Introducing Apprentice tattoo artist Bethany Anderson

Hi guys, my names Bethany Anderson (everyone at the Koi pond calls me little Beth.) Im an apprentice tattoo artist here at the koi pond and have been for the past 7 months! I started out as a young college student studying fine art and dreaming of one day becoming a tattoo artist. I studied at Newcastle college for 2 years before leaving to try and find work as a tattooist. To start off with I had no luck at all and constantly got knocked back. So instead I worked in an office for 3 years until I was 19. I finally resigned from the office job and decided at 19 years old, that it was a good time to start building up a portfolio of designs and artwork in hope of finally getting myself where I wanted to be. I spent a full year give or take, building up my portfolio and then finally plucked up the courage to ask an artist whom id been inspired by (Beth Corbett) for a little bit of advice and guidance on how to get into the industry. Much to my amazement Beth had a look at my portfolio and asked if id like to do a week shadowing her and just finding out a little bit more about what it takes to be a successful tattoo artist. In that week I spent time watching Beth and having a go at setting up the machines and just generally learning more about the job. It was extremely exciting and I knew at that moment that this is what I wanted to do! In the next week Beth allowed me to come back to the studio and have a go tattooing on pig skin. Here is my first ever tattoo:

Once I had done my first tattoo on pig skin and spent time watching beth and learning techniques etc. She then asked if it was definitely what I wanted to do and of course I said yes. At this point Beth asked if I would like to be her apprentice here at the koi pond and I was over the moon! I carried on practicing on pig skin until I was confident enough to tattoo on a real person. Here are some more of my tattoos on pig skin:

By this point Beth felt I was ready to progress a little bit further so decided I should try tattooing the bottoms of my own feet (on the heel) and she even let me tattoo hers! Here are some that I did:

Once id spent some time practicing on feet and pig skin I then built up the confidence to get to where I am now! Which is tattooing people every day nearly full time! I discovered that my favourite style of tattoo is old school/ New school or as people tend to call it; traditional. Ive done quite a few traditional style pieces and they’ve been extremely fun! Ive also done a range of different styles such as; Mandala, watercolour, writing, floral. And I’ve had fun doing them all! Id love to try doing some more watercolour and id love to try some more gothic styles! I am now taking bookings for this year and next so feel free to get in touch if you like my work! Here are some examples of work ive done recently;