This Tattoo Artist Can’t Draw And That’s Precisely Why Her Clients Choose Her (30 New Pics)

The Brazilian founded her own tattoo shop, Malfeitona, in her native city of Salvador de Bahia, and has already gained a sort of a cult following for what she calls her tatuagens peba, which literally translates into "trash tattoos." With over 57K Instagram followers and regularly uploaded pics of happy customers enjoying their new designs, it's perfectly clear why her unique style is so popular. It's genuine.

Fernandes has been inking people for about three years, but she's been in the game way longer. She's also a visual artist. "I started to draw because my parents were taking me to the church 3 times a week," she told Bored Panda. "To keep me quiet, they would give me a pen and some paper. But I kept drawing because I liked it."

"I was never into realism," she said. "Drawing was just something I really enjoyed doing. It made others happy and it made me happy. It still does. However, I never thought I could be an artist. By specialty, I'm a mechanical engineer. I got my degree in December 2016 and had been attending a post-graduate course on materials engineering at the Federal University of Bahia until last year. But recently I switched to being a researcher, studying the relation between tattoo and Instagram. I am, however, interested in other fields as well. I'm also a digital influencer and I give art classes (mostly on “how to find your own style”), and work as an illustrator."

"Parallel to my "official" activities, I've been involved in art all of my life. And I've always drawn stuff that's funny, cute, unrealistic, and doesn't follow the "technical" rules of the craft. My works have appeared on my friends' mugs, bags, t-shirts, even zines and comic books. I've even sold them to those who wanted to buy them. I've also painted walls and made flyers for concerts, parties, and other events. And I've performed some nail art on myself and my close friends." Helen also loves customizing her personal belongings. From pencils to t-shirts, she draws on everything.