LAHORE: Miniaturist Iman Sara searched through a number of tattoo parlours in her hometown of Lahore and found that not a single artist there had a formal arts degree and could teach her the skill.
This was during the first coronavirus lockdowns in 2020. Then it dawned on her that she might be the first.
Graduate of the National College of Arts’ (NCA) Miniature Department, Sara has been carving out a name for herself as a fine line tattoo artist for the past three years using her knowledge of Mughal miniatures.
In comparison to the wider lines and heavy colour shading of traditional machine-made tattoos, fine line tattoos, which include generating designs with very fine, delicate lines, are rather new to the tattoo industry. Additionally, there are very few Mughal miniature motifs in body art.
Sara was forced to conduct experiments on her own body using Mughal motifs as a means of anchoring her art in her subcontinental heritage because there were neither apprenticeship opportunities nor synthetic skin available in Lahore. She began by practising on her legs before moving on to her arms, torso, and eventually her hands while watching videos online and reading up on sanitation and cleanliness to prevent infections in newly opened skin wounds.
Soon, her husband, brothers, and friends began to want tattoos from her as well. As word got out, more and more individuals started approaching her, which launched her career.
Sara, who has 120 tattoos on her body, told Arab News from London, where she is now based and works at Lost Fox Studios, “I had a buddy in America [who bought] me all the equipment I needed. “I taught myself how to tattoo while I was in quarantine.”
Sara typically uses a 0.30mm Round Liner instrument, which has a small group of needles that are suitable for fine line work but thinner than those used for regular machine tattoos.
“At NCA, we used to paint miniatures with brushes consisting of 10–15 strands of squirrel hair. It was a logical step to fine line tattooing because they were so thin, the tattoo artist explained. The small background, which had the same hand pressure, crisp lines, and attention to detail, was a godsend.
Since she was 14 years old, according to Sara, she has longed to become a tattoo artist. But being a Pakistani resident and a girl, I never imagined that would be an option for me.
While the largest tattoo shop in Pakistan, Inkgrave Studios in Karachi, now averages around 50 clients a month and has a waiting list of roughly 20, Sara had a client waiting list of 200 before relocating to London.
One of Lahore’s most seasoned tattoo artists, Meer, who only goes by his first name and studied the technique in Thailand and Poland, stated of Sara’s work that he had “never seen anything like it.”
He told Arab News that it would take years of practise to maintain a steady hand with tattoos so fine and lines that thin. “Even now, I see the people in my immediate vicinity. We all make mistakes, and ink leaks from the stencilled region. When your lines are thicker, that’s simpler to conceal.
However, Meer noted that Sara’s work had a “far narrower” margin of error:
“I’ve done tattoos in three nations. This appears harder than watercolours, which are challenging but yet allow for free hand painting.
An artist, model, and digital content creator from Lahore who goes by the moniker Baemisaal revealed that she learned about Sara through a colleague and had worked with her on several tattoos.
“I became immediately enamoured with her line work and perfection after seeing her tattoos up close. Detailing and refinement are really important to me because I am an artist myself,” she remarked. “I visited her last year. Since I was a mere fourteen years old, I’ve wanted the tattoos I currently have. Because some of my tattoos are my own illustrations, I just couldn’t trust anyone.
But according to Baemisaal, Sara’s work is “so very unique.” People constantly ask to see my tattoos wherever I go.
The miniaturist’s ability to give her clients “total flexibility” over their creations was what Baemisaal thought made her the greatest.
The model remarked, “Some tattoo artists insist on doing things their own way, which never makes sense to me since it’s their job.”
