Leeds
Nine Bells Tattoo
Picked at the counter, tattooed the same visit.
Two chairs above a record shop in Leeds, with a wall of flash drawn by three artists. Take a design off the wall and it is tattooed the same day; bring a concept of your own and the artist draws it before the chair is booked.
The studio
How I work
Leeds
The flash wall
Designs, by artist
Every design on the wall is one drawing by one artist, priced on its own. Pick it, say where it is going and how big, and the chair is booked.
Swallow and dagger
Drawn by Ines Falk. Two swallows either side of a dagger, cut bold and left black, so it holds its shape at the size it is drawn.
Fern and moth
Drawn by Ines Falk. A frond with a moth set into it, one line weight throughout, so the drawing reads the same across a room as it does under the lamp.
Anchor and rope
Drawn by Cal Brennan. Anchor with a rope that loops the shoulder and comes back on itself. The classic counter piece, and it ages without going muddy.
Rose and thorn
Drawn by Cal Brennan. One open rose with the stem wrapped twice and left without a leaf. Solid black with a single clearing line through the middle.
Hand and eye
Drawn by Mari Okafor. A hand holding an open eye. Cut again for each placement, so the fingers follow the shape of the arm rather than fighting it.
Star and compass
Drawn by Mari Okafor. A four-point star inside a compass rose, pointwork in the outer ring and nothing in the middle but skin.
Healed work
Pieces, photographed a year on
The Fern Line
Fine line · inner forearm · healed 2 years
Botanical Hand
Fine line · hand · healed 18 months
Blackthorn
Blackwork · upper arm · healed 3 years
The Serpent Rib
Fine line · ribs · healed 14 months
Moth & Moon
Blackwork · sternum · healed 2 years
Geometric Dahlia
Dotwork · shoulder · healed 4 years
- Pick the drawing at the counter and it is tattooed the same visit
- A deposit holds the chair and comes off the final price
- Eighteen and over. Photo ID at the door: passport or licence, not a picture of one
- Two clear days to move a date, once. After that it is spent
Questions
Before you write
The size, the placement and the line weight can all change before the chair is booked, and the drawing is cut again for the placement on the day. A design built around a different idea is a second drawing, and that is a second booking rather than an edit.
Drawn for you
Tell the studio what you have in mind
Bring the concept, the placement and the size, and the artist draws it once you have agreed the shape of it.