Rachael Huntington

Well, reaching the point where I've found myself in a job (tattooing, for those who haven't been paying attention) that I genuinely love has been quite a long and winding road. I spent the first portion of my professional career as a graphic designer (re-designing the packaging for the computer game 'Lemmings/Oh No! More Lemmings', creating a range of greeting cards and such), then got into the world of computer games and worked at EA for around three years. That was all rather fun as I got to work on some of the Harry Potter games as concept artist and even got to walk around the Great Hall at Hogwarts and meet Harry Potter and Ron themselves (well, the actors), but it never quite felt as though computer games was my true calling.

After leaving EA I began drawing alternative characters again, but it wasn't until friends and acquaintances began asking for prints/t-shirts of my work that I started to see the potential for such products and set up as a freelance alternative artist, which really started to ball rolling for me.

I FINALLY plucked up the courage to pursue the idea of becoming a tattoo artist in 2006 (something I'd thought about for years, but fear of messing up stopped me doing anything about it) and luckily for me the good folks at Rampant Ink offered me an apprenticeship after inviting me down to the studio for a nosy around in August '06. I'd like to thank Gray who has been, and still is, the best mentor and teacher a developing tattooist could wish for.

It's now a few years down the line and I'm still LOVING tattooing and working in the Rampant Ink studio, and I even get paid for the privilege! For now I'm concentrating on tattooing my pinups, but still love to work on anything that gives me a challenge.

Watch this space!

Rachael Huntington