Appointment only · Bakewell

Tattoos drawn from scratch, in a room that stays quiet.

Two artists, one chair at a time, above Rutland Square. No flash wall and no walk-ins — a consultation first, then a drawing made for you and nobody else.

Two artists Nell draws fine-line botanical. Joss works in solid black.
Free consultations Thirty minutes, in the studio or on the phone.
£50 deposit Held against your session, never added on top.

Who draws what

Two hands, two very different lines

Everything that leaves this studio is drawn by Nell or Joss. Look at both and see whose line you would want to live with for the next forty years. Still unsure? Say so at the consultation — we will tell you honestly which of us suits the piece.

Fine-line botanical

Nell Harrowby

Nell works from pressed stems and seed heads picked on the dale paths, and draws them at the weight they actually grow — single needle, nothing heavier than the plant deserves. Hellebores, umbels, rowan, anything that holds its shape when it dries.

Needles 3RL and 5RL, single
Scale Palm-sized to forearm
Draws from Pressed botanical studies
Booking into Four to six weeks out
Nell's pieces in detail

Blackwork

Joss Marden

Joss builds in solid black and the gaps between it — bands, carved pattern, shapes drawn to the way your arm actually moves rather than to a flat page. Bold up close, calm from across a room.

Needles 7RM through 23RM
Scale Palm-sized to half sleeve
Draws from Woodcut, carving, pattern
Booking into Six to eight weeks out
Joss's pieces in detail

First message to healed

How a booking actually works

Four steps, in this order, every time. Nothing here happens on the day you walk in.

01

Consultation

Thirty minutes, free. Placement, size, what you can spend, and whether the idea works on that part of the body at all. Bring references, or bring nothing.

02

Deposit

£50 holds the date in the book. It comes off the price of the session rather than being charged on top.

03

The drawing

Drawn in the fortnight before you come in. You see it before the needle does, and you can ask for changes — that is what the fortnight is for.

04

The session

Tea first, stencil second. Breaks whenever you want them, and we stop early if your body says so. Aftercare explained before you leave.

The reference drawer

What we draw from

No flash wall. A drawer of pressed studies instead, most of them picked within a few miles of the shop — which is where a botanical piece usually starts.

Verge above Monyash, late May

Helleborus × hybridus

Hellebore, going over

Drawn by Nell
Needle 3RL single
Sits well on Inner forearm

Dried from Lathkill Dale, September

Anthriscus sylvestris

Cow parsley, gone to seed

Drawn by Nell
Needle 3RL single
Sits well on Ribs, spine, calf

Studio windowsill, February

Helleborus niger

Christmas rose, in flower

Drawn by Nell
Needle 5RL single
Sits well on Shoulder blade

Upstairs

The room is quiet on purpose

One chair, one artist, one appointment. If you need to stop, we stop — and the kettle is on either way.

— No walk-ins, so nobody is standing about waiting for your chair.
— Bring one person with you if it makes the day easier.
— Music is yours to pick, or off entirely. Most first-timers choose off.
— Aftercare explained out loud, then written down to take home.
— Ask anything. There is no question we have not already been asked twice.
Read the aftercare we hand out

No surprises

What it costs, before you have to ask

Prices in pounds, quoted at the consultation and held for ninety days. Small pieces are charged by the piece, longer work by the hour or by the day.

Consultation Thirty minutes, studio or phone
Free
Minimum charge Anything smaller than a palm
£80
Hourly Most pieces land between two and four hours
£90
Day rate Six hours with a proper break in the middle
£550
Deposit Comes off the final price
£50

The deposit, plainly

£50 books the date and the drawing time that goes with it. Give us 72 hours' notice and we will move you once, keeping the deposit against the new date. Later than that, or a second move, and the deposit stays with us — by then the drawing is already done.