One of the many talented artists at Hot Copper Studio in Preston (inner suburb of Naarm/Melbourne) in Victoria, Australia, the majority of Melanie Milne’s work includes three of my favourite tattoo categories: pets, panthers and pop culture.
Working mainly in colour, with the occasional black and grey piece, clients’ pets, mostly playful pups, but also plenty of Australian flora and fauna (including some parrots and possums) feature in her online portfolio.
Panthers are one of those classic images when it comes to tattooing. Melanie stays true to the bold, traditional style and still manages to put her own spin on them, whether it be colour choices, body placement, or design additions to produce a more decorative piece.
Melanie’s pop culture pieces including homages to film, television and music, with a mix of lyrics, quotes, visual elements, and even stylised or true to life portraits.
I can even add another two Ps to the mix: pin-ups and pregnancy. There are plenty of pin-up babes to be found when scrolling Melanie’s Instagram feed, and she’s even shared a couple of pregnancy themed tattoos. Melanie has two little ones of her own, and just to happens to be returning from maternity leave, working full-time from next week (October 14) and currently taking bookings for the remainder of the year.
I’ve already used P words aplenty in this artist profile, but here’s a little more alliteration – if you like what you see here, pretty please go and give Melanie a follow once you’re done perusing these pets, panthers and pop culture tattoos.
All of these pups have the sweetest of faces, but Staffys are my favourite breed, so it’s no surprise that this tattoo happens to pull at my heartstrings the most.
To see even more TTA tattoo lists featuring Melanie’s work, click here.
The Tattooed Archivist 