Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Bay artist's 'tattoos' bring smiles to little faces

John Cousins
By John Cousins
Senior reporter, Bay of Plenty Times·Bay of Plenty Times·
23 May, 2016 07:40 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Benjamin Lloyd airbrushes 5-year-old Jin Whitehead. Photo/Supplied

Benjamin Lloyd airbrushes 5-year-old Jin Whitehead. Photo/Supplied

An airbrushed tattoo on a 5-year-old Tauranga boy has become an internet phenomenon that could bring smiles to the faces of children at Starship Children's Health.

Artist Benjamin Lloyd was hoping for 50 likes when he Facebooked his indian ink freestyle painting on the body of Jin, the son of Tauranga lawyer Simon Whitehead, but by last night he already had 275,000 likes and more than 143,000 shares.

Mr Lloyd promised free airbrushing of children at Starship hospital if his post attracted 50 likes. "I got 50 likes in 30 seconds."

It took him less than 10 minutes on Sunday to airbrush Jin and a few minutes more to post the photos to his Facebook page. And while he peacefully slumbered on Sunday night, the post went viral around the world.

Photo/Supplied
Photo/Supplied
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I woke up to six million hits. Once it starts to avalanche, things go nuts."

He put the massive popularity of the posting down to people's attention being captured by the images of a tattooed kid. "They think, what is this."

Mr Lloyd believed the other reason it went viral was his offer to airbrush children at Starship if he got 50 likes.

He has been painting the children of friends and family for years using non-toxic indian ink that washed off in the shower. "The kids are so amazed. As soon as they get the tattoo it boosts their confidence."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It was seeing this response that prompted the thought of bringing a bit of joy into the lives of children at Starship.

Doing the arm of a child only took a few minutes by applying the spray to stencils. If Mr Lloyd succeeded in getting the hospital's approval, he planned to pre-cut a whole lot of stencils so the children had the choice of their favourite characters, such as Spider-Man.

They could then get their photos taken with the temporary tattoo.

He said it was a really nice experience for children because all they felt were tickles of cold air blowing against their arm.

Mr Lloyd described himself as a struggling artist who first captured the admiration of his classmates when, feeling self-conscious, he began doodling to cover up a grafted burn on his arm. By the time he reached college, it had moved on from doodles to something more artistic. "People thought it was amazing."

And although his income was irregular, the global response from Jin's tattoo has underlined his belief that there was a huge market for airbrushed art. He was getting five private mails a minute from a global audience wanting to get airbrushed.

Read more: Artist paints living picture of iconic Mount Maunganui
The Bay's coldest start to the day so far

Mr Lloyd was now thinking in terms of business opportunities, including training people in airbrushing. They would work in a franchise-type arrangement, with the idea of a sales pitch along the lines of: "You say it, we spray it".

In the meantime he was collaborating with a supporter to make a series of videos of him at work, hopefully starting with Starship next week.

His more well-known artworks include the picture of Mauao at McDonald's on the corner of Cameron Rd and 11th Ave and various scenes on Z service stations in Tauranga. The video episodes would also show airbrushed scenes on coffins, a 50th birthday cake, God's hands at Bethlehem College and several paintings of AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
Bay of Plenty TimesUpdated

Concern 'patients will suffer' as practices with 46,000 enrolled switch funder

11 May 05:00 PM
Premium
Opinion

Opinion: Why a US recession could be on the horizon

11 May 04:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

18-year-old cricket star named top young female player in Northern Districts

11 May 02:05 AM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
Concern 'patients will suffer' as practices with 46,000 enrolled switch funder

Concern 'patients will suffer' as practices with 46,000 enrolled switch funder

11 May 05:00 PM

The centres say changing their primary health organisation will help avoid fee increases.

Premium
Opinion: Why a US recession could be on the horizon

Opinion: Why a US recession could be on the horizon

11 May 04:00 PM
18-year-old cricket star named top young female player in Northern Districts

18-year-old cricket star named top young female player in Northern Districts

11 May 02:05 AM
'Devastating to see': Family battles for toddler's movement progress

'Devastating to see': Family battles for toddler's movement progress

10 May 10:00 PM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP