{"id":36697,"date":"2017-11-21T18:26:16","date_gmt":"2017-11-21T18:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=36697"},"modified":"2017-11-27T12:55:54","modified_gmt":"2017-11-27T12:55:54","slug":"cardiff-character-aaron-usher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/culture\/cardiff-character-aaron-usher","title":{"rendered":"Cardiff Character: Aaron Usher"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have a look into the life and work of the Bridgend tattooist leaving his mark on the people of South Wales<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Aaron

Aaron Usher after completing his first tattoo of the day<\/p><\/div>\n

With Cardiff listed as one of the most inked<\/a> cities in the UK, tattoo artist Aaron Usher explains how he entered the beautiful and mildly-painful world of body modification.<\/p>\n

With over half of his body covered in ink, 33-year-old Aaron holds a chair in one of Cardiff\u2019s staple tattoo\u00a0studios<\/a> Sleep When You\u2019re Dead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was younger I didn\u2019t even like tattoos that much,\u201d he said. As a naturally talented illustrator, Aaron originally wanting to become a comic book artist until at 14 he was asked to design a tattoo for his uncle. After watching his art being transferred onto skin, he quickly decided to trade-in his colour palette for a tattoo gun.<\/span><\/p>\n

Underage and determined to become a tattooist, Aaron began tattooing and eventually found an apprenticeship in Bridgend. After refining his skills behind the needle he moved to the capital for work, shifting from shop to shop before finally setting up shop with the \u2018hot-heads\u2019 at Sleep When You\u2019re Dead in the High Street Arcade.<\/span><\/p>\n

With seven years of experience under his belt, he aims to better himself as a tattoo artist, and hopes to learn more about specific styles and techniques from other artists through guest spots in their studios.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Aaron

Aaron tattooing a coffee cup onto a kneecap<\/p><\/div>\n

My fianc\u00e9e wants my pretty mug for photos<\/strong>
\nAmidst plans to cover his entire body in ink,<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>Aaron currently sports a collection of random tattoos, including a jellyfish swimming inside a light-bulb on his leg and a zombie holding a paintbrush on his scalp. However, he maintains that he is still not used to the pain of tattoos. \u201cPeople think that tattooists are able to hack the pain \u2013 we\u2019re fucking wussies,\u201d said Aaron. His future plans include covering the rest of his head with a watercolour paint palette design and he hopes to get a portrait in tribute of TV art instructor Bob Ross.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cPeople think that tattooists are able to hack the pain \u2013 we\u2019re fucking wussies\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In what he calls a \u201csparks-flying moment\u201d, Aaron met his wife-to-be while working in a parlour on Queen Street. With wedding bells looming in the distance, he has (reluctantly) decided to postpone any future face ink until after the wedding. He said, \u201cThe only reason I\u2019m not allowed to get my face tattooed at the moment is because my fianc\u00e9e wants my pretty mug for photos. My attitude is that my mug is pretty even if I have tattoos but it’s best to keep the bride happy.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

[youtube]https:\/\/youtu.be\/HxhKZnM4ZuA [\/youtube]<\/p>\n

A dickhead no matter what happens
\n<\/strong>Despite some people still believing that tattoos are for criminals and thugs, Aaron maintains that ink should not be a cultural taboo and hopes that in the next decade tattoos will no longer be an issue within society. \u201cMe having a tattoo on my head doesn\u2019t change my personality. My hands don\u2019t change my personality. I\u2019m a dickhead no matter what happens \u2013 I\u2019m a funny dickhead, but I\u2019m a dickhead.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cIf you got absolutely covered from head to toe in tattoos you\u2019d be exactly the same person. Ink doesn\u2019t change you – you change you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Examples of Aaron\u2019s tattoos can be found on his Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have a look into the life and work of the Bridgend tattooist leaving his mark on the people of South Wales<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":36699,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12,19,52],"tags":[101,341,3453],"yoast_head":"\nCardiff Character: Aaron Usher<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With Cardiff listed as one of the most inked cities in the UK, tattoo artist Aaron Usher explains how he entered the beautiful and mildly-uncomfortable...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/culture\/cardiff-character-aaron-usher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cardiff Character: Aaron Usher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With Cardiff listed as one of the most inked cities in the UK, tattoo artist Aaron Usher explains how he entered the beautiful and mildly-uncomfortable...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/culture\/cardiff-character-aaron-usher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"alt.cardiff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-21T18:26:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-11-27T12:55:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/aaron2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/\",\"name\":\"alt.cardiff\",\"description\":\"If it\\u2019s offbeat and in Cardiff then it\\u2019s online here.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/culture\/cardiff-character-aaron-usher#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/aaron2.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Aaron Usher after completing his first tattoo of the day\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/culture\/cardiff-character-aaron-usher#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/culture\/cardiff-character-aaron-usher\",\"name\":\"Cardiff Character: Aaron Usher\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/culture\/cardiff-character-aaron-usher#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-21T18:26:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-11-27T12:55:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/d6e79650a6bfb6eecca1d52c87cdad11\"},\"description\":\"With Cardiff listed as one of the most inked cities in the UK, tattoo artist Aaron Usher explains how he entered the beautiful and mildly-uncomfortable...\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/culture\/cardiff-character-aaron-usher\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/d6e79650a6bfb6eecca1d52c87cdad11\",\"name\":\"Emmet McGonagle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caab0a5a9567348c165722970a55ac04?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emmet McGonagle\"},\"description\":\"Irish hipster studying MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University, Wales. 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