My Dear Friends of Inked You know I had mine done 20 years ago where people are like you know clearly criminal you know because that’s how people used to look at you when you’re you know heavily tattooed you know people look at you like your Thug I would say another five ten years time again we may push through another barrier and it may get a bit.
Better my name’s B Phillips uh I’m a now a tattooist in the UK and I became a tattoo model about five or so years ago I’m Levi Phillips known as levi76 also UK based being a terrorist for about 15 years husband and wife I had a pretty normal childhood.
Um wasn’t around uh tattoos at all really um I had one uncle that was a biker again he didn’t really have any tattoos yeah it was a very sort of normal childhood I didn’t discover tattoos Etc till I was probably just turning 20. also pretty pretty simple pretty straightforward uh no tattoos in a.
Family that I really know of I really fell in love with tattooing when I met Levi first tattoo I got was actually unfortunately was when the tribal phase came about which I’ve since had laser back not because I dislike it but basically because tattoos are far better now being an artist myself I’d rather use a skin for something.
Better my first tattoo nothing very exciting I thought I wanted something to represent my family and I’ve got a small tattoo on my right foot of three star signs and some like a little bow around my ankle and I’ll be honest if it was yeah I’ve only got one foot done to this.
Day because I’m not brave enough to do the other one it was it was sore but again it was just like a little I’ve covered it since now um but it was just like a little yeah little family tattoo I actually didn’t get any blowback at all you know my mother Etc I only I grew up with my mum and.
Didn’t really have any other family around me she had no issue with me at all because she was very accepting of basically anything I did Growing Up whereas blowback mines the op SE my mum absolutely hated tattoos she used.
To say that I was painting my body and why was I doing it for a long long time it was a long time was it was quite quite a few years but I didn’t start getting seriously tattooed until 23 24 probably yeah and that’s when she was like you know the the standard you’re ruining your body what are you going to look like when you’re older she yeah.
You’re the devil and why are you doing this to me and all of that she did come around eventually and actually asked for a tattoo herself and I did say to her that you’ll never ever be able to say anything about any of my tattoos you know if I was I didn’t have my neck done or anything at the time I said if I get any more covered.
Um you’ll you’ll have to accept it in it you know and she was like yeah I sort of understand now that it’s a bit more than just stuff like it is Artistic and it is you know beautiful as well I have zero plan whatsoever it was a case of yeah I really like this I really like these this tribal sort of.
Style I’m going to get a tribal piece then it was I really like Japanese style I’m gonna get a Japanese piece I’m just sort of mishmashed together if I could go back I would plan out a bodysuit and set about it to start with nothing was really planned started.
Getting small on my right leg and obviously being with a tattooist was really easy to get tattooed and then I think the first sort of plan that we did have was when I I had a lot of Gap filler left on this leg and because my name’s B we decided to fill it in it was actually Levi’s idea to fill it all with.
Honeycomb so it started right at the bottom of the leg and it actually ran all the way across so that was the the plan was then to then basically have that as background for everywhere yeah the second leg was a little more planned even though I had a piece already on the front but we did plan a little more on what pieces we were going to do and.
Again being with a realism artist that was always going to be realistic and you know women’s faces and stuff like that because I loved it and then my back was definitely planned as one big panel which is one of my favorites because you can see it from anywhere so it’s it’s just one big piece yeah that was mapped out from from the.
Top of your shoulders right to sort of into her ass crack so then we came down and filled all that in and then again I mapped out your arm again the honeycomb runs throughout it’s it’s in every part and then the neck was planned for sure for quite I wanted to be sure that I wanted to get it done it wasn’t really something you.
Could hide and I held you back on that for a bit for a long time yeah didn’t want to rush into it just because of of where it is the same with any face tattoos it wasn’t it wasn’t because they didn’t want it to get a neck done it was because my whole neck was already done and I kept trying to explain to her that you can be.
Covered in tattoos but when you tattoo your neck Life Changes people look at you very very different it’s not the same and then we did it and actually on our way home we stopped at the supermarket and for the first time she experienced what it’s like I noticed people looking.
Different it’s where we live quite a small little town and people are just a bit closed-minded I guess uh but yeah it was it was definitely definitely strange but then we went to like another convention and I was like oh my God this is amazing everybody.
Everybody’s like it and you’d fit right in nobody looks you know unless you’ve got something really different nobody really looks at anybody you know unless they spot a piece of art on somebody that you’re like yeah that’s good you know everybody’s everybody looks the same so you know cover the neck.
For for a minute it was a bit like oh this is a bit a bit strange and you know people are looking at me like I’ve done something wrong and then it’s like yeah okay it is what it is and it makes me happy and that’s that’s all that matters what’s what tires are about it was always kind of set once B wanted.
To have throat done that I was gonna do the negative to what I have so she has the polar opposite to mine so some people notice it some people don’t it’s a matching tattoo that’s not a matching tattoo bees next been copied I cannot tell you how many times people people send her photographs all the time.
Of their neck done with her tattoo you know and I I know you know there’s plenty of people that have copied it you know etc etc it’s it’s a honeycomb pattern nobody owns it you know it’s it’s geometric pattern pattern that you know thousands of people have on them it just so happens that you know she’s been on the cover of.
Plenty of magazines and is known for her neck whereas you know certain people are are known for a specific tattoo they’re linked to that tattoo you know bees covered in tattoos and she’s got an amazing back piece of some one of a kind but I guarantee you everybody remembers their neck no I don’t like it to answer that.
Question sure I don’t I feel really I feel really attached to it and I feel like it’s just my piece and you know like Levi said it’s just the geometric pattern I mean there’s hundreds of geometric patterns that people could get done and they have done on the on their on their necks or their throats.
Um but I just think yeah people just love it because it’s something different so you know can’t blame them so the head is only really full-on to people when I shave my head which I normally do in the summer as soon as you’ve got a bit of hair it’s it’s a lot less noticeable once you shave it right down and you can see actually your whole.
Head’s tattooed then people again they give you that sort of look some people are looking because they’re like yeah that’s got her and some people are looking probably because they still think you’re a criminal um either way you know I don’t really care I I tattooed my head because at the end of the day you know somewhere down.
The line I won’t have any hair I would probably take off quite a few toes but you can’t well you can but it’s a ball ache you know the the tribal the only reason I’m removing the tribal is because I do realism I just think you’re sat there putting realism on people you’re sat there you know a great big in tribal.
Piece that just could be something there I don’t regret anything no uh we were actually talking about this today weren’t we and I said if if I could do it all again and basically skin myself and redo everything that I would plan things a bit more and do bigger panels rather.
Than just pieces and joining stuff together I would like to do big pants with like a whole leg of one picture that wraps around and makes a picture a bit like my back yeah um other than that no I literally love everything and it’s all also there’s you know a lot a lot of little bits that mean things to me doesn’t mean anything.
To anyone else but it’s personal to me and there’s little bits all around that’s yeah yeah I love them love it all
Bee had been tattooed for a while and was thinking about getting her neck done. Levi, her husband and tattooist, had warned her about how once she crossed that line, her life would be forever changed. The couple stopped at the supermarket on the way home and the difference in how people looked at Bee was immediately noticeable. We spoke with the two about their tattoo collections, the things they would have done differently and much more in this episode of Heavily Inked.
Levi Phillips: https://www.instagram.com/levi70six/
Bee Phillips: https://www.instagram.com/beephillips__/
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