Artist in view: Rich Harris
How did you get involved with tattooing and how did you find your personal style of tattooing?
My best friend started tattooing from home, which gave me the idea to get started and coincidentally another friend opened up a tattoo studio shortly after so I naturally asked for a job :) I found my personal style from many years of tattooing and getting tattooed by my favourite artists, taking my favourite elements from them but trying to combine them in a way that I wasn’t copying.
What is the thing you enjoy most in the tattoo industry?
I enjoy it most when I get cool clients who totally understand the process and literally let me do my thing.
Do you have a ritual or specific thing you do every time before you start tattooing?
Not really, however I can’t tattoo until everything is checked and I’m comfortable, I literally ask 2/3 of my colleagues for a stencil check before I start, three heads are better than one!
What’s something you haven’t done yet but would love to tackle? (Tattoo related)
Neo Traditional, this is what naturally comes out when I draw freehand.
What’s missing in the tattoo industry? What would you like to see change?
Maybe some kind of license, which includes a proper hygiene and a health and safety check (The UK health and safety check is currently extremely vague) and maybe some kind of quality control, to stop the scratchers just setting up studios and ruining peoples skin! I'm not sure how you’d implement this but I’d like to see something happen in this area.
Who are your biggest inspirations, or artists you admire and why?
This changes all the time, far too many artists to list… check out who I follow on instagram!
If you could be any tattoo artist in the world for a day, who would you be and why, what would you do?
I’m very happy with being me haha! Also there’s literally nothing you cannot learn in this industry.
What’s the funniest tattoo related experience you have witnessed or heard of?
One year I had to have 6 months off tattooing because of a plandemic! oh wait….. that actually happened.
What is most important for avoiding bad tattoo healing?
Finding the correct balance when to wrap, when to moisturise and when to let your tattoo air. There’s a knack!
What’s your favourite tattoo convention(s) and why?
This is a horrible question! I love London, Paris, Milan and Brussels…. sorry I can’t pick just one!
What’s the one topic or theme of tattoo you get asked the most?
Faces! What I love to tattoo the most :)
Is there a specific body part you enjoy tattooing and one you really don’t enjoy tattooing, and why?
This can vary on different people but I dislike ribs! Clients generally do not sit well in this area, so I try to avoid it unless it’s a monster of a piece and were covering the torso also.