Make your mark

Bidhan Singh is an artist at heart. During his childhood spent in Shillong, he did a lot of sketching and also tried out tribal tattoos on friends’ bodies, using indigenous methods. After his graduation, Singh came to Mumbai and did odd jobs — first at a call centre, then at a marketing firm. Neither of this excited him, so he decided to go back to his childhood passion and take it up as full-time work.

Today, a partner in Delhi’s Sting Tattoo — he moved here three years ago — Singh says he makes decent money. “I spent around two years learning the art in a couple of studios. It’s always a good idea to do an apprenticeship with trained artists for two-three years. It helps to work with various professionals as you are then exposed to different styles.”

Tattooing is taxing work that needs attention to very minute details. Abhishaik Madhur of Indelible Tattoos in Delhi says, “I find it tough to tattoo for five hours at a stretch. Every single line and stroke counts and one minor deviation can ruin the entire tattoo.”

Though he has been running the studio for the past two years, Madhur still calls himself a struggler. “It takes you a long time to establish yourself. If you do good work, then you get word-of-mouth publicity and gradually become famous. Until then, you have to publicise your works through social networking sites,” he adds.

Saachi Singh took two years to learn the art from a famous artist before starting her studio, Inkaholic, in Delhi’s Greater Kailash locality. This is the best way out for aspiring tattoo artists, she says. “No formal training is available and some people learn through books or the Internet, which can be very dangerous as you won’t get to know about hygiene and other aspects of this art,” Saachi adds.

Going to places like Thailand, the US or the UK and working with a trained artist there is better than working only in this country. One can also attend tattoo conventions organised in these countries where world-renowned artists congregate. One such convention is set to take place from January 29 to 31 at the Orlando Tattoo & Arts Festival in Florida.

The young tattoo frat is at the moment happy with the growing fad for “crazy” designs, text and figures. “I have tattooed customers who are 18 to 70 (who wanted his grandchild’s name tattooed),” says Michael Cowasji, owner of Tattoos by Mike, Delhi.

Most artists believe that earning a name in the business is no cakewalk as they have to compete with well-established players with a loyal clientele. But of late, a new trend of switching to new artists for newer designs is emerging. “Some tattoo freaks get one tattoo done from one artist and the second from another. It’s not considered ‘cool’ to get all five designs from the same artist,” says Saachi.

This trend can also be attributed to the specialisation of studios — some are known for text tattoos, others are popular for portraits. “You develop a specialisation over time,” says Singh, “like I am known in Delhi for lettering (writing texts in a tattoo) and the dark colour scheme that I normally use.”

 

Author: Vimal Chander Joshi

Date: 21st Jan., 2010

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