How to avoid a tatt you’ll regret

Tattoo team ... Tommy Helm, Jasmine Rodriguez and Big Gus. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

THERE'S not a lot that shocks tattoo cover-up artist Tommy Helm.

As one of the world's most sought-after ink masters — expect to wait two years for a personal consultation at his New York Empire State Studio — and star of US cult hit Tattoo Nightmares, 40-year-old Helm has seen and covered it all.

There's the bloke with the outline of a penis on the back of his neck.

The brawny athlete with girly flowers on his lower back.

Not to mention the steady stream of remorseful lovers stamped with their exes' names.

Tommy Helm at work on Tattoo Nightmares. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Some, like the penis, were dares. Others, like the office worker with the pot leaf on his arm, just seemed like "a good idea at the time", Helm says.

Like playing tribute to your partner with a tattoo — something Helm has had to cover up on his own body.

"It's the curse!" Helm yells down the phone from Los Angeles, where the reality series — which is just wrapping up its third season on Australian screens — is filmed.

The same applies for that late-night drinking session when the bunch of "mates" you're with decide to head to get some ink at the local bikie joint.

Helm, who has more than 100 tattoos and cover-ups on his own body — "one piece goes from my neck to my knees and took 70 hours to do" — moved into the field after studying toy design at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Influenced by the colourful works of late American illustrator Maxfield Parrish, Helm himself has become known for creating large-scale, intricate works with an almost three dimensional quality.

"I fell into tattoos at art school and it became an obsession," he says.

"It's been 20 years and I still love it every day. I like the creativeness of it, and also the challenge. A bad tattoo can't be painted over like a bad painting — it has to be camouflaged.

"The old tattoo will always be there. What you are doing is drawing people's eyes to a different focus point.

"There certainly have been ones that I've taken on that I've thought, oh boy; it's turned into a massive cover-up.

But I've never taken on something that I thought I couldn't do."

Tattoo Nightmares was first filmed in 2012 and has become such a huge hit in the US its creators have closed off applications for people wanting to go on the show.

Cover up artist ... "There's been some crazy tattoos," says Helm, right, with Jasmine Rodriguez and Big Gus. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

The premise is simple: People with an "unfortunate" tattoo seek out Helm and his team — Jasmine Rodriguez and Big Gus Demented — to see if it's fixable.

Their stories of how they wound up with the tattoo range from hilarious to horrifying.

It's all given a reality feel with re-enactments of the circumstances under which the "victims" wound up with their ink.

While Helm has not had the honour of covering-up a tattoo in the "nether regions" like his Nightmares counterpart Rodriguez in the much talked about "ball sack" episode, he's seen some shockers.

"There's been some crazy tattoos," Helm says.

Among them being the girl with the portrait of her father on her arm — which looked like Saddam Hussein.

"She was so small and it covered her arm," Helm recalls. "The only thing I could do was cover it with another portrait."

He believes most people who go on the show are not after fame, but seeking the chance to start again.

"These are people who genuinely want to get rid of their tattoo because of how it's impacting their life," he says. "And that to me is truly honourable."

TOMMY HELM'S ADVICE FOR THINKING INK

:

• NEVER tattoo a lover's name or portrait (it's a curse). "Don't do it! Unless you've been with them for a very long time, I would want to say to my clients 'don't'," Helm says.

• DO it sober: "Behind every bad tattoo, alcohol is nearly always involved."

• WILL it hurt? Yes — especially on the feet, shoulder blade and rib cage.

• AVOID the impulse tattoo. "That's the whole thing with impulse tattoos — an impulse can change in minutes. If you get something on a whim, it's likely that you'll hate it later."

• DO something exciting. "I always advise clients to do their research. Come in and be excited about what you are going to get."

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