India’s first award-winning, internationally experienced artist Lokesh Verma is a veteran tattoo artist who was also one of the first people to start tattooing in India. Lokesh is a self-trained artist and travels all across the world and has worked on various tattoo conventions. Ever since he can 
remember, he has been fascinated with sketching, his exceptional gift, and him treasuring it in return, brought to his audience and prizes. Personally, Lokesh enjoys realistic tattooing the most and specializes in color and black and grey. In conversation with TMM, he talks about his journey, myths associated with tattooing and his future plans.
How and when the art of tattooing happen to you?
I didn’t get any professional tattoo art training. I am a self-taught artist. Back when I started tattooing, the art form was not really prevalent in India and there was no professional scene of tattoos. But I got curious after I saw someone spotting a really cool tattoo when I was working as a DJ.
I was doing three jobs at a time and had started tattooing around the same time on weekends. I was always fascinated by tattoos and art & I could always draw a little bit. I always wanted to try my hands on it anyhow. I had limited money so I had two options, first was to get a tattoo done from thatmoney and the second was to buy the machine itself and get unlimited tattoos myself! So, one day I thought deeply about it, brought a tattoo kit with my saved-up money, and started practicing tattooing by inking myself, in order to save money. When my friends got to know they started asking if I could do one of them, and slowly but surely the curiosity turned into a passion, and people startedgiving me money for my art. That’s how my artistic journey as a tattoo artist began.
In 2005, I opened a small studio inside a salon in Vasant Vihar, my passion started turning into a profession. I was losing the sense of time when I was engrossed in designing tattoos on someone’s body; it was an expression of their personality and was going to stay with them till death. It was art. Then I opened Devil’zTattooz, in GK1 in 2008 and in Gurgaon in 2013 and Dwarka recently. I taught many aspiring artists the art of tattooing and more importantly to look after the hygiene aspect. I have worked in 17 countries and have made sure that we enforce European standards across our studios.
You also started India’s biggest tattoo festival. What was the idea behind the festival?
I always wanted to put India on the world map as there was no International Convention in India and having travelled extensively and worked in more than 17 countries, I really wanted to show Indian people about convention and educate them more about tattoos. When they visit a public event related to tattoos. That is my way to answer all the queries of all the people who are sceptical about getting a tattoo and when they see others getting started in a safe environment then they will also have the courage to get one for themselves, also as the tattoo scene in India was increasing I wanted the talent of India to be known to not just the country but also around the world and make people more knowledgeable about the high quality of tattoos India can provide and how prevalent the tattooing was becoming, my partners and I came up with an idea of making India’s biggest tattoo convention where tattoo artist from all over India as well as the world could showcase their talent and make people more aware about tattoos and about the kind of art form it is.
When it comes to tattooing, there are many myths associated with it. Your comment.
There are many myths about tattooing that need to be cleared out but the biggest question we get 
asked about is the ink. Will the ink harm us in any way or is it natural ink or not? So no, the ink wouldn’t harm you in any way since we use vegan and organic ink as well as quantum tattoo inks from the USA which are FDA approved. Also, people ask if they can donate blood after getting inked? Yes, they definitely can, but only after 6-12 months depending on the blood bank they are going for. Another popular myth is, tattoos can cause diseases like HIV or Hepatitis. One needs to understand how these diseases can be acquired. It can be caused through infected needles. Everything that is used by professional tattoo artist is re-sterilized or used just one time. Everything that touches your skin – from the tissue to the glove to the needle to the grip – everything is brand new. It’s like going to doctor’s clinic. They use everything new, similarly, we do too. We try to be friendly and walk them through the entire process to clear all their doubts. Most of the clients are just anxious because they are getting tattooed for the first time. Tattoos were taboo in the past, especially in India. It was looked upon as something rogue people get. But now, it is getting accepted as an art form. Though, face tattoos are still off-limits for the majority of people.
It is still not a well-known career option in India. How one can become a professional tattoo artist in India?
When I started, there was no one to teach but after seeing the lack of training institutes in India we decided to train people. Since 2008, I take 4 apprentices every quarter and teach them professionally 
where they get a hands-on experience of working in a tattoo studio in real-time. This is not a classroom method and is 100% practical course so the students learn not only tattooing but how to manage the clients and run a busy studio. You can see www.devilztattooz.com for more info about our course.
How has the industry changed over the years and what still needs to be done to make a promising career in India?
The tattoo industry in India is still in its growth stage. While there are many studios and artists there is still no regulatory body or group that represents the 
profession. While tattoos have become mainstream, the profession itself is not popularly seen as a career choice. Tattooing has transformed over the years due to technology the machines we use now are more sophisticated than before. This lets artists experiment with style and design as they now have the equipment that is capable of executing their work.
How safe it is to get tattooed during COVID and what precautions one needs to take while getting tattooed?
It is very safe to get tattooed during the pandemic like the rest of your work and activities one needs to follow all the precautions to beat the virus & to save themselves and everybody around them. Since the pandemic, we are only allowing 1 person per artist because we want to take proper measures to ensure people’s safety as well as our artist’s safety. But we are getting a lot of queries over phone/email. We are focusing more on tele-consultation instead of inviting people to studio, we are giving a single appointment per hours to design the tattoo only. We have always been taking proper safety and hygienic measures even before Covid but additional measures what we have started taking is checking for clients’ temperature upon arrival as well as spraying them down with anti-bacterial alcohol solution as well as not allowing more than one person to come together. Plus, entry is only allowed after they have worn the shoe covers which we provide outside the studio.
What are your future plans keeping the present scenario around the world in view?
As of now, I just want to focus on my work and how to evolve more as an artist as well as take care of my family, team, and studios. I would like to do more tattoos overseas as well but for now due to Covid that has come to a bit of a halt. But yes, as of now I want to mainly focus on my family first and then work as I’m very happy and content with what I have and don’t want to keep on chasing the materialistic things in life.
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