Kevin Paul has inked more than 40 designs for the 'Shape of You' hitmaker, and while he constantly mocks him about the tattoos, he understands the singer's reasoning because they are "personal" to him.
Speaking about trolls poking fun at some of Ed's tats, he said: "I agree with most of it, his tattoos aren't very good.
"And I take the p**s out of Ed all the time, when I'm with him, that they are s**t.
"They are! But every single thing that he's got is personal to him."
Kevin isn't a big fan of Ed's tattoo of Pingu - the penguin from the animated children's series of the same name - which Harry Styles also has, branding it "s**t".
He said: "Him and Harry Styles had Pingu tattooed on them and they had it done because that was the cartoon they liked as a child.
"And it does look s**t but it's what they wanted, it's a personal memory and it means something to them."
Kevin admits working with Ed - who also has inkings such as a huge lion on his chest, a tomato ketchup bottle, and a gingerbread man - is the "best and worst" thing to happen to his career, but he has no regrets because the work has opened bigger doorways for him.
He added to the Mirror Online: "I was a big massive artist doing 3D-work and winning multi awards.
"And then all of a sudden you end up doing Pingu the Penguin and f***ing gingerbread men on popstars.
"And all that client base just dies off, but the doorways it has opened for me are much bigger."
Ed took to Twitter to unveil his lion tattoo in 2015, and thanked Kevin for dealing with his moaning while he had the inking done to celebrate selling out Wembley Stadium.
He wrote at the time: "Lion is courtesy of @kp_est78, who puts up with me complaining about the pain (sic)."
Retweeting the message, Kevin replied: "Can't wait to start the rest it's going to be amazing love you dude xxx (sic)."
The 28-year-old star also has a paw print and a snowflake scattered across his body, among many other designs.
