Meet tattooist behind Tony Bellew’s ‘Bomber’ inking who wows celebs with body art

A British tattoo artist has made a name for himself with his super realistic celebrity portraits.

His amazing work was even recognized by Ice Cube, one of his hip-hop heroes.

Andy Cassidy, the Liverpool-based Mr Cee Tattooz owner, has inked many celebrities, including Tony Bellew, ex-boxer.

In an exclusive interview with the Central Recorder, Andy, 50, said: “Portraits are a nightmare.

“I’ve genuinely lost sleep the night before doing some of them. Ink sweats are the worst!

“For me they are the ultimate tattoo because you either get them right or you don’t.

“I’ve now done more celeb ones than non celeb.”

Despite his pre-inking anxiety, Andy has produced some spectacular results.

After finishing an Ice Cube portrait, the rap artist himself tweeted: “You ain’t no joke. One of the best I ever seen.”

Andy said: “Ice T and Ice Cube have both shared and commented on my portraits, both of whom are some of my biggest hip hop idols so that puts me on cloud nine every time.

“I’d like to think I’ve made a bit of a name for myself locally for the Hip Hop ones.

“Ice Cube is my favourite to do, the eyes are really dominant and you have to get them right, a bit of shading in the wrong place and it is game over.

“Tupac is possibly the most stressful, he’s an icon and everyone knows what he looks like, so yeah, lots of pressure there.”

Andy is also a big Everton fan and has been fortunate enough to work on a Duncan Ferguson portrait.

He said he’d love to tattoo the former blues hardman personally but joked that he might be “too scared” to do so.

Andy also inked the famous ‘Bomber’ tattoo across former world champion and fellow Evertonion Tony Bellew’s shoulders.

He said: “Tony is a really good guy. I’ve been blessed to have been able to tattoo him a few times.”

Despite running his shop in Aigburth Road, Liverpool, his work has resulted in other stars from overseas making their way to him.

Andy, who has been tattooing since 2010, said: “I’ve been lucky enough to spend time and tattoo Public Enemy, The Juice Crew and Boyd from Mobb Deep.

“They are all great guys and even though I’ve turned 50, I still turn into a massive fan boy when I’m around them.

“It’s very strange to be in the same room as your musical heroes.”

To view more of Andy’s celeb portraits, you can visit his Instagram page mr_cee_tattooz.

Want to read more about tattoos? We’ve got you covered.

Previously, a student was fuming when a landlord “cancelled her lease because they weren’t a fan of her tattoos”.

Meanwhile, a model with £13,000 worth of designs wants to cover her entire skin in ink.

In other news, these are some of the most painful parts of the body that need to be inked.