Local Tattoo Artist Creates Dreamy, Delicate & Colourful Hand-Poked Tattoos

By Karmen on 01 Jun 2021

Digital Editor

Has severe RBF but is fairly jolly and carefree on the inside. Degree of life satisfaction is heavily influenced by food.

Getting a tattoo is one of those things that seem to take forever and rightly so. There's a long checklist of to-dos like deciding on a design, placement, tattoo artist and so on. One tattoo style that's getting a boost in popularity these days, thanks to TikTok, are hand-poked tattoos.

If that sounds like something you'd consider, keep reading to check out a tattoo artist in Singapore who specialises in this tattoo style.

On a side note, check out these tips before you get inked:

- 10 Things You Should Know Before Getting Your First Tattoo
- Least & Most Painful Body Parts To Tattoo
- 10 Best And Worst Parts Of Your Body To Get A Tattoo

Hand poke, or stick-and-poke, tattoos are pretty much what they sound like. Unlike traditional tattoos, no machines are involved. The tattoo is applied by hand where a needle is attached to a pencil-like device, dipped into ink and poked into the skin.

Photo from scarlettpokes

The design is created dot by dot, giving it a hand-drawn and relaxed look. When colours are incorporated, the tattoos take on a dreamy, soft aesthetic.

Photo from scarlettpokes

Expect stick & poke tattoos to take a longer time to complete as the artist has to apply each dot individually compared to running a needle gun. On the plus side, these tattoos generally hurt less and heal faster - in about a month.

Photo from scarlettpokes

A local tattoo artist who's gaining popularity on Instagram for this tattoo style is lilypad (@scarlettpokes). Her hand-poked tattoos have a delicate, ethereal look, often with flowers, cats, butterflies as subjects. The combination of fine lines and vivid colours make the tattoos look like they were applied with a crayon or colour pencil.