SUMMER’S approaching and more and more East Lancashire women are getting their tattoos out. We met a young artist on a mission to decorate the female form.

FOR someone with a self-confessed fear of needles, Beki McGill is perhaps an unlikely tattoo artist.

But the 23-year-old opened her own studio Inkognito in Blackburn Road, Accrington, a year ago and hasn’t looked back.

And it may surprise people to know that half her customers are women.

“What has surprised me over the past few months is not the number of women coming in but the fact that an increasing number are coming in for bigger and bigger tattoos,” said Beki.

“Once you’ve had a tattoo, no matter how small, you suddenly start to notice other people with them more and compare theirs to yours.”

Beki’s first tattoo was a small tribal emblem at the bottom of her back.

“I was only 16,” she confesses. It’s against the law to tattoo anyone under the age of 18 but they didn’t ask for any ID.

“We are very strict on this and always ask for someone’s ID.”

Since them Beki has become a walking advert for her work.

“I can’t tell you how many tattoos I have,” she said. “I work on percentages and I’ve got around 60-65 per cent of my body tattooed now “I really think of it as body art. I’m just having a ‘sleeve’ put on my right arm and then I’m doing to have the design on my chest re-done so that it’s much bigger.”

Beki is clearly a devotee and understands why many women are turning to tattoos.

“For some it’s very much a fashion statement,” she said. “I always talk to all my clients before starting on a tattoo and I warn them that it’s not like an item of clothing that they can discard; it’s going to be with them forever.

“I think a lot of women find the idea of a tattoo quite sexy.

"It tends to reflect their personality. You get those women who proudly display them at all times and others who like the idea of having a secret.

“People get tattoos for all sorts of reasons and you do end up being a bit of a therapist at times.”

Many people will bring in a photograph or have a special request to remember a loved one.

“I love doing portrait work,” said Beki. “These tattoos are really personal and therefore special.”

Beki herself has a tattoo of her grandparents on her leg which she did herself.

“I’ve done all the tattoos on my legs,” she said. “I firmly believe that a good tattooist should work on themselves.

“You can try out new things without having to worry and you also learn very quickly how to make the whole experience less painful.”

For other tattoos which she can’t do herself, Beki prefers to go to a female artist.

“We’re less heavy handed,” she laughed.

“I think women appreciate having a female tattooist. I can adapt a design to suit a female form.

“You have to remember that the human body isn’t flat like a canvas so you have to understand perspective.”

Amazingly, Beki didn’t even take a GCSE in art.

“It was something enjoyed so I didn’t want to study it,” she said.

“Now I love doing freehand designs, I will free draw them whenever possible.

“I like Japanese-style designs and the master tattooists would never trace designs on to the skin and I try to follow them.”

The question Beki gets asked most often is “does it hurt?”

“It all depends where the tattoo is,” she said. “It can start scratching but usually people can go for three hours or so before they really start to feel it.

“I’ve actually spent all day working on one person but that’s really unusual.”