ROELOF VISSER

My name is Roelof but I’m commonly known as Rulie.

I seem quiet at first but I am a fun conversationalist and enjoy telling stories, and I’ve realised that this trait sometimes helps to set my clients at ease when I’m working. I am a twenty-three-year-old tattoo artist who started my apprenticeship at the age of thirteen turning fourteen, at a shop called ‘Lee’s Tattoo studio’.

My apprenticeship ran for four years and in that time I was trained with a coil machine and used them ever since. I started tattooing at the age of sixteen, working mostly on “free canvases” practicing my craft, and eventually working on my first paying clients mostly consisting of shop change rounds and biker tattoos.

When I started with my apprenticeship, the artist working at the shop, was Tony “The godfather”, Nathan and the owner Lee. Learning all that I can through instructions from the artists and by observation. Since then i have aspired to reach the full potential of my work, practicing and after hard work and dedication learning new and different styles of tattooing such as new school, realism, black and grey work, portraits, watercolor, colour, tribal, script, and neo-traditional. After working at lee’s it was time to find my place in the industry.

I worked at ‘Colour me inn tattoo studio’ for a couple of years as a co business partner and artist with Devon. After my time at colour me in tattoo studio it was time to move on again. I moved to Mosselbay in the western cape and there I met Paul from ‘lefty’s ink parlor’ and not long after started working for him, but as fate had it I brought myself back to Pretoria where I worked with Lee again.

After the covid-19 lockdown was lifted, I was very fortunate to get a workspace at ‘Humdinger Tattoo Emporium’ and enjoy every moment I’m at the shop with all of the Co artists and friends where we work at the highest level of professionalism and hygiene regulations.