Features

Sixteen minutes after knocking on the front door of the Tanner residence, in Tottenham, north London, Ross Hell appears with eyes glazed as a doughnut in Adidas trackpants and a pink sleeveless t-shirt, of his own design, baring a crudely drawn Mickey Mouse flashing an anatomically exaggerated appendage.

The muses are the goddesses of the inspiration of literature, science, and the arts in Greek mythology. So it fits, she’s my muse and she inspires me in many ways. Sometimes I think I paint her a lot to get to know her better. Trying to have a deeper understanding about the person I am…

Simon Kotyk, 27 and 26-year-old Ariel Hauck met on Instagram some eight months ago. Ariel, a hair colourist, found the model on her explore feed. She wasn’t looking for love, but in a fit of lust, tapped a few hearts on his timeline… then a few more when she realised he was also local to…

Monty Richthofen, aka Maison Hefner, is a modern-day poet and tattoo artist reminiscent of the late Jean-Michel Basquait whose sardonic spray-can commentary on life in the late 70s and early 80s in Lower Manhattan made him so famous he burned through the art scene like an asteroid until his death age 27. As Basquait did…

Less than 12 months ago Conrad Bowpitt, a coffee roaster from Leicester, had a head and face clear of tattoos. But now his skin has been taken over, the markings spreading like a bacterial-badness from chin to forehead, dome to occiput – and for most of it he’s been detached from the designs. His mate,…

Emiel Steenhuizen isn’t your typical tattooist – in fact, he rebels against its clichés with the earnestness and orderliness of a gentleman. Starts his day at a time more suited to an office schmuck. Keeps records and provides debit, often undercharging out of sympathy, and leaves afternoons free to ponder. Most recently he published a…