The London Tattoo Convention was one of the most iconic tattoo conventions around and a huge event on everyone’s calendar, whether they’re an artist or otherwise.

Unfortunately, due the COVID-19 pandemic and the passing of one of its co-founders last year, the London Tattoo Convention has closed its doors for good and will not be continuing in its previous iteration.

As September would usually see us make the trip down to London for the show, we wanted to take this time to reminisce about the great times we had at past conventions.

Please join us as we take a look back at past London Tattoo Conventions and recap our highlights!

London Tattoo Convention 2019 (15th Anniversary Edition)

The last edition of the London Tattoo Convention was back in 2019 and saw the event celebrate its 15th anniversary with yet another hugely exciting show.

The 2019 London Tattoo Convention not only saw the debut of the eco-friendly and plant-based ECOTAT line of products, but also set the stage for many Killer Ink sponsored artists to receive awards for the amazing work they produced at the show.

The coveted ‘Best of Show’ honour was bestowed on our artists Ryan ‘The Scientist’ Smith and Rich Harris, who collaborated at the event to create a jaw-dropping full leg sleeve.

Our sponsored artists also managed to complete a clean sweep of the ‘Best of Day’ awards, with third, second and first place going to Damian Gorski, Anrijs Straume, and Sandra Daukshta, respectively.

Spanish tattooist Carlos Fabra took home ‘Best Black & Grey’ for his killer Peaky Blinders-themed leg sleeve, while Danish artist Mads Thill won ‘Best Back Piece/Coverage’ for his fantastic work.

Rounding off the awards was Yarson Stahowic who claimed ‘3rd Best Realism’ for an awesome Guardians of the Galaxy-themed sleeve.

London Tattoo Convention 2018

Aside from playing host to two pyro-laden performances and the debut of the eagerly-anticipated Cheyenne SOL Nova tattoo machine, the 2018 London Tattoo Convention saw our sponsored artist Yarson Stahowic take home the accolade for ‘Best Realism’. His award-winning black and grey sleeve paid homage to the late Heath Ledger and Chester Bennington.

In the ‘Best of Show’ category, Kamil Mocet claimed third place with his sick horror-inspired full back piece, while a killer collaboration between Ryan Smith and Cristian Casas won second place.

London Tattoo Convention 2017

As with other years, the 2017 London Tattoo Convention was the chosen destination for the launch of an eagerly-awaited new tattoo product, this time the much-lauded Spektra Xion rotary.

In terms of awards, our sponsored artist Debora Cherrys picked up ‘3rd Best of Friday and Saturday’ for her neo-traditional tattoo, while Ryan Smith won ‘3rd Best of Show’ for a collaboration piece with artists Jay Freestyle and Jenna Kerr.

London Tattoo Convention 2016

The 2016 London Tattoo Convention is certainly one we won’t be forgetting in a hurry as it marked our first ever convention video!

Perhaps the highlight of the weekend was a mind-blowing six-artist collaboration between Killer Ink sponsored tattooists Matt Jordan, Steve Butcher, Jak Connolly, Sam Barber, and Yomico Moreno, as well as our good friend Benjamin Laukis. The incredible back piece that was born from the collaboration was rightly named ‘Best of Show’ at the finale of the convention.

Steve was also awarded ‘3rd Best of Show’ and ‘Best Realism’ for his individual work, while Matt also went home with ‘2nd Best Black & Grey’ for his solo efforts.

Rounding off the accolades that year were Mathieu Varga and Ryan Smith, who were given ‘Best Black & Grey’ and ‘3rd Best Ornamental’ honours, respectively.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this recap of past London Tattoo Conventions and we look forward to seeing you at conventions again soon!