I booked my first ever tattoo in 2017 without much thought apart from being certain that it had to be ‘stick and poke’ or ‘handpushed’ as some artists coin it. Five years later and I now have six professional stick and poke tattoos and a handful of awful homemade ones that litter less obvious parts of my body.
Handpoke tattoos are just as permanent and skillful as others just used without a machine. It often takes artists a little longer to manually push the ink into the skin and create finer lines and more intricate designs.
The last few years have seen a huge emergence of this form of tattooing; for my first tattoo there was one studio in my home city that offered them and it was by one artist in a tiny backroom. Now there are entire studios hosting only stick and poke artists and a huge online movement.
My primary reason for only getting these types of tattoos was to concede to my pitiful level of pain tolerance. I can confidently (and thankfully) say that the majority of my tattoos did not hurt. Instead it was often a relaxing experience. The studios I have been to have always felt
slightly more gentle, and with a slower pace to some of the traditional tattoo studios that often have a heavy masculine presence. I have one medium size tattoo on my torso near the ribs and only towards the end of the two hour session did it sting a little.
This is one thing to note – they take a lot longer to do. On a positive this means you can really develop a relationship with the artist. I have found great music recommendations from one after a long chat, another sent me a list of places to explore in a city we had been talking about, with another we ranked our favourite veggie sausages for at least twenty minutes. As a result the experience feels so much more personal and intimate. Unfortunately, time often equals cost. In general handpoked tattoos are more expensive but again this matches the labour you are paying for, often supporting one-off artwork and an emerging community of new talent.
Handpoked tattoos are not a new concept. They are the traditional way to mark your body and exist in many cultures. In this way they often feel very authentic and the community surrounding them is generally a nice thing to be a part of. In the UK however there is a misconception that they do not match up to the artistry of a machine tattoo. This is simply not true. There are a host of very talented artists and the competition is only driving the skill forward. People have questioned if I am worried about the longevity of them and how they will look in years to come. So far they seem to be ageing exactly the same. My most faded is one I have on my ankle that was done by someone with little experience. The foot / ankle is a place even machine tattoos are likely to fade fast and as with anything the experience and skill of the artist counts for a lot more than the technique.
It can often feel difficult to find a stick and poke artist that isnt your friend in their living room after a few too many at the pub. Annoyingly, geographical location plays a huge part but Instagram is always the best place to start. All good artists won’t copy someone else’s design so be prepared to look through their own flash or enquire about a custom design (which they will often only accept if it is in their own style). Once you have found an artist it is so much easier to find others. Word of mouth is so useful and artists will often freely recommend other studios and Instagram accounts to have a look at. And, even if your city seems to have a lack of artists, follow some local studios (even if they only use machines) as a lot of artists from different cities do guest spots for a few days.
Esme Cawley
