Interview with Sophie Jess

"...it's so really important to enjoy your job, as you spend a significant amount of your life doing it."

Sophie Jess is currently a tattoo apprentice at Nevermore in Daventry, who has kindly took the time to answer some questions for us.

Why did you decide to work in a creative career?

"I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop with my favourite artist and he explained how determined he was to be successful to able to live doing what he loved. It really made me realise that it's so really important to enjoy your job, as you spend a significant amount of your life doing it."

What challenges have you faced so far?

"The most noticeable one surprisingly has been time management. The shift from working all day and then drawing up pieces in my spare time meant I wasn't oil painting as frequently. Fortinately getting on track with being organised allowed me to make time to stick to my roots of oil painting."

Describe your typical way of working

"When I get an idea, whether it's from watching a film or on a walk, I generally tend to make a rough sketch then and there to translate the exact idea. This then evolves into a refined sketch and then either into a tattoo design or painting."

What has been your most successful project and why?

"Recently I produced a series of menstrual blood paintings that focused on the ideas of vulnerabilty and gender expectations. I felt that they were successful in that the method took a lot of experimentation to build up the layers and tonal depths and they were also far more positively recieved for a subversive medium."

What projects are you most interested in doing?

"Heavily symbolic paintings such as Momento Mori really fascinate me, and recently I've been working on some sketches working towards a painting. The idea of Art that makes the audience really think about each element and simultaneously and try to understand the artist lures me in."

If you could spend the day with any artist dead or alive, who would it be and why?

"My answer to this would definately change depending on my current obsession/artist i'm researching. Currently it's definately Rembrandt as learning his secrets to oil painting and watching him work would teach me far more than any book could."

What's your top goal as a tattoo artist?

"I'd love to eventually tattoo one of my favourite tattoo artists - although I can imagine that would be the most nerve wracking thing ever."

Is there a technique or method in working you have found useful and would recommend to other artists?

"For any type of medium i'm working in, I've found trying to understand and solidify what I hope the final outcome to be helps there to be an end point to the piece, as I used to have a tendency to overwork things."

Do you have any pictorial product or equipment you've found useful and would recommend?

"I'm a massive fan of Victorian illustrative books that I usually end up finding in antique stores as the content and the style are just so refreshing from most the art you frequently come across on the internet."

Are you working on anything at the moment?

"I'm currently working on a large oil painting of translucent decaying hands overlapping, that's heavily focused on symbolism and change."

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