In this episode of MRKD, Paul and Liam Hunter go deep into the realities of being a tattoo artist. From physical health and yoga to mastering techniques and color theory, they cover the grind that keeps tattoos looking real and artists staying sane.

They tackle imposter syndrome, online criticism, and sponsorships, exploring how authenticity, humility, and ongoing learning define success in the industry. Every tattoo deserves the same care, every artist deserves support, and personal growth is key — this episode is about thriving in tattooing, not just surviving it.

Honest, gritty, and solution-focused, if you’re an artist looking to level up your craft and mindset, this one’s for you.

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A loose, honest conversation between longtime friends Paul and Tanya Buxton — tracing her path from apprenticeship chatter on social media to specialised medical tattooing, private studio space, and the first pink, one-woman version of Paradise during lockdown.

It’s about growth, adaptation, saying yes when the world was closing down, and turning a back-room studio into the start of something bigger. Expect laughter, stories, nipple tattoos, pandemic pivots, and a reminder that the best moves often start in tiny rooms no one sees coming.

A grounded conversation about space, craft, and stubborn creativity. Paul sits down with Jamie Lee Knott to unpack the story behind Chapters, a once derelict, Grade II listed building in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, slowly brought back to life with help, graft, and a refusal to quit.

From tearing a studio down to the bone, to living with unfinished work, to turning a historic building into a home for tattooing and painting, this episode is about building a place that holds both art and a life.

Expect talk of restoration, neighbourhood energy, and the simple truth that studios are never finished — we just stop abandoning them for a while.

A deep dive into making for the sake of making. Paul chats with Jason Butcher, exploring how authenticity defines art, why labels fail, and why feeling “real” matters more than liking it.

Expect stories about unexpected interruptions, childhood memories resurfacing, and how the act of creation itself can be its own reward. This isn’t about perfection or approval — it’s about honesty in making, and the chaos that comes with it.

Paul talks with Gabe Ripley about bad tattoos, good tattooers, the long road between the two and how a computer-programming geek end up in tattooing in the first place?.

From a $60 dove on the ankle in the early ’90s, to discovering that not all tattooers are equal, to realising that coding could be traded for skin when cash was short.

This episode digs into class, skills, value, and the quiet overlaps between technology and tattooing. It’s about figuring things out the hard way, recognising quality when you see it, and learning that sometimes the thing that gets you tattooed isn’t money — it’s what you can build with your hands and your brain.

Expect stories, honesty, and a reminder that tattooing has always attracted outsiders, geeks included.

A wide-ranging conversation with Sam Barber about why making things with your hands still matters. From diving head-first into oil painting, to deliberately choosing analog processes over digital convenience, to a shared love-hate relationship with social media as a business necessity.

We talk about creativity as research, obsession, and storytelling — why the design process is the real joy of tattooing, and why turning artists into output machines kills the work.

The episode closes with an unfiltered, England-specific conversation about tattoo schools, regulation, money, and why so much of it feels broken. No American takes, no global claims — just an honest look at what’s going wrong locally, and why so many artists have stopped pretending otherwise.

Expect strong opinions, laughs, and zero interest in playing nice.

Paul sits down with Iuri Waitzberg to unpack a journey that begins in biology and ends in tattooing. Iuri talks about falling out of love with academia, falling headfirst into tattoo culture, and teaching himself the basics the only way most people do — badly, experimentally, and without permission.

They also get into tattoo culture in Brazil — how it’s shifted over time, how it’s viewed socially, and why a tropical country with visible skin naturally develops a strong relationship with tattoos.

This episode is about curiosity, cultural context, and listening to the pull when something grabs you harder than the path you were supposed to be on.

Joshua Black is a tattooist from Baltimore, now working out of Gypsy Skull Tattoo in Hanover, Pennsylvania — a shop run by Brian Fuentes.

His decision to finally start his journey into tattooing came at a time when he wasn’t even certain he’d be able to walk that path. Literally. Stuck in a hospital bed during the early days of the pandemic, alone, battling scoliosis, and watching the world fall apart, the first steps of his journey were uncertain in every sense — physically, mentally, and emotionally.

When he finally left the hospital, he made a choice: he was done being a wage slave. He was going to make art, not excuses.

We talked about becoming a tattooist later in life, about rediscovering happiness, and about sometimes having to blow everything up just to save yourself. Josh also reflects on the old school, their influence, and how tattoo TV and the rise of celebrity culture have shifted the perception of what tattooing is really about.

Because the truth is — we’re not the cool ones. The tattoos are. And Josh hasn’t forgotten that.