A pensioner from Russia's fourth-largest city Ekaterinburg has become an internet celebrity after getting 63 tattoos in just the last two years. Vladimir Sedakov is now inked on almost all of his body parts – including his face.
Speaking to video agency Ruptly, Sedakov, known most commonly as 'Spartacus,' explained that he changed his job more than 60 times in his 74 years, before eventually settling on being an artist. In the last decade, he has covered almost his entire house in paintings, and is now focusing his artistic passion on his own skin and plans to fill his whole body with ink.
His most famous tattoo is of the Roman general Spartacus, the gladiator who led a rebel slave army in the first century BC.
Sedakov now has an Instagram account – with over 4,000 followers – and two years ago created a YouTube channel.
According to Moscow newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, Sedakov is a local celebrity in his hometown Ekaterinburg.
"I am a man of art. I've been writing poetry since I was four years old, and I started painting at the same age," he told the publication. "I was bad in school and always got grade C – but does that really matter?"
He has also written five books, and makes his own clothes and accessories.
Nowadays, Spartacus doesn't have a job, and says that he survives on a modest pension. However, with his newly found fame, he's hoping to find other revenue streams. Sometime this year, he will star in a movie directed by prize-winning director Aleksandr Khant, playing the role of a shaman.
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