretty easy to tell who's just been 'wooed' into thinking it’s a glamorous money spinning machine by all the tattoo TV shows aired over the past few years. You get the type who call and ask about apprenticeships over the phone. and the type who pop into the shop totally unprepared and shamelessly ask for tips and hints or to buy equipment.

Then there are the ones who almost seem to ask in passing, people who ask as they are waiting for their friend/ family member/ partner to finish being tattooed.

If you want to get into tattooing you've got to be enthusiastic, have good drawing skills, present yourself in the right way and show a willingness to work hard (or even for free which most apprentices do)  for what you want. Good people skills and a sense of humour won't hurt either! Oh and good tea making will earn extra brownie points.

Sadly for a lot of people now-a-days, popping down to a tattoo studio to show them their artwork seems to be like too much effort. This is obviously due to the UK culture of "the world owes me a living" created by Thatcher ;)

Yes, apprenticeships are hard to find but if you want something badly enough you'll work hard to get it and it will not happen overnight. Like most things in life, 

“the more you put in to it, the more you will get out of it” 

Peace out ;) 

Rotterdam convention...Done !

The second weekend of March saw me driving to Holland from London to take part in this massive annual event which is held at ahoy Rotterdam. A big old events centre which at the same time held a Motorcycle show which were show casing all different types of Harley Davidsons and choppers etc.

 

I grabbed 30 minutes and went in and had a look.
Now I’m no biker, but some of these machines didn’t half look lovely. It actually got me thinking that I might have to bring my midlife crisis forward and go out and treat myself to one of these 2 wheeled beauties.

Anyway back to the tattoos.
A busy Saturday and Sunday was had tattooing the lovely people of the Netherlands. My first Tattoo on the Saturday was a convention nightmare!!!! She was a first timer (Not that I have a problem with first timers) and was adamant she wanted it on her chest. I sketched the design, placed the design into the position to be tattooed. Everything hunky-dory so I began tattooing.

 

From start to finish she wouldn’t sit still!!!!!! Not what you need when working at a tattoo convention in front of thousands of people. I got the tattoo finished and then proceeded to work on her partner’s tattoo. They both had the same tattoo with slight variations.

Over the weekend I Tattooed all sorts of traditional designs such as snakes, Hearts, skulls and swallows, then it was beer time with the other artists. Remember all that snow that poured out of the sky on the Monday in northern France and southern England??? Well I got caught in it on route back to London. Slowed me up by an hour or so due to the euro tunnel (probably on the English side) balls-ing up. Other than that, that was the only hiccup that occurred over the weekend.

So see ya next year Rotterdam…

The next convention is....
The Great British tattoo show 25th 26th May 2013. The show is hosted by skin deep magazine at Alexandra Palace. If you fancy showing off and want me to tattoo you there.  Call the studio on 020 7733 1220.

Cover up tattoos

Ok So I started another cover up tattoo today. Not a big deal you’ll probably be thinking. Yeah it’s not a big deal for me as they’re pretty easy to cover up once a design has been sketched out and chosen to go over the top of the unwanted tattoo. But it is a big deal for the person who's probably been psychologically damaged due to being butchered by some hack somewhere.

My main point here is and as the old saying goes. Think before you Ink! Never ever rush into getting a tattoo. You need to think about what you want to get tattooed, where it’s going and the artist that is going to do the tattoo.  Design and placement are important. An arm full of clouds isn’t a cool design and a tattoo artist who is in the basement of a clothes shop or a nail/beauty salon isn’t a tattoo artist so watch out.

More & more people seem to be making the mistake of getting a badly done tattoos. Things like a full sleeve of clouds. Which has not only been badly tattooed but badly composed (Designed) simply because the tattoo artist has no clue what he/she is doing. Artistry wise and tattoo technically wise.

This is when it becomes a problem and then I’m called into to save the day with a cover up. For a full explanation of what a cover up is Clickhere.

Most people are not educated in the world of tattooing and think that any old shop with a sign saying Tattoo parlour is an excellent Tattooer.

It’s got pretty popular over the last 5-6 years wouldn’t ya say.  All because of things like these pesky scripted TV shows. (yes they’re scripted!!!! it’s all acted out and rehearsed and edited etc., Getting a full sleeve in half an hour is impossible) This has attracted the attention of fly by nights who think it’s an easy quick buck and a rock ‘N’ lifestyle.

ok so my word of warning again is. Think before you INK! If you have no idea what you want to have. Find a reputable tattoo studio with reputable tattoo artists and ones that you’re comfortable with.

(Click here for south London’s best tattoo studio www.sacredink.co.uk ;)  Go chat to them. Look at their portfolios of tattoos and drawings. Look at the flash on the walls. Get some ideas! Don’t look at a celebrity sportsman’s arm which is flapping around on a field and see a mish mash of black and grey and think I’ll have that. You can have what you want, with-in reason.

So come on down to the Sacred Ink tattoo studio London for a look of my artwork,the flash on the walls and the photos in my book.

See you soon :) Martin of www.sacredink.co.uk 

The tattoo below is unfinished and I will post the finished result... It will be amazing.

Rotterdam tattoo convention...

Ok so Sacred Ink™ tattoo studio’s next tattoo convention is in Rotterdam. It's at ahoy Rotterdam on the 9^th and 10^th of March 2013, the 10^th Being on Mother’s day which I totally forgot about :(

Sorry Mum I’ll make it up to you when I’m back x

I will be driving to Rotterdam again. Door to door time wise it takes 5 hours, it takes longer to fly to Holland than to drive. 7 hours flying 5 hours driving, work that one out! Again that’s door to door.

Get on at Folkestone on the Euro-tunnel then out the other end at Calais for a 3.5 hour drive doing speeds of up to 130Ks an hour, and legally ;) They seem a bit more relaxed in Europe about the speed limits than this nut house. Last year was a busy event. I did some lovely tattoos. I’m hoping to do some more again at this year event. Maybe I’ll get a spare hour to take a break have a beer and maybe put one in a competition. Who knows let see what happens. One of my Dutch regulars John Smit, who I done a tattoo for of Iron Maiden’s Eddie at the Utrecht Tattoo convention will be making it to the show this year as he has put in a request for me to draw up something for him and his missus. The tattoos that I recall doing last year are some praying hands on some American dude and then a flower on some sweet looking Dutch chick who is hopefully there again this year.

On the Sunday I did a load of black and grey tattoos which I seem to get asked to do a lot of. 2 days of solid tattooing and a night of partying with a bunch of tattooists. We were all put on a boat which chugged around Rotterdam, and it was all you could eat and drink which was a nice touch.

So yeah, a good and busy time was had and I’m looking forward to this year’s convention. Though not the lonely five hour drive back to the motherland via a Belgium car park due my wanky satnav…

More updates soon.

Eddie done at the Utrecht show