38 • SKIN DEEP MAGAZINE
a digital world, and living and interacting there also. We
create through digital mediums and seem to be lost there.
Analogue is something that is slowly disappearing and
even though I’m no technophobe by far, I feel the mental
and creative benefits of creating physical work are over-
looked. There’s a huge benefit to creating in real life. The
mistakes you make can’t be undone with a simple gesture
on the screen. You need to be careful and mindful and you
really bond with your work. I love the romance of craft-
ing real pieces. I’ve recently started pencil portraits and
working with oils too. The more you learn, the more you
know. I love art and feel sorry for people stuck in one style
with one medium. I love making lino prints too—when I
was doing my comic book pieces I made the transition to
lino and thinking about it, that’s where my collage work
began, just in a very different style. I was so excited to see your move to Black Market
Tattoos in Leicester—brilliant studio, brilliant
artists, perhaps one of my favourite places to get
tattooed ever. How’s life treating you in Leicester?
Am I right in saying you moved down from
Manchester or have I made that up?
Leicester is treating me well, the team here are great and
the bosses, Alex Candela and Del May are the most pro-
fessional, encouraging and generous shop owners I’ve
worked with.
I’m not Manc, I’m Manx! I’m from the Isle of Man origi-
nally (“Manx as the hills, yessir!”). When I lived there I
wasn’t that fussed on the place but since moving away
years back I love it when I get to visit—it’s not all bad. I
bump into Manx people all over the place, you can’t get
away from us.
How is your tiny mini-me? I always wonder what
the world of tattooing looks like through smallęYøjtʾáÃtòYøá¶ěøøYĄøęĄªęÊòμá¡ĄY¶¶ě
I’m all for progress and ease of process but I missed the smell of
inks and the sounds of paper.