I have to admit, it isn’t very often that I see or hear of a tattoo artist who lists one of their specialties as cute tattoos. It just doesn’t really even sound like something that should come out of tattoo artist’s mouth. Not because it’s a particularly bad thing to say, and not because all tattoo artists need to live up to some sort of impossible definition of rough and ragged, but I mean, there is a certain level of pain and teeth gritting involved in getting tattooed and when you throw the word cute into that mix…it just doesn’t seem to fit.
Yet Lucy Hu makes “cute tattoos” work for her. In her bio she lists her two tattoo specialties as cute tattoos and custom tattoos. Her online portfolio even has a “Feminine” section, which contains the tattoos that I’m guessing Hu would describe as cute. The truth of the matter is that beyond any definition of “cute” or “feminine”, these are quite simply good tattoos. Very nice use of colour, positioning and flow with the body of her clients makes the images pop in a way that many tattoo artists who’ve been tattooing for longer than Hu still haven’t been able to master.
Which leads me to my next point: though some of Lucy Hu’s tattoos can be slightly hit and miss with me, when you stumble across one of her very well done tattoos, it takes you aback for a second. According to her bio, Lu has only been tattooing professionally for six years, which means that in those six years she’s really learned a lot about what makes a tattoo artist’s work standout. Perhaps this can be attributed to her art and design background – she studied graphic design, drawing and fashion design at the School of Graphic Arts in Guang Zhou, China, before going on to work as a fashion designer for a Hong Kong based fashion label. She later moved to the US and since that time she has acquired a permanent spot at Alhambra, California’s My Tattoo.
Lucy will be appearing at the upcoming Hell City Tattoo Festival this May 21-23rd in Columbus, Ohio. Look her up if you’re interested in getting a damn good (and possible cute) tattoo.