Bored Panda reached out to Josh Young, a professional tattoo artist and owner of Highwater Gallery, Swansea to find out more about the ink on skin industry in the times of the pandemic.

Josh said that even though he hasn’t seen a rise in coronavirus-inspired tattoos himself, he's witnessed a few tongue-in-cheek ones, like “‘I survived COVID 19’ in a banner, or a twist on the traditional woman by adding a nurse outfit and a mask.”

“There will probably be a lot more being done in the next few months, after things get back to some form of normality. It’s all quite fresh at the moment and no one really knows which way this pandemic will go.”

Having said that, Josh stays skeptical as to whether the coronavirus is a good source of inspiration. “The fact is, people have passed away due to it and I don’t think it’s particularly nice to use it as inspiration for a tattoo idea, unless done in a positive way.” But the artist said it’s not up to him to tell people what to get.

On the other hand, Josh has seen good coming out of the crisis too. “I’ve seen a few tattooists who have offered discount tattoos to key workers during this whole pandemic, which is a positive thing to come out of it and a way of giving back to those who have been on the frontline.”

Since during the lockdown, all tattoo shops were closed, many businesses have had no choice but to stand still. But now that many salons have reopened, Josh said “there has been a huge increase in bookings and work.”

Josh believes that the “lockdown gave people a lot of time to plan their tattoo, a lot of tattooists were in touch with their regular clients and could discuss potential ideas and concepts.”

He also said this may be due to the fact that people stayed inside and saved some money that they can now put towards getting some ink art done.