Edinburgh tattoo artist who started working in studio on a whim found social media fame

Daily Record

2 days ago

'As an artist, my gallery walks around, gets up and leaves – my work is somewhere in the world, living a life and interacting with other people.'
An Edinburgh tattoo artist who found fame online after showcasing his colour realism portraits of people and animals says he "can't believe" he has a career where people pay him to draw pictures.
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David Corden, 53, showed a talent for lifelike drawing from a young age. He only found his way into the tattoo industry on a whim before the 2008 financial crisis, after 15 years working as an engineer in London.
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Despite receiving a U grade in his A-Level art exam with criticism for his work being overly realistic, he has turned his passion into a full-time career.
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He later relocated to Edinburgh, and opened his own studio, Semper, in the Grassmarket area in August 2015.
David is now an award-winning tattoo artist specialising in bringing faces to life, from celebrities and film characters to family members and pets. Some of his popular celebrity tattoos include Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and Prince, and characters such as Princess Leia, Edward Scissorhands and Freddy Krueger.
He now estimates he has completed 'well over 5,000' tattoos, and has made a name for himself in the industry. While he does not view himself as 'famous', his Instagram page where he shares his work has more than 180,000 followers, and he receives hundreds of likes and comments on his posts.
He said: 'As an artist, my gallery walks around, gets up and leaves – my work is somewhere in the world, living a life and interacting with other people.
'Tattooing really is that cliche of if you find a job you love, you'll never work another day in your life.
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'I meet other tattoo artists and we all say at some point, 'Can you believe we do this as a job? People are paying me to draw pictures'.'
David has always had a passion for art and his talents were clear from a young age – although this did not always translate into good grades.
He recalled: 'I had done art in school, I did it at A-Level but I got a U, which means ungraded.'
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'When we queried it, they said it was because my work was so realistic, I may as well have handed in a photo – so that was a bad thing apparently.'
He went on to art college to study graphic design and started working as an engineer for a ventilation company after finishing the course.
He added: 'I had every intention of just working there for a year and then going back to do something in the art world, but 15 years later I was still there.'
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In the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis, David said work for the company became 'quieter and quieter', prompting him to find something else.
A few years earlier, in 2002, David created and designed his first tattoo - a dragon he wanted on his arm - which he took to a studio in Kent.
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He said: 'The lead tattoo artist there told me it was the first time in years where he had ever been able to make a stencil from someone's drawing.
'We just hit it off and he remembered me as the guy whose picture he didn't have to redraw.'
In 2006, David connected with the artist again, and he was asked if he would be interested in joining the team.
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He said: 'I just thought I can do 'mum' or 'dad', or 'love' and 'hate' on someone's knuckles – it's a bit arty, so why not.'
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He started by working on the reception desk and shadowing tattoo artists while they worked.
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He later realised he had joined at the right time, after the industry "exploded" following the release of American reality series Miami Ink, and started seeing it as a career.
David produced his first tattoo for his cousin, who requested a portrait of actor Jack Nicholson from The Shining, asking for the famous 'Here's Johnny' look.
'I wasn't confident, but I wasn't as nervous as I expected to be,' David said, adding that the tattoo was a success.
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Years later, David was on a trip to Edinburgh when he instantly felt an emotional connection to the city – and he took the decision to relocate, before opening his own studio.
Speaking about his realism work, he said: 'Any interesting faces are always interesting to me – monsters in horror movies for example are great because they look so cool nowadays, they're so detailed and mad.'
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He added: 'I copy what I see, so if there's something in the picture, I'm going to put it on the skin.
'The thing that's come from years of experience is sometimes understanding the need to boost a particular colour or to boost all the contrast to bring it to life.'
He shares his work with 181,000 followers on Instagram. One post showing a tattoo of the late actor John Candy as Uncle Buck in the hit 1989 comedy film gained more than 14,000 likes.
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David has made a name for himself within the tattoo industry, but he said he does not think of himself as 'famous'.
He said: 'Fame to me is movie stars and musicians, but within the tattoo world, I guess that's the artists like me.
'My world has not changed, it's all very down to earth and normal. The fame bit happens online and the internet decides if it's successful.'
David is attending the Big London Tattoo Show from September 19 to 21, which is set to feature 500 tattoo artists from around the world.
To find out more about David's work follow @davidcorden on Instagram.