Getting into tattooing was just an idea I got into my head, and it didn’t leave – it got stronger and stronger. I’m 27 now, but it started when I was at Camberwell Art College in London, studying for a degree in fine art.

I had a friend called Saira, who’d given me my first tattoo – a sacred heart and roses – and she worked at New Skool Tattoos in Surrey. So I asked her mentor, Ian Flower, about working in the shop, and ended up doing a placement for a few months instead of a dissertation at college.

I built up my portfolio by drawing some traditional-looking things that I’d copied from magazines and books, and at college I also did a lot of oil paintings to do with fetish and feminism, so it was all tied in. I painted women as sex objects, as figures with limbs missing, and I sexualised something that could be threatening.

When I graduated, I knew I wanted to be a tattooist, so I worked at lingerie retailer Agent Provocateur part-time while I gained more experience at New Skool. I started doing one or two days a week helping Claudia, another of Ian’s apprentices.

You have to do anything you’re asked to do – whether that’s sweeping the floor, making tea, answering the phone or going to get lunch. At first I was quite shy, and a bit nervous talking to customers, but confidence comes and you learn how to deal with people.

I didn’t do any actual tattooing for a long time; I learned by watching and listening. Some people practise on fruit, but I went straight to skin: fruit doesn’t bleed, fruit doesn’t move, fruit doesn’t do anything that skin does!

I practised on my left leg, because it’s easy to reach with my right hand. I’ve done a rose, some pattern work, and a little heart with my postcode in it – SE4. I knew I’d soon be moving out of the family house in Brockley, so I wanted it as a memento.

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The first person I tattooed was my younger sister, Mimi. I was really nervous, but she was fine! I did a little black angel symbol on her ankle to represent her star sign, Virgo. I’ve also tattooed my dad – I did a traditional cross with roses and scrolls on his chest, saying, ‘Mum’, ‘Dad’ and ‘Lee’ (which is my dad’s brother’s name).

Tattooing my dad was quite personal, but I just approached the job in the same way that I usually do – although I didn’t like hurting him!

I now work in the shop five days a week. We’re open from 12 until 6, but I’m often drawing in the morning, too, and every night I go home and draw. After I inked Mimi, I started doing small designs on friends, such as flowers, stars and script.

I’m doing bigger things now. I’ve started a sleeve of flowers, and it’s really exciting. The most important thing for a design like that is the composition. My favourite custom design is a little owl that I did recently, with roses and girls’ heads on its feet.

If you’re an artist who happens to get into tattooing, your background will never leave you. I know a lot of people who are into graffiti, or paint in oils and acrylics, or make objects and do photography. Tattooing is just another medium.

Sometimes I draw just for myself, and I visit exhibitions for inspiration. I recently went to a JW Waterhouse exhibition, and one at the National Gallery called The Sacred Made Real, about 17th-century Spanish painters and sculptors.

I’ve also drawn my own set of tattoo flash, and a set with my friend Stefano C from Frith Street Tattoo in London. We talked about ideas, then worked them out on paper, and then just sat down and painted them together.

We’ve done a skull and a bird, and two hands shaking, and little heads in roses. We’re selling them on MySpace, and we’ve had some good feedback.

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While it’s cool to do your own designs, working in a shop teaches you that a lot of the time, you just do what people want. And that could be flash, stuff from the internet, or things they’ve drawn themselves.

Right now I’m working on a tribal design someone brought in for the top of their arm, and I’m trying not to do something that looks like it’s been ripped off from someone else’s work.

I’m incorporating traditional Bornean designs, because I like to include a reference where possible. I hope I’ll finish the design today, because I have to draw it tomorrow!

I’ve had difficult customers before – usually they’re girls who want little things done and then spend hours telling me the meanings behind them. I don’t give a fuck. It’s their tattoo and I’ll do what they want, but I don’t need to hear their life story.

It can be uncomfortable when customers tell you personal stuff, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I switch off, do the tattoo, and send them on their way happy.

I guess you’ve just got to treat people accordingly – if they’re that much of a nuisance, tell them to shut up! If people in the shop are being loud I tell them to go out or be quiet... I’ve been called a bitch before, but I don’t care. If that’s what you think, then you don’t know me.

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I’ve been guided a lot by Ian and Claudia, but I’ve also been left to get on with it, because you have to learn from your own mistakes. You don’t get your arse wiped! There have been times I’ve wanted the ground to swallow me up. I can’t remember specific problems, but you always hear stories about people who come out with misspellings or wrong dates.

The best thing to do is to be prepared, and to do designs with military precision. But being a tattooist is a bit like being in a secret club. I’m not going to tell you about needle-making or anything technical, because it’s something I’ve learnt – I’m not going to share it with the world. If I told you, I’d have to kill you!

There are no real rules in tattooing as long as it works for you, but you don’t want to be giving away your secrets because you’ve earned your right to them.

I feel proud of my job, especially when I think about the history of tattooing that goes back hundreds of years. I really look up to my boss Ian and my friend Claudia, and also guys like the New York artist Chad Koeplinger.

Tattooing’s not like any other job. You don’t sit down and sign a contract with a big company; it involves a lot of trust. If you want a nine-to-five job, it’s not for you, because you don’t switch off at the end of the day, and you’re going to get out what you put into it. And you shouldn’t become a tattoo artist if you think you’re going to be a rock star.

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My boyfriend Ben is also a tattoo apprentice, so it’s nice to share experiences. We found each other on MySpace, and met for the first time at Christmas. He’s from New Zealand, but moved to Holland to get work.

I’ve inked a little goldfish with cherry blossoms on his leg, and he did an eagle fighting a snake on mine. Our styles are quite similar, but he has his own thing going on.

Apprenticeships last for about five years, and I’m in my third year now. It feels like I’ve come a long way, but there’s also still a long way to go. I’d like to keep getting better, to travel the world tattooing, and have lots of cats when I’m old.

Tattooing has taught me what I’m capable of and how to approach life – nothing’s given to you, you’ve got to earn it. But if you dedicate yourself to something, you get rewarded.

I’d advise any aspiring tattoo artists to be themselves, and if you’ve got a pair of balls, you’ll go far. Women have balls too – big hairy balls. It’s a compliment – the bigger the better!
 
Check out New Skool Tattoos at Newskooltattoos.co.uk
See Naomi’s work at MySpace.com/naomisweetcheeks