NOT conforming to the common perception of tattoo artists, with several tattoos of his own and a couple of rings over his eyebrows, Nikolay Nikolov is a bit shy the way little kids are - curious and bashful at the same time, especially when it comes to recorders and microphones. It seems he feels much more confident with a pair of sterilizing gloves and a needle in his hands at the small tattoo studio in Studentski grad where I found him.

"Tattoos are one of the fields where Bulgaria is far behind other countries. For example, tattoo artists in Bulgaria now are like the tattoo artists in the US 20 years ago. There are a lot of things we have to learn- not only the people who make tattoos, but society as a whole," said Nikolay on the current situation of the tattoo industry in Bulgaria.

Fifteen years after the collapse of socialism in the country, there are still some middle- aged people who consider tattoos only to be a sign of a long criminal record at the police station or of a type of marginalised person who spends the whole day drinking.

Nikolay defines tattooing as an art which has helped people express their emotions from  prehistoric times to the present day. "For some people drawing an image on their skin is a very intimate act which symbolises something very important that happened to them, or a new beginning in their lives," he explains. "For others, getting a tattoo is really a matter of fashion - they just want to be like David Beckham."

Like many young Bulgarians, Nikolay left his hometown, Silistra in northeast Bulgaria, and came to the capital, hoping he would find better job opportunities here. Until December, when he started working in this tattoo studio, he had switched between all kinds of jobs - from being a dyer to being an assistant in a pizza restaurant. But all this time he never gave up tattoos.

"It's a hobby, it's a skill- now it's a job for me." He reveals the formula for earning your living by drawing people's skin as, "the more talented you are, the more money you get. Needles cannot make a good tattoo themselves, no matter how good they are."

It all began 10 years ago at the art high school where Nikolay studied. His passion for painting and graphics together with some of his friends are what started Nickolay on his path to becoming a tattoo artist. It started with one innocent tattoo for one innocent friend, but soon one friend became 20 friends and Nickolay found himself turning his bedroom at home into a kind of tattoo studio.

"In some small towns they don't know what a tattoo studio means. I tattooed the whole town of Silistra at home with self-made instruments as a favour to some friends", joked Nikolay, recalling his amateur period with a smile.

Now the age of his clients varies from 16 (with the official permission of their parents) to 60 year-olds. Looking at the fearsome dragon on the last 60 year-old man Nikolay tattooed I start to support Nikolay's theory that to some people tattoos mean youth.

After having made over 3500 tattoos (he stopped counting last year) the young tattoo artist has some interesting observations about men and women. For instance, his rich experience has proved that women are more patient and used to the pain, and they are more active during the spring when the vanity of looking good in the summer grabs them. On the other hand, men prefer more aggressive and larger tattoos. It's obvious, of course, that no woman would spend the rest of her life with a tattoo of a BMW engine on her belly.

Concerning politics, Nikolay is one of the young Bulgarians who has decided to be apathetic, not taking an interest at all. Despite this fact he hopes that the EU will raise the standard of work and payment not only for him but for everybody.

As a man he dreams about simple things - he wants a happy family and to participate in the annual Tattoo Festival which takes place in London. About his job he has no doubts: "In 10 years, I'll be doing the same. But I hope some day I will have the luxury to say `no' to some clients and do only the original tattoos I create. "