Hailing from the United Kingdom, tattooer and artist Ryan Ousley has been professionally tattooing for 18 years. Born in Exeter, Devon and raised in a small seaside town called Exmouth. Ryan made his way to the United States only 5 short years ago and currently works at Divination Tattoo in Asheville, North Carolina.

Ryan’s tattoo career began rather serendipitously. Ryan was on the verge of being kicked out of college, when he heard that a local studio was looking for an apprentice. “In no way whatsoever did I think I’d get the job, but I went to humor myself, and then I got the job, haha! I had just turned 18, and had absolutely no idea about the tattoo industry, so I was really going in blind. Unfortunately for me, due to not knowing anything about the industry, I had no idea how awful the studio was that I was apprenticing at. The apprenticeship was the classic old school stories you hear. Bullying, belittling etc. not a lot of teaching unfortunately, but I learnt a few tricks along the way from a friend of mine. I was always under the impression other studios would never take me on, so I stayed at this particular studio for a very long time with little progression. Eventually I left the studio I started my career at, and started really pushing to progress. I went to conventions, and different studios to meet people and learn. I’ve been tattooing since I was around 19 years old, but I didn’t truly start producing work I was happy with until 10 years into my career.”

Ryan says he’s always battling with wanting to be as good as other artists, and comparing himself, he says, “which really doesn’t help. As soon as I realized that I should be producing the artwork that comes naturally to me, things started making more sense and becoming much easier. I was in a band at the same time I got my apprenticeship, so I’ve always been very art driven.”

Ryan likes to create fun, lighthearted art, you’ll notice a lot of pop cultural references in his work. He says, “drawing people is one of my favorite things to do, so naturally that’s what I push with my tattoos. I have a very unique style, due to everything being hand drawn. I naturally draw in a couple different styles, which is fun, as depending on the person, I can draw what I think will work best for them and the piece. I always enjoyed drawing on paper. I love to sketch. Although using an iPad is fantastic for saving time, nothing will ever feel as satisfying as drawing on paper. I love to play music in my spare time, but that is easily taken over by drawing nowadays. As I said, I draw everything from scratch, so there’s no tracing or cutting corners going on, which can take a lot more time to create the piece. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I made the decision a long time ago that music would have to take a back seat when it came to tattooing.”

Ryan finds a lot of inspiration from his everyday life. He says, “Inspiration for my art is all around me. I love to draw pop culture related pieces, but also love drawing girls, pin ups etc. One of my favorite things to do in my spare time is watching movies, so fresh ideas pop into my head all the time. My feelings and emotions play a big part in my artwork. The emotions I used to get across in my music are now poured into my artwork. Just like lyrics in a song, a lot of my art has those same same meanings, but visually. It’s really a wonderful thing, as so many people have reached out to me to thank me for understanding things they’ve experienced, or are currently going through. It really puts you on the same level from artist to client, and that’s a great feeling.”

Ryan continues, “What I love about tattooing is meeting so many awesome people! It means the world to me that people want my art on their body for the rest of their lives. I don’t think it gets much cooler than that. I love hearing my clients stories, and I enjoy telling them mine.”

Catch up with Ryan on Instagram @sugarbombtattoos