Boycotting bad ink, the Bath tattoo artist on a mission to fix the tattoo fixers

Multi award winning tattoo artist Ben Doran has decided to take a stand against dodgy tattoos and perhaps the most famous tattoo artists in the country right now, by offering to cover up and fix the messes left by Channel 4’s ‘tattoo fixers’.

The artist is on a mission to fix the wrongs of supposedly the ‘UK’s top tattoo artists’ by offering a free cover up to anyone that’s been inked by the group and lives to regret it:

What motivated you to offer the cover ups/fixes for free?

“I chose to offer the free cover ups as it seemed everyone was happy to voice their opinions and attempt to educate the public by doing so, but no one was willing to help those who had been affected by the show and to educate the public by helping”

Rather than focus on badmouthing the show and its artists, as the current ‘F*ck the Tattoo Fixers’ campaign that is currently circulating and gaining support from many of the UK’s tattoo artists is doing, Ben’s focus is more so on educating the public and the fixers themselves as to what a good tattoo and good tattoo practices should be, stating he has no problem with the artists themselves:

“I have no ill-feeling towards the artists really. I was and still am a big fan of Lou’s work from the first series, Jay does some nice black and grey, Alice seems lovely and her work seems to portray that and Sketch, as much as he gets a lot of flak seems to be a really sound bloke.”

Ben’s problems lay instead with the bad hygiene practices and theft of other artists (such as Brian Thomas Wilson, Glen Preece and Emily Rose Murray’s) designs, bad habits which are broadcast to millions of uneducated viewers every week, promoting a low standard for the industry.

“My main issues come from the plagiarism, the poor quality of some of the designs and some of the cover ups but mostly with the lax hygiene practised”

With Sketch in particular seeming to be the main culprit of these malpractices…

“I don’t want to bash the guy but ‘Sketch’ needs to have a word said to him, with his blatant plagiarism and the things he attempts that end up as horrendous pieces, this just is not acceptable. Like I said, I’m sure he’s a sound lad, and he has handled his critics VERY well but that is not what is in question.”

A cover up by the ‘Tattoo Fixers’

In light of the artist’s questionable work the offer has received a good amount of interest so far, with over ten people registering their interest; although strangely some are choosing to return to the root of the problem, while others are wary of tattoos all together now.

“Some are booked in, one or two have gone back to the production company to have one of the artists on the ‘Tattoo Fixers’ team fix it (a concept I can’t quite fathom), some are undecided about what to do as the experience of the cover up has left them with a bit of a bitter taste in their mouth.”

Some of Ben’s recent work

With a good chunk of the public still uneducated in the workings of the tattoo industry TV shows like tattoo fixers are many people’s first insight into the world of tattooing but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good or realistic one as Ben goes on to explain.

“I’ll be brutally honest and this may upset some tattooists but I don’t think we’ll ever be happy with anything on TV. When LA Ink was on, people moaned that it was a poor representation as it seemed like people could just walk in and get a back piece in five hours then walk out relatively pain free. if the show was changed to be more informative if it went a little too far, someone, somewhere will say that it’s a ‘how to’ guide to tattooing.”

So has the show changed the UK’s tattoo industry for the worst?

“I believe it has although it isn’t one that is going to cause artists a massive issue. I have had a few people message or pop in asking for drawings from each tattooist and they’ll pick which one they want which hasn’t been a major problem. I’d say the main thing is that some of the public are under the impression that the people on the show ARE the best and that the tattoos on the show are the best you are going to get in the UK.”

Though just being able to help and educate at last would make the Bath tattoo artist happy,

“If even one person follows through the booking then I am happy and I believe the job has been done as the public will see what should have been done in the first place.”

So if you’re looking to get a tattoo covered up and don’t want end up with a tattoo fixers style mess, heed Ben’s advice below for getting a good quality cover up:

-Do your research

-Travel if you need to

-Check HEALED work

-DO NOT PRICE HUNT

-Be patient, a good cover up artist or artist in general will have a waiting list

-Have an idea of direction but be open minded, not every idea you have will work

-Follow the prescribed aftercare,

If you do all that, you’ll be really happy!

#news #tattoos