The Remarkable Art of Russian Homemade Tattoos

Alexei Yermolayev



"I gave this name to my home studio just to use some obscure letters," said Alexei Yermolayev, the owner of Yedrka Electric Tattoo studio, where two cute dogs meet you at the door.



He works at home so that he doesn't feel dependent on anyone.







Stick and poke tattoos, simply called homemade tattoos in Russia, are a cheap and easy way to create body art. Using just a sterile needle and ink saves prep time, although the tattooing process takes much longer. Classic black stick and poke tattoos can evolve into homemade tattoos done with machines and color.



The Moscow Times met up with Moscow artists who shared stories about their choice of art. Some of them still work in classic stick and poke.

Alexei demonstrates two of ten tattoo machines that he uses. Most of them were made in U.S.



"During a live session of Radio Suffer, I tattooed a DJ for more than an hour. He couldn't stand the pain, and so he made comments and swore right into the microphone."

His client ?€“ a girl from St. Petersburg ?€“ broke her leg while staying in Moscow. But that didn't stop her from making her session with Alexei, who was drawing kidneys on her back. She already has tattooed lungs from Yermolayev.

"Once I came home and saw him tattooing his leg. And then he said, 'Surprise!'" Alexei's wife Maria said. She also wanted to have a tattoo, but her husband made her change her mind.



Yermolayev doesn't like to tattoo himself — it hurts, and ultimately the art is not as good.

Rita Rud



"It all started when I was thirteen. I don't remember why I got hooked on tattoos — maybe I saw someone tattooed on TV — but I wanted to go to medical school, because I thought that would be a good basis for tattooing. In the end, I found myself at the Russian Foreign Ministry," Rita Rud said, at work in her apartment at Novye Cheryomushki.

"It's really convenient to work at home, but I don't want the place to be like a busy train station. So in the future, when the quality of my works is good enough, I plan to work at a studio. My main goal is to work in New York, even for a while."

"Strange things happen to me. Once a guy wanted to have a big white god tattooed on his back. But he sent me a list of what I was not allowed to do ahead of time: I had to avoid swearing, couldn't eat meat or fish for three days, no smoking, sex, lying, stealing, fighting, and so on. I refused."

A black cat observes the process and plays with clients.



"People measure the size of tattoos with Iphones. "Make it the size of an Iphone 6," they say. Years ago they used a pack of cigarettes or matchbox to indicate size. It wasn't as annoying as it is now with Iphones."

Andrei Surich



Andrei Surich is one of those rare artists in Moscow who works in the classic stick and poke style. He started painting graphics just for himself, and his love for classic black tattoos is clearly seen on his work.



"I wanted to do something like Oliver Sykes in the band Bring Me The Horizon has on his neck — new school. Those are really cool," Surich said as he smoothed down his mustache. "I studied to become a programmer for two years but I didn't need it at all. Why waste your time on what you don't want? So I transferred to graphic design."

"When a client asked me to tattoo the obscene Russian word for penis on the palm of his hand, I thought it was a joke. But I developed three fonts for him: boldface, medium, and narrow. The guy wanted all three, and now he's got the word for a penis drawn in three fonts on the palm of his hand."



Andrei's life is full of interesting stories. His career started when he met Alina Nikitina, one of the first stick and poke artists in Moscow. "My first tattoo on my chest — the numbers 4, 14 and 7 — was done by Alina. After that, I realized: that's what I want to do," Andrei said.

Surich is obsessed with English culture — architecture, mentality, the skins, football hooligans and youth, accents and weather. "I was born in the wrong country," he said. "I want to live somewhere in the outskirts of London. I even started speaking with a British accent. And the way British people use foul language is the best thing I've ever heard in my life!"



He isn't blind to England's problems and the troubles he might face when he moves there. "I know everything, and I realize that the pound is over 100 rubles. But I want my future child to have British citizenship, because it's the top of the world for me."

"When you look at a work of art that isn't identified, you can tell it was done by Pablo Picasso. Who else could it have been? His style is unique and easily recognizable. I have to work very hard to get to that point. I want to create something that is mine alone, something that people will recognize as mine," Surich said. "All that matters is working constantly. Even if you have a huge talent, it's nothing without work," he added.

Anton Sakvo



Artist Anton Sakvo is painting the Superman logo, which is going to be turned into tattoo, at a bar called Cans & Beer in central Moscow. He also works at Krapiva tattoo studio.



"To me, the story behind a tattoo and the mood is much more than the process itself," he said.

"I am obsessed with sterility! I spend a lot of time choosing the right cloth to use."



At the bar, as he covers the beer taps with plastic wrap, people ask if it's safe. "Sure, it is," he confidently answers.

"The culture of graffiti had a huge influence on the culture of tattoos. Graffiti artists are the main reason why the style of tattoos that I do now has been popularized."



Sakvo worked as an illustrator. His tattoo practice started after the festival called "blindfold tattoo" where visitors were inked with a free sketch – they had to pick one from a hat and only saw what it was after the artist finished. Anton did some tattoo flashes (sketches) but no one picked his. His friends decided to support him and asked him to turn some of his flashes into tattoos. He did.

Sakvo (L) is tattooing Garry, the manager of Cans & Beer.



"Gera IX is my favorite artist ever," he said. "I have two tattoos done by him — one of them is the Rubik's Cube, which means 'discipline.' But I'm still an hour late for a session," he said, smiling.