Introducing Ross A.K.A DeadDark.

Ross who’s tattoo name is DeadDark is in the spotlight this week. It became clear as soon as Ross & I began to chat, he is a character. Once we started chatting the conversation flowed well, like were old pals having a catch-up. Ross is someone who has been through a lot and luckily ended up on his feet. From being homeless due to an old employer refusing to help him with his mental health problems and ultimately deciding to let him go. After trying to get into tattooing and being knocked down in a field he loved.

Ross went to university and studied cartoon and comic arts (which you can see in his art). He was offered an apprenticeship in tattooing, after going to an event at a studio in Stoke called Painted Pin Up who were hosting a mental health awareness event offering free semi-colon tattoos to support suicide prevention. It was from then on he knew he wanted to pursue tattooing. It was later that Josie had let Ross go. But Ross still spoke highly of Josie gave him the apprenticeship in the first place. With some skills under his belt he decided not to give up. On this occasion, Ross took things into his own hands and started up a unit at the back of his house. Until he gain customers and decided to find a studio to tattoo out of, which is where he found a job at LoveInk Tattoo Studio.

Ross is now based at Dead 2 Rights in Stoke-On-Trent and is super happy there. He also wanted to thank his mum for all of her support throughout his journey. I decided to ask Ross some other questions just so you guys can get to know him too.

How would your fellow colleagues describe you?

Loud, excitable, daft, determined.

Funniest tattoo-related story:

There are several that are too unpleasant to share, but the funniest one I can safely tell you about is the guy who had Pinocchio’s face tattooed below his belly button. Not all of his face. Just the top half. Use your imagination for the rest…

I can confirm the story you recently published by @ghostimageartwork that I did indeed ask him to tattoo me a “shit in a bottle”. He wimped out.

We can confirm from Jay this is in fact a true story. Ross still seemed very much up for the shit in a bottle tattoo.

Describe your tattoo style in 3 words:

Colourful, bold and bright.

If you could do any tattoo on somebody else what would you pick?

I’d love to tattoo Connor McGregor, mostly just for the excuse to pick his brains for a couple of hours. Would have to be a gorilla tearing the head off a bear, for semi-obvious reasons!

Favourite tattoo you’ve ever done?

Absolutely loved the Majin Vegeta (Dragonball Z character) tattoo I did on a customer at Blackpool Tattoo Convention this year. It was my first convention and one the brightest, boldest pieces I’ve done to date. Loved it! With a close second is a sleeve currently under construction featuring all of a customer’s favourite characters from dozens of different comics and movies, which is really cool, but unfinished at the moment.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me Ross and if you’re looking to get tattooed by Ross you can find his work on Instagram at deaddark