Social media tattoo star’s drawing recognised by Herbert Art Gallery!

CovFeed reporter Noah McIlroy chats to 250,000+ followed artist @SamJohns.Tattoos in an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, regarding his body of work and latest achievement!

A tattoo artist from Coventry, whose number of clients “increased massively” as a result of his large social media following, had a piece of his artwork inducted into the Herbert Art Gallery’s open art exhibition.  

Sam Johns, 31, is a thriving young artist who currently works for studio Treze Ink in Radford, Coventry, and was surprised to see his drawing reach the final stage.  

“I didn't expect to go as far as I did, nor did I expect there to be as many great artists in the city when I submitted my work! 

“I assumed there wouldn't be much strong competition, but when I found out there was over a thousand people in the city being selected, it was amazing,” Sam admitted. 

Herbert Art Gallery’s ‘Coventry Open 2025’ competition saw tens of thousands of submissions from local artists across Coventry and Warwickshire, ranging from paintings, textiles, photography and much more.  

Sam’s entry was different to the majority of other work on show, as it was created using a simple piece of paper and a pen.  

“It's a piece called ‘Smoking man’. I did it using a ball-point pen on a normal A4 piece of paper. The idea is quite simple, but I just wanted to capture that moment where someone's just in their own little bubble.  

“It’s why I feel it resonated with so many people, as it showed what I could achieve in my own little space, with something as simple as a pen, showing that you don't need fancy paint or equipment - you can be an artist by just being yourself,” Sam said. 

The artwork garnered much attention and praise from Sam’s followers across his social media platforms, particularly his TikTok, with the original video currently sitting on 8.3 million views and 1.5 million likes.

However, Sam made clear to state that the motivation behind his drawings, tattoos and overall work was not driven by the high number of interactions.  

“Before I started posting my work on social media, I made it solely for me. I would draw for over 10 hours a day and the work would just sit in a drawer, no one would see it. I didn't really realise that it would resonate with so many people throughout the world. 

“I never went out my way to use social media as a tool to grow, I just blew up during lockdown posting educational videos on tattoos, because I found there was a lack of knowledge about it.  

“I then started posting silly skits about tattoos, then my proper artwork, and then because obviously the world stopped, I was live streaming as I drew, where people basically hung out virtually all-day as I drew. 

“It’s then got to the point where I have clients from all over the world flying to get tattooed by me. I have a woman currently trying to book-in to fly from New York, I have someone who's booking in soon to fly from the Isle of Man, which isn't really that close, but it still blows my mind that people are getting on planes to come and see me, compared to before where people didn't want to even get a bus across town,” Sam said.  

People can view all this year’s entries for the Coventry Open, including Sam’s Smoking Man piece, in Gallery 1 at the Herbert for free, from March 28th-June 8th 2025. 

You can also purchase most of the artwork on display, with Sam’s drawing specifically available for £1,200.