Versova-based tattoo studio, Aliens Tattoo, has organised a special one-day workshop on tattooing for young tattoo artists
There are just 4,000 to 5,000 tattoo artists across India — as Sunny Bhanushali tells us, the owner of Aliens Tattoo — who has organised a workshop dedicated to the art of inking, in the city, today. Few have proven their mark internationally while there are plenty of others who are finding themselves frozen in time. With the intent to change this, Bhanushali will share his working methods, technical configurations and several other necessary skills that the artist has acquired in the last 10 years.
Tattoo artist Sunny Bhanushali working at his studio, Aliens Tattoo, in Versova, Andheri. Pic/Nimesh Dave
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“There’s not much sharing happening in the country. Everybody wants to keep the trade to himself or herself,” says the 29-year-old artist. Bhanushali has made it a point to share his methods via YouTube videos for two years given that young tattoo artists have so many questions.
Engraved in the skin
When he was 19, Bhanushali was introduced to the world of tattoos while seeing one of his friends getting inked. Thus, despite having a degree in Computer Application (BCA), he chose the career of a tattoo artist. A painter by heart, today his tattoo works are followed by several global and national artists. Looking at his work, it’s easy to assume that he must have had some training in visual arts, but it’s quite the opposite.
In fact, Bhanushali has a theory, where he sees school and teachers as mental blockers. “Creativity is in the outside world and you need to find it yourself. You can’t learn creativity, but you can acquire skills. If you have skills, creativity will find you. This workshop is about skills,” he says.
Works by Sunny Bhanushali
Customer comes first
Bhanushali sees tattooing as an art form that requires empathy fundamentally, “I like to create what will fulfill a customer’s needs. The artwork is most important. It’s like a journey where you find yourself, and you express yourself,” he adds.
Bhanushali says that hygiene is one of the most common issues facing the Indian tattoo industry — common to both freshers as well as reputed names.
“I think more than 85% tattoo artists in India don’t follow basic hygiene standards. Mostly because there is no law related to that, and no licence is required to run one.
I think if there’s licensing for a dispensary there should be a licence for tattoo parlours as well,” he adds.
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