Hansan Studio: Singapore's first Korean tattoo academy teaches the skills you need to be a tattooist

Once associated with stigma and seen as symbols of gangsterism, tattoos have now gained universal acceptance as a recognised art form. Seeing people with tattoos on the streets is an everyday occurrence, and their presence is generally perceived without much judgement. I mean, what’s there to hate about tattoos of cute animals, random objects and smiley faces?

As of late, several youths have also chosen to ditch the nine to five grind to dive into the world of tattoos, setting up their very own tattoo studios that offer both hand poke and traditional electric machine tattooing styles. With that being said, picking up the skill of tattooing is not as easy as it sounds and can be quite a steep learning curve considering the fact that there aren’t real courses that one can sign up for to get schooled in. 

The traditional approach has typically involved seeking an apprenticeship at local tattoo studios, but recently, things have taken a lovely turn. Merely a year ago, Hansan Studio, Singapore’s first Korean tattoo studio and academy, made its debut on Amoy Street.

Yes, you read that right. This tattoo studio doubles up as a school for anyone who wants to learn how to become a professional tattoo artist. 

To me, even with age, tattoos are still evolving.

Hailing all the way from Seoul, Korea, Hansan, owner of Hansan Studio, is a tattooist with almost 8 years of experience who majored in fine arts. “I studied fine arts in university and wanted to pursue art as a career, specifically painting. However, it also came into question what kinds of skills would I require to work overseas. Eventually, I took the route to become a tattoo artist. Personally, tattoos are a form of art, and I am also very fascinated with the permanence of tattoos. To me, even with age, tattoos are still evolving,” she says.

After her first tattoo in the year 2017, she eventually hit a plateau in her tattoo career in Korea and left her home country in search of ways to develop her art. “As a tattooist, in order to keep growing and developing your art, you need to branch out to different countries. Also, tattooing in Korea is illegal unless you have a medical licence,” she says.

I hope that our studio can not only diversify Singapore’s tattoo scene by bringing this new style to Singapore, but also nurture local students that want to pursue the Korean fine line tattoo art style.

When asked why the choice to make Singapore her homebase, she said that this country came to mind because during her mere three visits to Singapore, she really enjoyed the warm weather and friendly people. On top of that, she also realised something about the tattoo scene in Singapore. “Singapore’s tattoo scene has a lot of talented black and grey artists, however there are not many artists that do fine line work,” she states.

This led to her motivation to penetrate the scene here. “Therefore, in Hansan Studio, most of the artists here specialise in some variant of fine line art. I hope that our studio can not only diversify Singapore’s tattoo scene by bringing this new style to Singapore, but also nurture local students that want to pursue the Korean fine line tattoo art style,” she says.

Together with our other resident artists, we condense our know-hows to plan the structure of the tattoo academy’s curriculum.

Hansan Studio doesn’t accept apprenticeships, instead, they run a tattoo academy where anyone who wants to learn how to tattoo can sign up for their programme. “For Hansan studio academy, we plan the curriculum very mindfully so that students can learn what they need to learn about tattooing in a condensed period of time. As compared to traditional apprenticeships, sometimes apprentices stay at the studio for a long period of time without being able to progress to become a tattoo artist until much later. I saw that gap and decided that I wanted to save people’s time. Together with our other resident artists, we condense our know-hows to plan the structure of the tattoo academy’s curriculum,” she says. 

Hansan Studio offers three courses – basic course, master course, and drawing class – and students get placed into different courses based on their levels, techniques and background.

“Beginners start from the basic course, while other experienced students can start from the master course. The entire programme is two months long, and we have two intakes of 10 to 15 students a year. The basic course lasts for two weeks, while the master course and drawing class last for six and eight weeks respectively. There’s also a practical demonstration where students (after two weeks in the master course) bring in their own models, and perform actual tattooing on them, under guidance,” she explains.

No age limit. No restraints. Everyone is welcomed.

Those who graduate from the programme also have a higher chance to become a resident artist at Hansan Studio. “When graduating from our academy, there’s a higher chance to join us as a resident artist. No age limit. No restraints. Everyone is welcomed. Teachers will watch the students work and if they see any outstanding ones – regarding style or work ethic – then we might invite them to join the studio,” she says. 

It is without doubt that building the first tattoo academy in Singapore can pose quite a challenge, especially for someone who isn’t local. However, Hansan says there haven't been any significant obstacles thus far. “We are the very first Korean tattoo studio and academy in Singapore, so there definitely are challenges. But thankfully, I met a lot of good people along the way so things have been quite smooth. Every bit of the journey was enjoyable. We also received a lot of interest from Singaporeans, and were surprised about the need for proper tattoo education here,” she says.

Founder Hansan has more plans to take this dream of hers beyond the seas. “Eventually, we want to expand our academy to other cities as well, such as New York, Australia and Denmark,” she says. 

For those interested in learning more about their tattoo academy course, check out their webpage here.