Tallulah Bruce
Most of my inspiration is taken from classical art, renaissance and baroque paintings - as well as greek mythology and video game character/creature design. Hand-poking the ink rather than using a tattoo gun enables me to neatly sew the ink into the skin rather than it sitting on top of the skin, it becomes a part of the body. My illustrations are organic, focusing on mostly the natural form of everything, so using a single needle and encouraging pointillism embraces the idea of what a tattoo could be about and what it means. Becoming a tattoo artist has enabled me to gain confidence as an artist to use the body as a canvas. Instagram: @tallulalalalalah
Where would you like your work to take you?
Looking forward I would want to work with people around the world with all body types, just projecting my art onto people - the experience of meeting people and creating connections with other creatives is all I really want to do with my tattooing.
How did you get into stick and poke tattooing?
I started to lean towards stick and poke tattooing late in life, as I have always been an illustrator there were many that would have looked interesting as a tattoo, and as I grew older and started to get tattoos of my own and fell in love with the process - and I think the realisation and union of the two became my niche.
Why do you prefer stick and poke to the more classic tattoo gun?
The way the needle works for hand-poked tattoos neatly tuck the ink into the skin so I see a strong difference when a tattoo has been drawn with a gun rather than a needle. I think like ourselves, tattoos and art are organic and should encompass the body in the same manner - I want the pieces to become a part of the body.
Can you list a couple other creatives/friends/people you look to for inspiration?
There are SO many creatives I look towards for inspiration and admiration. A favorite tattoo artist of mine is called @servadio on Instagram, and he manages to create the same drawn on effect with a gun - they look like drawings straight from a sketchbook. I also came across somebody on Instagram who is a hand poke artist who has a style that I think is current - his name is Niels Matitawaer, @table_of_rice on Instagram. He studied architecture and incorporates the work into his designs. Another few honorable mentions are @heartlesssjasper and @wasper.wames - all amazing and inspire me to create more!
