Freshly Inked Interview with Ell Torres

Your portfolio has a lot of awesome movie inspired tattoos. With that in mind, what’s your favorite movie? 

My favorite film is a difficult question, I have so many but I think I have to say Kill Bill is definitely at the top along with The Devils Rejects.

If you could have a fictional character as a real-life friend who would you pick and why?

I recently watched a tv series called Russian doll on Netflix and I think the main character Nadia would be a cool person to have as a friend, she’s sarcastic and has good style, if you understand my sarcastic nature we will always get on.

If you could take a trip to a fictional place in a tv show/movie where would you go?

If I could take a trip to a fictional place it’d probably be the “Wizarding World” I’m not a die-hard Harry Potter fan or anything but it’d be amazing to live in a world of magical beings.

Compared to when you first became a tattoo artist to today, how much have you changed?

I started an apprenticeship about 9 years ago and continued for 2 years then went onto work as a tattoo artist. The tattoo industry in the UK has changed a lot since I started, there are ALOT more studios around, there was two or three then and there’s at least 30 in Leeds city center UK alone now. And there’s definitely a lot more female tattooists around which is good. It’s a lot more accepted and mainstream now, I haven’t quite decided if I prefer that or not yet.

What’s one valuable lesson you have learned along the way?

Valuable lessons I’ve learned hmm…make sure you put your tax money aside.

Any hidden talents?

Hidden talents well I used to enjoy singing, I also had a hobby of making and selling floral accessories a few years ago which goes along with my passion for the vintage style; I’m planning on doing more with that.

What do you like to do when you’re not tattooing?

 When I’m not tattooing I like being sociable and spend time with my close friends and family, but in this industry, you pretty much eat and sleep it.

What’s something you want people to take away from your work or from experiencing getting tattooed by you?

 I love when I tattoo someone and they tell me it’s exceeded all expectations, it’s even nicer to hear you’ve been recommended.

What’s one thing, in your opinion, every artist needs to succeed?

I’m not sure I can give advice on how to succeed as I’m not even sure what being successful is, it’s all relevant to what you expect out of life, but I’d definitely say try to keep going even if you feel like throwing the towel in sometimes.

You can find more awesome tattoos by Ell on her Instagram: @Ell_torres_tattoos