When you get a tattoo, choosing the right artist is almost as essential as selecting the design and place. If someone is going to tattoo you, they should have the experience and skill to give you a fantastic tattoo. After all, this will be your body for the rest of your life. Well, yes, but what about skill? Sometimes. Helen Fernandes can't draw very well, but people still want to get tattoos from her. They are so bad that they are good.
The Brazilian opened her tattoo shop, Malfeitona, in her home city of Salvador de Bahia. Her "tatuagens peba," which means "trash tattoos," have already gained a cult following. It's easy to see why her unique style is so popular: she has over 160K Instagram followers and regularly posts photos of happy customers wearing her designs. It's for real.
Fernandes has been tattooing people for about three years, but she has been in the game for much longer. She also makes art with her hands. "My parents took me to church three times a week, so I started drawing," she said. "They would give me a pen and paper to keep me quiet. But I kept drawing because I liked it."
She said, "I was never into realism." "Drawing was just something I enjoyed doing. It made other people happy, which made me happy, too. It does still. But I never thought I could be a painter or sculptor. I'm a mechanical engineer by trade. I graduated in December 2016, and until last year, I took a post-graduate materials engineering course at the Federal University of Bahia. But I've recently changed jobs and now study how tattoos and Instagram are connected. But I'm also interested in other things. I'm also a digital influencer, teach art classes (mostly on "how to find your style"), and work as an illustrator.
"In 2017, I set up the @malfeitona Instagram account." Malfeitona means "badly done" in Portuguese. The title tells you everything you need to know. People who weren't my friends started asking me for tattoos, so I charged them a little bit to cover the cost of supplies. Later, these people's friends started getting in touch with me. Other tattoo artists liked my ideas and gave me tips as I worked on them. This taught me a lot, and I finally got my studio. I stopped inviting strangers to my house and putting plastic over the whole room." I'm at this point now because more customers have been coming in.
"I don't tattoo every week because I also do other work. Sometimes I only pick up the needle for a portion of the month. But when booking is open, and I'm ready, I can make 30 a week, especially if I go to Sao Paulo (I live in Salvador but do tours)."
"I change my prices based on where I work. The average cost of a tattoo in Brazil is about R$400 ($100). It depends on how colorful and detailed the design is. And if I went to the U.S., I'd have to find out how much tattoo artists there charge before I could set my price."
More Info & Images Credit - Instagram/malfeitona
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