The awesome Leah Lee is an insanely talented tattoo artist and owner of Black Pearl tattoo shop in Chichester and is no stranger to custom painting up a motorcycle helmet!
After coming across Leah and her rad custom helmets on Instagram we are stoked that she agreed to create this mega Bell Bullitt design as part of this years VC X BELL HELMETS custom project!
We caught up with Leah to talk about her tattooing style and the inspiration behind Leah’s one of a kind eagle emblazoned Bell Bullitt design.
Go follow Leah and her work on INSTAGRAM HERE !
AND DON’T FORGET!…
All 5 of the Bell custom painted helmets are up for grabs at this years Camp VC event where we’ll be raffling them off! So make sure you grab one of the last few remaining tickets to the event HERE and grab a raffle ticket onsite to be in with a chance to bag one!!!
Where are you from originally and where do you live now?
I am originally from the isle of wight but 12 years ago moved to Chichester due to my husbands job and have been here ever since.
What first got you into tattooing?
I was always that little weird kid that sat in the corner doodling when I left school I trained as a panel beater in the motor trade (family of petrol heads) and was doing custom paintwork as it combined my love for machines and art. I kind of accidentally fell into it, getting a tattoo and the artist offering me training, 13 years later I have my own shop and love my job.
What do you love the most about being a tattooist?
I love the variety of people get to interact with, from judges to vicars and sex workers. Everyone has a different story and a different reason for getting a tattoo and I love to hear each and everyone of them.
Where do you most get your inspiration from?
A lot of my inspiration comes from an artist 'Bert Grimm' he invented the Neotraditional style tattoo that influences a lot of my work today. oh and Valerie Victious because she is just a badass! Her work is stunning!
How would you describe your style of work?
I tattoo mainly in a blackwork style illustration and traditional/ neotraditional style with fatlines and heavy colours.
Have any other artists in particular been an influence on you?
i am totally obsessed with Ryan Roadkill at the moment, just his colour palette and style is so awesome. that guy has some serious talent!!
What has been your favourite recent project you’ve worked on and why?
I will say it was the helmet that I painted for you guys and one I created for a friends son. He just gave the brief of 'I want a big snake' and that ended up as a white snake on matte grey helmet. I also really enjoyed painting custom designs on some window shutters for my shop, which are all like doors each with different nautical designs on them like ships and sea creatures.
How does your life inspire your work?
I am going to answer this the other way round. My work inspires my life more. The people I meet and the stories they share, make me live very much with the now rather than the what ifs.
Tell us all about your awesome Bell helmet design!
So when I started thing about it I wanted to create something bold and beautiful that you can wear out on ride outs. I wanted something that wrapped around the helmet, that symbolized the freedom I feel when I ride (cheesy I know but so true) and an eagle represents the freedom and flight and the wings can just hug every part of the helmet….oh and the banner with "VC" because why not, you guys are awesome!
What materials did you use to create the helmet?
I used wax pens to draw the eagle on and play with the placement and then I painted the helmet with enamel pinstriping paints and hardener to get a quick dry. Enamel paints are water and sun proof so will be suitable for riding all year or just looking pretty on a shelf!
What was the process you used to paint the helmet?
I started the mock up on procreate using a 3D head so I can see how the the eagle will flow around the helmet and visor. Then on to pencils, once I was happy with the base layout I removed the visor and masked up to paint. I mixed up the paints in small patches at a time as I could only paint certain parts and had to wait for it to dry before moving on to the next areas. Then using thinners and a clean cotton bud I could clean any mistakes.
How long did it take you to create?
In total I would say this took me 6-8 hours including all the mock ups and masking.
