Epic Ink-Off: The Moment Our Artist Won In His First Convention
Tattoo conventions are more than just gatherings of ink enthusiasts; they’re vibrant celebrations of art, culture, and personal expression. These events bring together tattoo artists, collectors, and enthusiasts from around the world to showcase their skills, share their stories, and immerse themselves in the world of body art. In this blog, we’ll take you on a journey through the dynamic atmosphere of a tattoo convention, from the buzzing tattoo machines to the meaningful connections made between artists and attendees.
In 2022, we had participated in Ink soul tattoo festival which was held in Bangalore. 5 of our artists had participated in the convention in different categories. Most of our artists were doing something like this for the first time, it was exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. The festival was a 3 day event and artists participating in different categories had to tattoo on different days. In that event we met so many wonderful people, some artists, some tattoo enthusiasts and many just spectators. It is safe to say that we made friends that will last for life.
Bhavin Gandhi is our resident artist who was 21 years old at the time of Ink Soul Tattoo Festival. Bhavin had participated in large black and grey tattoo category. He had been preparing for the convention for a few months and had taken his time to create a design that he would be tattooing in the convention, the details and art form was difficult to achieve in the time limit that was given at the convention, but, Bhavin isn’t anything if not resilient, determined and focused to the T.
After tattooing for 2 days in sessions of 7-8 hours each day it was finally time for the judging to begin.
We were all very nervous and Bhavin especially since it was his first time taking part in a competitive event and for good reason. All the other artists participating in the large black and grey tattoos were much older and much more experienced than Bhavin. It was an overwhelming moment, we were standing there in the auditorium praying and holding each other’s hands waiting for the judges to make their decision. There were more than 6 judges for each category and all masters of their craft. If the judge liked your design they would hand the person who you tattooed a card. Just like that the first judge who walked up to our canvas gave him a card and it was like we were on cloud nine, Bhavin on the other hand was getting nervous by the second. A few minutes went by and Alex Van Dutch who is a very renowned artist in the U.S.A and also the world came up to our canvas and handed our canvas another card, and another came soon after, just like that we knew that Bhavin was in the running to actually win a prize in the category he had chosen. All the judges had made their rounds and it was finally time to tally the cards everyone’s canvases had. The counting was done and it was time to announce the winners. More than 20 artists had participated in the large black and grey category, Bhavin had won 2nd runner up in the category. I think it was a very proud and inspiring moment to everyone, to see an artist who is only 21 and has been tattooing only for 2 years has won in a category where artists with more than 15 years of experience had participated in. The moment Bhavin went up to the stage to receive his award, we were standing in the auditorium close to the stage and howling and jumping like crazy people and cheering him on. This just goes to show that your age or experience may be less, but if your dreams are big and you are determined to achieve them, no one can stop you!