From Russia with Love: Lena Fedchenko

We chat with Moscow-based tattoo artist Lena Fedchenko, whose subtle and colorful creations are perfectly on trend but definitely with her own touch

Some tattoos are just so beautiful that you cannot help but keep staring at them. There is always something new and beautiful in the tattoo world. No one can ever have enough tattoo ideas and it's always heartwarming to stumble upon something designed with so much care and intricacy.

We were looking for tattoos that would leave us awestruck when we happened upon Russian tattoo artist Lena Fedchenko. While working as a marketing assistant in a pharmaceutical company, her tattoo artist boyfriend suggested that she become the manager of the tattoo studio where he was working. A few months later she decided to pursue a career as an artist herself, and the rest is history.

What are you trying to express through your art?

Above all, I'm inspired by nature. It's always a popular subject, since we are all part of it. I want to create a style composed of small and precise lines and details, and provide my customers with a high quality tattoo.

How long have you been tattooing?

More than four years now.

Do you have tattoos? If so, what was your first tattoo?

Yes, I do. My first tattoo was an old-school swallow. At a certain point I started to think that it was too trendy and I covered it up. But now I feel sorry about making this decision.

Are you at a point in your career where you're mentoring other artists?

Yes, I've got a few students, but none of them is tattooing regularly. They thought tattooing would be a lot easier than it really is.

Can you talk a little bit about your journey to your current style? What kind of thing did you start out with?

I started downloading art illustrations, just trying to understand how the design process works. Then I began to use photoshop to create some designs myself. And some time ago I realized that I wanted to express myself artistically. It helped me to build my style, color palette and tattooing technique.

Do you find your work attracts a specific type of clientele?

Well, now I tattoo a lot of flowers and flowers usually attract girls, haha.

How long does it take you to do one of those pieces?

It depends on how big it is, the placement and the design, of course. I also use a broad color palette. It takes me from one to four hours approximately.

Which percentage of your customers come from abroad?

I have lots of customers coming from Europe. They tend to take advantage of their holidays or business trips to take a tattoo session.

What’s your actual tattooing process like?

It's like the customer and myself discuss an idea, I create some sketches, then I draw the final design, and we make a beautiful tattoo.

How do you see your style evolving?

Well, actually, I think my style is still maturing. But I come from drawing bold color designs and I've ended up drawing tiny lines and detailed small size designs.

You recently teamed up with Little Tattoos to create a floral temporary tattoo set. What was this experience like and what have you learned from it?

I am the first artist who Little Tattoos has linked up with for such collaboration. It was the first experience for both of us. But hopefully we have found a common language, worked as a team and I'm in love with the result. I'm happy that people like my art and Little Tattoos helped me to show it to a huge audience and supported me. I've learned how to work as a team although we were working at a distance.

All pictures are from Lena's Tattoofilter account. Follow her for more cool ideas.

You can also buy Lena's floral temporary tattoo collection here.