personal details
date & place of birth march 26, 1974 beirut, lebanon

education
bachelor of graphic design (aub) 1992-1996
one year of archeology (american university of beirut) 1991-1992
high school degree (convent of jesus & mary) 1991

well, as you may already know, my name is hady beydoun, and this is more or less what i do day in and day out since i was 14 years old: it all started as a hobby when my mum bought me some textile paint and a brush so i can paint my own t-shirts. there was war in lebanon at that time (back in 1988), and no school, so i was spending my time in the shelter painting album covers on my t-shirts and denim jeans. the paintings attracted a lot of attention from the other boys and girls in the neighbourhood, and soon enough i was making my pocket money from selling them. i never stopped. and gradually over the years i got better and better with every t-shirt i painted. i remember getting into numerous fights with my parents over the fact that i used to come back from school everyday and paint instead of doing my homework. anyway, i graduated from school in 1991 when my mum died of cancer one week before the graduation day. sad.

around the same period of my mum's death, something happened which changed the course of my life: i got my first TATTOO magazine. i got it from a guy who wanted a tattoo design from the magazine painted on his sweat-shirt. i remember reading the whole magazine over and over again while painting and allowing the paint to dry, i was fascinated by the designs and color under the skin!

somehow, i knew that this is the right thing for me. i became obsessed by it. i wanted to become a tattoo artist no matter what. but it wasn't until 5 years later that i first grabbed a tattoo machine and did my first tattoo.absolutely no one who did professional tattoos using an electric machine. back to 1991, my mum died, i graduated from school, and got admitted to aub where i majored for the first year in archaeology. i was still painting on t-shirts at the time, and i dedicated the majority of my time at aub in the library reading and photocopying any and all material related to the tattoo subject. most books and articles i found were not really up to date, but they talked about the technique, significance, history, ink chemistry and the like. i was getting deeper into the subject.

the next step for me was to find a tattoo machine. i searched the country all over but in vain. no one knew what i was talking about, and there was absolutely no one who did professional tattoos using an electric machine.

so, i turned to my friends, anyone i knew who was travelling for vacation anywhere in europe or the u.s. asking them to get me a tattoo machine with them. again, that didn't work because no one knew what to get and where from. besides, many told me that it could be expensive. i was still determined. simultaneosly, in 1992, i transferred into graphic design, which was a new major in aub, and thus i was getting closer to what i love to do, and that is work with images and paint.

at that period, i was able to get ahold of my second tattoo magazine, and reading it thoroughly, this time i was able to find an address in the u.s. which supplied and manufactured tattoo equipment. i was back on track, and one step further in my quest. i wrote to that company, and it was not until a couple of years or so later that i received the tattoo machines' catalogue. so thrilled was i when i received it, that i spent almost a month on end trying to figure out what was printed there, but in vain. i could not understand or figure out anything in the catalogue. i had never seen a tattoo machine before in my life! (pause a little now, another story happened which also had a strong imapct on my life).

back to 1990. i was still painting t-shirts using a conventional brush and thick textile paint. i was able to paint almost any design i liked or was asked to do, but not quite all. for you must understand that many of the designs and illustrations used for music album covers were airbrushed. i had a really hard time trying to capture the effect and luster these illustrations had using the conventional brush. i did not know that there existed a tool called the airbrush which actually sprayed paint onto the surface without touching it, and thus achieving this clean hyper effect. until one other fatefull day, i was showing what i can do to one of the older guys in the neighbourhood who was an architecture student. he pointed out a certain illustration and told me that i could not possibly paint that with my conventional brush. he said i needed an airbrush for that one, and that the airbrush was very hard to work with and to master.

i kept that in mind but gave it no real thought until the summer of 1993. in the month of september during that year, while still waiting for my tattoo machine catalogue, i remembered that airbrush incident and decided to find out what that was all about. so, i purchased my first airbrush kit, paint, compressor, and a book which showed you how to airbrush step by step on paper and illustration board. one week later i got kicked out of home by my father who could not tolerate the noise of the compressor and the smell of paint. my uncle (on my mother's side) was kind enough to allow me into a small room in the back of a building inside a parking lot where i could freely trun on my compressor and airbrush all i want. and that was for free in the beginning. i took the oppurtunity and literally turned that place into my home. i slept here most of the time, and spent all my time practicing the airbrush and perfecting my skills. at that time, i using a wooden board as a table, for money was scarce and i needed it for more important things like paint and art material.

in the spring of 1994 i got my first airbrush magazine and subscribed in it, for it was (and still is) an indespensible source of information and inspiration for me in learning new techniques and how to's. the graphic design program i was in did not offer any airbrush courses, so i was left to my own devices.

in 1993, i got my tattoo machine catalogue, and like i said earlier, i could not make anything of it. so my plan was to go out myself and buy one on my own. i found an address in the u.k. and decided to go there. but first, i needed to make sure i was investing in the right thing. i had some money put aside from painting on t-shirts and from doing some of my classmates' projects. but i could not afford to lose all i had.

so, i came up with a little form on a paper stating that if you wished to have a tattoo, please write down your name on it. i placed a copy of this paper in several music shops and art material suppliers, and of course, i asked anyone i happened to meet on campus or wherever i met new people. the results were most satisfying after a year or so. i actually had people i don't know come knocking on my father's door asking for the tattoo guy!

in decmber 1994, i obtained a visa to the u.k. packed my bags and off i went despite my father's outrage and disapproval. i had exacly $6000 and spent it all on my trip to england where i spent 2 weeks, and got the whole tattoo set-up. autoclave, needles, machines, tubes, ultrasonic cleaner, inks, spare parts and all the necessary accessories. i returned to lebanon with only $300 left. during my first stay in england in 1994, i ran into bugs (evil from the needle) by sheer luck. of course, i had no idea whatsoever who he was and i had a brief conversation with him. i asked him for some hints on how to tattoo and where i can find good quality tattoo machines, and the only answer i got was that i must find my own way, and that that is only way i could possibly learn. with no help at all. and i really appreciate him for that.

so, i went to my destination in england and i spent around 10 hours there learning about the tattoo machines and how they run and how to assemble them...and all that, bought what the very helpful people at the warehouse told me to buy, and i would like to thank mr. davis in particular for taking the time out and in answering all my questions and giving me all the info i needed.

back to lebanon i came on the first morning of the year 1995. one week later i put together for the first time the needle and tube to the machine, turned on the power and gave myself the first little dot, line and shade. two days later, i put myself under the needle again and gave myself the first tattoo ever: a small Indian on my left upper inner thigh. this being there was easily concealed in case i did a bad job, and easy to show if need be.

january 20, 1995 i did the first tattoo on a customer/ friend. it turned out pretty fine, but now of course, i can do much better.

so, this is how it all started. after all this time i have dedicated to my art, i can pretty much paint and tattoo anyway i want. the airbrush magazine constantly keeps me up to date and i do experiment al lot on my own. i can paint on virtually any surface using almost any media i please. i constantly go to europe and meet different artists in the tattoo field. i became friends with some and i surely learned a lot just by talking to them artists.

in 1996 i graduated from aub with a bachelor degree in graphic design and continued working in my studio (skin deep) where i tattoo, paint and design. in 1997 i worked as a creative designer in an adveritsing agency. i didn't stay there long for i prefer being my own boss. in 1998 i, again worked in another web page design agency, as a creative director and short after i quit again prefering to freelance design and illustration jobs in my own studio at my own free will. with his kind patience and vast experience taught me a lot. just by watching him work or talking to him, he has broadened my horizons in many ways. skull also made it possible for me to achieve my first ever international mention in TATTOO magazine. while i was over working for him, he received two guests from the u.s.a. chris pfouts, editor of TATTOO-INTERNATIONAL, and kelton mcmullen, who writes for various tattoo magazines. kelton sat down with me for a couple of hours over a glass of dark irish guiness beer and interviewed me. the article came out one year later in TATTOO magazine, issue june 2001 # 142.

late in the year 2000 skull did me the honour of coming over here to lebanon as a guest artist and friend and stayed with me for 10 days. he brought with him a very reputable professional photographer, paul callaby. their visit to me was a great pleasure and benefit. they were the first profeessional people in the tattoo world to come over to my studio and give me objective critique on maintaining a professional look and standard on both tattooing and body piercing. going back to 1999, i served in the army for 1 year. all i can say is that it did waste my time in some ways, but on the other hand i am sure it gave me something new in my life which is yet to be discovered.

one other important thing that happened to me in the year 2000 is that i met one remarkable person in lebanon. carlo vincenti. he was the first person who blindly trusted in my abilities as an artist and commisioned me to design and paint for him 2 william lawson murals, two nightclubs (atlantis and igloo) and one restaurant (little italy). he has opened for me a new horizon for a totally different and wider market in the illustration world. the year 2001 for me has also been filled with interesting events. i did my first multiple trip to europe where i met many different top notch tattoo artists.

in france i met tin tin and manu. i became friends with manu as he has been very helpful by letting me watch him as he worked on a tattoo for about 5 hours at a stretch. i have learned a lot from this brief encounter and made a new artist friend. tin tin gave me a harsh brutal critique on my tattoo work, and that was very constructive for it made me want to push myself harder to the standard i wish to achieve in the years to come.

in amsterdam i met the people who work at hanky panky's, and talking to them also opened my eyes on other different aspects in the tattoo world.

going back to belfast for the second time, skull, again opened up a new opportunity for me. we drove all the way down to birmingham in england where i worked in and attended my first real tattoo and bike conevntion! it was called ink & iron, and i saw paul callaby again there, and he took a photo of me which later on appeared in european skin deep tattoo magazine.

so now, after almost seven years of professionally working on my own in my skin deep studio where i tattoo and body pierce, illustrate, paint, design, write down my bi-monthly newsletter (:kult-ure), write poetry and sculpt. i bring to you my world so alive that even the walls scream with rage and harmony in a fury unleashed in every conceivable form shade and color.

to conclude this profile on myself, i think this website will convey more or less the kind of person i am, my art, my studio and the drive force behind all what i do. the dominant part being my dark side and my mental journey into the shades of my black and white nudes, the dark colors of my paintings, and the pure whitness of my twisted and perverted sculptures.

the blood is for life, the love is forever:/ alter your ego
and dare to fail.

hady beydoun.