Welcome to the world of Jonny Handsome...

It all started in 1986, I was in Art College unable to a get a grant, scraping by painting leather jackets, bike tanks, illustrating posters anything for a few quid, there was an increasing demand for anything original tattoo designs. I started making more money designing tattoo flash than other pursuits so in 1987 after hundreds of people asking me to tattoo them with my one off artwork, I got tattooing my own legs.

It was difficult to acquire machines and inks back then but with my Technology, Design and Silver Smithing qualifications I made most of it myself. It's come a long way since. I started my first shop and turned my back on shirt work for good in 1997. I've been in various magazines and regularly write articles for the country's best, I've been on TV while working at Hanky Pankys in Amsterdam.

You can check out some of our videos on YouTube if they haven't wiped em yet. My specialities have become black and grey style, portraits horror and photo realism, so take a look and get in touch at studios and contacts. Jon

Meet Cathy Sue

My loyal apprentice now has her own studio and large client base.

Specialising in crazy colour and one off design she has developed a great new style of old school tattoos.

Her background is very different one from mine. Cath has a degree in fine art and another in history of art; this did not come without a fight. After 4 years of study Chester University decided not to put any of her work forward for marketing as they would not accept tattooing as an art form. I got my teeth straight into them as the same happened to me which i was in Art College with the help of Guy Atkinson and Skin Deep we made them back down, she received her course fees back along with a full apology and gained the highest mark of her group when she graduated a year later.

Later she turned her back on her illustration degree (as if it were not enough) and turned her dedication to our beautiful craft and hasn’t stopped since. You may have spotted her articles in magazines, you can check these out on her Journalism page on FaceBook, just type in oldboot.common@yahoo.co.uk in the search bar.