Hugh Sheldon is the London based tattooer who specialises in traditional tattooing bringing in his own edge of precision, angular lines and a kind comforting cleanness to timeless designs. Graduating with a degree in Illustration from Bristol in 2011, he started tattooing two and a half years ago working in his first shop in Cheltenham at No Regrets. Since then he moved to London eighteen months ago when the East London shop Cloak and Dagger opened. Besides from being big fans of his work here at Sang Bleu we are also envious of his exceptional collection of tattoos, so he came to see us at the studio to go through some of his favourites with us.

Valerie Vargas

Eagle, snake and Dragon back piece

I had this back piece finished around a year ago and it took five sessions spanning a year. Valerie is a person who I’ve followed ever since I started getting tattooed because her execution and drawings are amazing so I wanted to dedicate the biggest part of my body to her.

Stuart G Cripwell

Panther Head and Rose

I got this done three years ago at the London convention and Stuart is probably one of the nicest people that I’ve ever been tattooed by which makes me love the tattoo even more. I’m really attracted to his work because it looks super classic and old. I especially love his colour palette which is so defined to his work.

Javi Rodriguez

Hammerhead shark and skull

When I was guesting at LTW in Barcelona in June 2014, Javi tattooed this on me on one of the evenings I was there. I love how bold, graphic and stripped back Javi’s tattoos are, especially the way he creates images of animals.

El Barra

Eagle head and arrows

El Barra tattooed this on me about five years ago at the London Tattoo Convention, I think Barra is one of the best about, a living legend.

Joel Madberg

Snake, Rose and Hannya

I got this one at the Brighton Convention last year.

Rock of Ages

Joel did this for me when he was guesting at The Great Western Tattoo in Swindon about two years ago, its such a classic and important part of tattoo history, I knew that Joel would do the tattoo justice.

Jesus head

I’d always wanted a wild Jesus head and Joel’s work is perfect for creating something timeless with a wild twist.

Mermaid

Again I wanted something classic with a macabre and surreal tendency and I think Joel completed that idea perfectly with this tattoo.

Philip Yarnell

Entire torso

I’ve got to know Phil really well over the last few years, he’s a great tattooer. I’m especially attracted to his precision and execution in everything that he does. Again I wanted another classic design with someones personality in it which Philip does so well.

Sam Ricketts

Sun, sharks jaw, claw and flower

Sam is a good friend of mine who was actually the first person to ever tattoo me, Sam’s work is very unusual and very clever. He always thinks of ideas that I wish I’d had thought of myself. I asked him to do a sharks jaw and he was able to formulate this surreal mixture of images together and make it work.

Follow Hugh on Instagram here