Killer Ink Tattoo

In the midst of all the action at this year's Cantal Ink convention, we pulled aside our sponsored artists Sandra Daukshta and Christos Galiropoulos for a couple of quick interviews.

We spoke about tattoos, inspirations and future plans when we interviewed Sandra and Christos.

Check out the two videos below!

Sandra Daukshta

Colour realism artist Sandra Daukshta was a guest judge at this year’s Cantal Ink convention. We had to ask her about a certain full back piece that went big online!

Christos Galiropoulos

He started tattooing after he left the army, now Christos Galiropoulos is a renowned artist who runs his own studio in Greece. Check out his Lemmy tattoo from the convention!

Forget the Bermuda Triangle, even the Illuminati symbol… there’s only one three-sided shape that matters in the world of tattooing and that’s the remarkable EGO “power triangle”.

The power triangle system features in all tattoo machines built by EGO Rotary, a UK based manufacturer led by tattoo artist Bez from Triplesix Studios in Sunderland.

Each and every EGO Rotary tattoo machine is super lightweight with wrist-friendly, ergonomic designs, but it’s the power triangle that really catches the eye.

When you open a package containing a new EGO Rotary tattoo machine, you’ll also receive a variety of different power triangle, with each colour signifying a different density of rubber. This allows artists to configure their EGO machines exactly how they want it, in terms of give and throw.

You can get creative with various rubber combinations to perfect the machine’s lining and shading capabilities to your preference. The power triangle system efficiently replicates the front and back spring system from coil tattoo machines.

So, to put it simply, with an EGO Rotary tattoo machine, you’re getting the reliability and consistency of a rotary machine with the same workability of a coil counterpart.

The brand has really come far over the years, with the latest models, the EGO V2 Plus and V3 Vertex Plus, proving to be a big hit with tattoo artists, thanks to their high quality and perfect balance and needle control.

Tattoo artist and EGO head honcho Bez wanted to create a machine that could be held like a pen, with the same comfort and ease of use. Ask any artists who have tried an EGO Rotary machine if he succeeded, and they will unequivocally and enthusiastically say “yes”.

But that’s not all. Although EGO has built a solid reputation for its rotary machine, it has also designed and produced various disposable and non-disposable grips, as well as a grip for the iPad Pro and standard pencils.

Bez is certainly a busy man when it comes to firing out new and innovative ideas, and if EGO’s latest rotary tattoo machines are anything to go by, we can expect to see some bold new products on the horizon.

Just like the style he is known for, trash polka specialist Guido Schmitz hails from Germany, but these days you can find him working his way across Europe at various conventions and guest spots.

Travelling tattoo artist Guido has honed his style over the years, resulting in work featuring the distinctive black and red stylings of trash polka.

Trash polka has its roots in Guido’s homeland of Germany, so perhaps it’s only fitting that he has taken this style and ran with it, constantly producing some of the most incredible black and red tattoos around.

Guido Schmitz has worked at various German studios like Jenny B’s Tattoo in Kassel, Da Silva Tattoo in Bielefeld, Moni Marino’s Black Barock in Essen, and Oliver Lonien’s studio in Trier. These days however, he can mostly be found working across Europe at some of the biggest tattoo conventions and guest spotting at various studios.

That’s not all for Guido, as he will be opening his own private studio in Kassel, Germany at the start of September!

We managed to catch up with Guido at the 2017 Liverpool Tattoo Convention (he features in our video), while his most recent success came at the Unique Art Festival in Finland, where he won ‘Best Abstract’ and ‘2nd Best of Friday’. We also saw him win ‘Best Abstract’ at this year’s Northern Ireland Tattoo Convention.

To create his avant-garde pieces, Guido uses various supplies from Killer Ink Tattoo, including Cheyenne HAWK machines, World Famous Ink, Hustle Butter Deluxe, Cleany Skin tattoo wipes, Squidster skin markers, and Stencil Forte.

Make sure to check out Guido Schmitz’s killer trash polka tattoos on his Facebook and Instagram pages.

If you’re going to set up a tattoo convention, what better place to hold it than a quaint little village in south-central France?

We jetted over the Channel at the beginning of July for Cantal Ink, aka the Chaudes-Aigues International Tattoo Festival in France, and shot our latest video!

It features some of our sponsored artists, awesome tattoos, incredible scenery, and men on stunt bikes, so make sure to check it out!

Cantal Ink was the brainchild of its current President and Killer Ink sponsored artist Stéphane Chaudesaigues, first taking place back in 2013.

Nowadays, Cantal Ink features some of the world’s most renowned tattoo artists in an idyllic setting, and our artists did pretty well when it came to the competitions at this year’s festival.

Thomas Carli-Jarlier from Noire Ink won ‘Best of Sunday’ and ‘2nd Best of Show’ at the convention, while fellow French artists Calvin Moktar and Angelique Grimm went home with 2nd and 3rd ‘Best of Saturday’, respectively.

Make sure to check out our conventions page and social media accounts to keep up to date with what conventions and events we will be attending in the future!

Check out this little teaser video we put together featuring some of our killer sponsored artists using our supplies!

Making sure a tattoo is looked after correctly once inked into the skin is a critical part of the tattooing process, and that’s where Dermalize PRO comes in.

Dermalize is a tattoo aftercare solution for the initial healing stage of a tattoo. The film acts as a second skin to protect tattoo wounds from germs and bacteria, while also allowing the skin to breathe, thanks to its permeability.

By locking in the body’s natural fluids and enzymes, Dermalize PRO assists the skin to heal naturally from the inside out, guaranteeing beautifully-healed tattoos.

The thin self-adhesive film is light to wear, flexible and stretchable, allowing it to be placed anywhere on the body and stay there for up to several days.

Dermalize PRO will prevent scabbing, any risk of infection, possibility of rubbing clothes and any other external factors that will damage the tattoo. It really is a key part of the tattoo healing process.

This killer product is available in a roll (Dermalize PRO) or a pack of five pre-cut sheets. If you opt for the roll, you just need to cut an amount that will cover your clients tattoo – it’s as simple as that!

Some of the world’s most renowned artists like Randy Engelhard, Alex de Pase and Jeff Gogue, as well as Killer Ink sponsored artists Anrijs Straume, Ralf Nonnweiler, Sam Barber and many more, have tested and used Dermalize for a considerable time now.

Each artist has encountered incredible results in their healed tattoo work thanks to the film, with the likes of Anrijs heaping praise upon the aftercare product. We recommend rubbing on some Hustle Butter Deluxe prior to applying Dermalize PRO for best results!

Try using Dermalize on your next tattoo and see how it compares to standard cling film and other dressings – we’re sure you’ll be impressed!

At the 2017 Liverpool Tattoo Convention, we were lucky enough to get interviews with popular tattoo artists Chris 51 and Anrijs Straume, as well as tattooed model and Vegan ambassador Monami Frost.

Tattoos, lifestyle and cartoons are on the table when we interviewed Monami Frost, Chris 51 and Anrijs Straume.

Check out the videos below!

Monami Frost

With over one million followers on Instagram and a massive subscriber count on YouTube, Monami Frost is certainly a huge star. We spoke with her about her tattoos, modelling and Straight Edge lifestyle.

Chris 51

Flying over from Springfield, Oregon was Chris 51, former star of Epic Ink and a lover of all things cartoon. Check out his Simpsons-themed tattoo from the convention!

Anrijs Straume

Dark trash realism creator Anrijs Straume was at his hometown convention working on some killer pieces and gave us his thoughts on vegan tattoo products.

‘Flower of Scotland’. The unofficial national anthem of the Scots and a great way to describe our Edinburgh-based sponsored artist Michelle Maddison.

Working at Semper tattoo studio in Edinburgh, Scotland, Michelle Maddison is known for her bright and colourful tattoos, including some of the most stunning rose and flower pieces you’ll ever see!

Before she joined Semper tattoo studio, Michelle started her career as an apprentice at Nemesis Tattoo Studio in Sunderland, followed by her heading up the road to Bez’s Triplesix Studios in the same city.

After various conventions and guest spots, Michelle began working with David Corden in Edinburgh in May 2015, before David officially opened Semper in the following August.

It’s easy to see where Michelle gets her inspiration – her work features many aspects of nature and wildlife, with her own cute and colourful spin on them.

To create her bright and vivid tattoos, Michelle uses Killer Ink Tattoo supplies, specifically a Cheyenne HAWK Pen and Fusion Ink.

Check out more of Michelle Maddison’s stunning work by visiting her Facebook and Instagram pages.

Presenting “The Kaos Theory Project” from our sponsored artist Ryan ‘The Scientist’ Smith and No Regrets Studio.

The first edition of the Kaos Theory Project is an ambitious event that will feature six world class tattoo artists coming together for a week of collaborations.

The artists taking part include Killer Ink sponsored Ryan Smith, along with Benjamin Laukis, Jay Freestyle, Jenna Kerr, Julian Siebert, and Jorge Becerra.

From the 11th to 15th of July 2017, each artist will pair up with another to discuss, design and execute their tattoo collaboration project on the same day. The following day, each tattooist will swap their partner until every artist has work with each other, resulting in 15 pieces of art work in total.

This is an exclusive art project that brings together tattoo artists with distinctive styles who would normally not pair up or work together, opening up the possibility of some truly unique, one-off, bespoke pieces of art work.

The first edition of the Kaos Theory Project merges the work of some of the world’s top tattoo artists, so it’s definitely not to be missed!

Held at No Regrets Studio in 6 Minerva Street, London, E2 9EH, the Kaos Theory Project will be live-streamed on the studio’s Facebook page.

You can also book now to become a human canvas by sending an email to the following address: london@nrstudios.co.uk.

The trip to New Zealand is pretty far, so we were lucky that Killer Ink sponsored artist Coen Mitchell was guest spotting close enough to shoot a video with him!

We made the short trip up to Aurora Tattoo Studio in Lancaster to film a video with New Zealander Coen, along with tattooist Mystik and owner Emma Kierzek.

Check out our latest video below to see Coen’s awesome throat piece that he did on his guest spot!

When he’s not on the other end of our camera lens, Coen Mitchell can be found guest spotting all over the world – he really gets around!

Coen is known for his intricate ‘mosaic flow’ tattoo designs, as well as incredible dot work and mandala pieces.

He may have many fans of his work, but perhaps none more so that Australian freelance model Summer McInerney, who has spent over $15,000 on tattooing most of her body with Coen’s designs. It really is no small feat, Summer has spent around 127 hours being inked by Coen – the same length of time that James Franco was trapped by a boulder in that Danny Boyle movie…

Make sure to check out Coen Mitchell’s Facebook and Instagram pages so see his awesome tattoos – you’ll be following his accounts in no time!