Inside the Word of Ricky Glover

Creative Director: Jess Barker @jess.barks

Photographer: Ella Kenneally @ella_kenneally

Model: Alicia Tomkinson @leeshtomkinson

Tattoos & Designs: Ricky Glover @cyanpaw5

Interview: Jess Barker

Ricky - known to many by his creative alias CyanPaw - isn’t just a tattoo artist, he’s a visual artist. Based in Manchester, Ricky’s style fuses clean lines with bold symbolism, often drawing influence from the sounds and aesthetics around him.

His work reflects a deep appreciation for subcultures, personal style, and the emotional weight behind body art. In this conversation, we explore how fashion and music show up in his creative process, the stories behind some of his most memorable pieces, and the evolving identity of an artist who sees the body as both canvas and culture.

You’ve mentioned a love for music - how does what you’re listening to influence your tattoo work? Can you share a specific design that came directly from a song or musical mood?

Music’s a massive part of my life and it definitely influences the way that I draw especially what kind of mood I’m in when I’m drawing. Most notably a lot more of my like cybercigilism pieces come from like listening to techno and garage, and my blackout works come from when I’m listening to a lot of dark music, a lot of grime and kind of underground artists like ake min.

Is there a dream collaboration you’ve thought about - like working with a fashion brand, musician, or another visual artist - that you’d love to bring to life?

In terms of dream collaboration, working with Slawn would be pretty cool and Lugosis - he’s definitely my favourite tattoo artist in general, his work is
just fucking insane. If I could work on anything I’d wanna paint like a fucking Apache helicopter or jet fighter, you know something stupid like that.

Being based in Manchester, a city with huge fashion and music energy, how does the local scene influence what you’re creating with your work?

I don’t really get influenced by a lot of things in Manchester, however I feel like being so invested
in the music scene in Manchester helps me network with people that are really gonna fuck with my style.

We love that you have branched outside of your usual tattoo work into the fashion world with your tattooed belts, do you see yourself expanding further into the fashion industry in the future?

Yeah, I mean it’s only a matter of time before I can find like maybe the right material or the right brand to work with that can supply or something like that, to branch out into making bigger pieces, because belts are just a starting point and really easily accessible. I wanna be making like full on bodysuits purely tattooed by me.

What is your favourite piece you have ever tattooed? and what was the creative process behind it?

My favourite piece is this kind of neo tribal dragon that I drew up at like 3 am. It was late and I just stayed up to draw it and my girlfriend saw it she just resonated with it I guess. I tattooed it literally the next week. It’s still my favourite piece - I did it pretty early on but it still holds up.