Inside the Lines by L.J. Molloy
Photography by Tom Gibson
Louis Molloy started his career as a tattoo artist in Middleton Manchester back in 1981. The early years were very difficult as tattooing wasn’t as popular back then as it is now.
A bad economy at the time and the AIDS crisis of the early to mid 80’s was a very very difficult time for all in the industry. The 1990’s brought better things for tattooing.
Books and magazines on tattooing were becoming more and more mainstream as were tattoo conventions around the world which made the industry more visible to the general public.
Louis’ big break came in the late 1990’s and the year 2000 when a certain David Beckham came to Middleton to be tattooed by Louis. The media attention to this was unprecedented at the time and it was the first time a tattoo and tattooing was featured on the from page of all the nationals and tabloids.
What followed was tattooing emerging from the shadows to become part of the mainstream socially accepted within society.
A second big break came in 2007 when Louis fronted the Discovery Channel show “London Ink” which brought Louis and his co hosts, Phil Kyle, Nikole Lowe and Dan Gold to a world wide audience.
The show was part of the same franchise as Miami Ink and LA Ink. Many offers and opportunities were offered to Louis which were nearly all turned down but there was one that even though not taken up on it did plant a seed.
The covid lockdown of 2020 was another big blow to the tattoo industry along with many others but Louis came through the other side and continues to this day in the same studio in Middleton.
In January of 2025, Louis came across an online article that brought the aforementioned seed to germinate. The article was about colouring books that were aimed mainly at children. Louis brought into being “Inside the Lines”.
The company was to do colouring books aimed at both adults and children. The first books in the series are about iconic buildings in towns and cities throughout the UK.
Many of the buildings mentioned have been visited by Louis mostly as a child as his parents were very active in the visual arts including visiting galleries, museums, stately homes, national trust sites and even trips to Europe which were uncommon in the late 60’s and early 70’s.
This cultural education was part of what inspired Louis to be come a tattooer which help from his parents Brian and Josie Molloy but also Pauline and Tommy Prince from Middleton who Louis always cites when he talks about his early career.
The books aim to help with mindful wellbeing and also to help educate a little at some of the incredible architecture that surrounds us all yet is often taken for granted when seen on a daily basis they become almost invisible.
These books are a work in progress as each image is hand drawn and therefore takes time to complete. Louis says there is no computer “Jiggery Pokery” involved in the making of the images as he gets as much pleasure from creating them as he hopes people will get from colouring them in.
There will be other books in the series including the “Psychedelic” series which has absolutely nothing to do with the counter culture but more about patterns and shapes within other shapes and imagery. The first book in this series will be Psychedelic Sharks.
Also another series will be a Symphony of Flowers showcasing many many different types of flowers that are amazing blooms of colour awaiting a budding artist to bring them to life.
All the books being produced will be a work in progress and hopefully will have a new book come out every 1-2 months.
There will also be a dedicated YouTube Chanel where ether will be Timelapse films showing Louis colouring some of the images from the series and also tips and tricks to help people when doing their own images.
Photography by Cameron Rennie
