How to Save up for a Tattoo – and Support Your Artist

As the UK enters its second month of lockdown, there has never been a better time to distract yourself with daydreams of new ink, and getting serious about planning for that amazing piece of body art.

Plus, should you be in the position to book in with your artist and pay a deposit during this time, you will be supporting them as they cannot perform their work when studios are forced to stay closed. >>>

The Tattooed Ladies

Tattooed ladies were working-class women who had gotten plenty of ink at a time when it was unthinkable for any proper ‘lady’ to do so. They performed in circuses and sideshows, along sword swallowers, fire eaters and bearded women throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. >>>

Traditional Techniques from Around the World

Tebori Tattoo — Japan

The Japanese traditional version of stick-and-poke consists of using a wooden or metal stick knowns as a ‘nomi’. It has a set of needles — sometimes up to 15! — attached with silk thread to its tip. The artist would have several sets of sticks with varying numbers of needles and blades to fill in and shade the easily recognisable traditional Japanese motives. >>>

How Studios Look Out for Your Health When You Get a Tattoo

As the world is experiencing unprecedented times when it comes to public measures for collective health, this feels like a good time to write about the stringent precautions that tattoo artists take every single day to keep you safe. Measures that are now being implemented in workplaces and public spaces all over the world are part of tattoo studios’ everyday existence. >>>

Neo Traditional Tattooing

The Neo Traditional tattoo style evolved from the Old School, or the American Traditional (hence the ‘Neo’), tattoo. The style is recognised by a wider array of bright colours that can often have a velvety feel or golden tint to them. They often draw inspiration from Japanese Ukiyo-e prints and the style movements of Art Nouveau and Art Deco and have an illustrative quality to them. They use a lot of the same techniques as American Traditional tattoos, but have their own very clear aesthetic and beyond the imagery of Traditional, they often portray lavish motives of flowers, portraits of women, and animals. >>>

Dotwork Tattooing

Recent years have seen a revival in the tattoo style known as dotwork, particularly as it has begun to become blended with other styles, complimenting each other. It is a tattooing technique where the artist creates a design with a multitude of dots, rather than full lines or fill. It can be incredibly intricate, and It shows off one form of artistry from afar, and another level entirely when you come up close to it. >>>

What to Think of When Getting Your First Tattoo – Part III

So you have done all the prep-work (showered, not gotten sunburnt, stayed away from alcohol and painkillers, you’ve brought your snacks, etc) and are all set. Now comes the fun part!

During your session >>>

What to Think of When Getting Your First Tattoo – Part II

This post continues from last week where we talked about how to plan for your first tattoo and how to find your artist. Here’s all about how to get booked in, what to do once you are, and what to think of when you arrive.

Getting a spot   

Stunning lighthouse by Seb from our Walsall studio.

Great, so you have done your research and found your dream artist, congratulations! Now you need to secure a spot with them. Often artists open up their diaries for appointments at a specific time, and will then take bookings for a few months ahead. Of course, some artists operate on a more open schedule, so always get in touch to enquire about appointments. >>>

WHAT TO THINK OF WHEN GETTING YOUR FIRST TATTOO — PART I

So you are thinking of getting some gorgeous body art. First of all… Welcome to the community! For the most part, it is a very welcoming and warm space filled with creative, passionate and caring individuals. So, please, enter with a general sense of trust and excited anticipation. But, also, do be skilfully prepared and educated by doing your homework!  >>>

The Code of the Camorra

Lower East Side Legends – The Bowery Crew

Women who shaped modern tattooing – Jessie Knight

Jessie Knight, Britain’s first female tattoo artist

Hailing from a lineage of counterculture artists, Jessie Knight was one of the most celebrated tattoo artists of her time. Born in Croydon in 1904, Jessie was one of eight siblings, and the granddaughter of the famous poet and journalist EA Lempriere Knight. >>>

Superheroes and Steampunk — Tattoo World Records II

Ink and the MCU

In 2018, the Canadian Marvel fan Rick Scolamiero became the record holder of ‘Most Marvel comic book characters tattooed on the body’. It is unclear exactly when this category was instated… But safe to say it could be a long time before Rick’s record is challenged. Rick got his first tattoo done only in 2011, so over the course of 7 years he has gotten tattooed once a month. For a total of over 350 hours. >>>

Hall of Fame –  Tattoo World Records Part I

The Guinness Book of World Records is a gold mine for interesting tattoo facts. One of the most obvious records to hold would be that of having the most ink on your body.

The title of most tattooed woman in the world is held since 2017 by Charlotte Guttenberg. 71-year old Charlotte’s body is covered to 98,75% with ink. While saying that she always appreciated body art, and how she admired the former record holder Isobel Varley, Charlotte only got her first tattoo in her 50s! But she also says that she knew right away she was going to get a full body suit. >>>

FOR COLLECTORS AND CURIOS – PART II

For tattoo collectors, conventions constitute a chance to get a piece by a visiting artist, without having to save up for plane fare and taking holiday time to fly half way across the world to their home studio. For other enthusiasts and the perhaps not yet inked but generally curious, they can be a great place to meet and peruse the work of both their local talent and artists from far away. And to see an artist’s work up close before booking in for a session. >>>

THE AGORA OF INK – PART I

Since Ancient Greece, the agora, the public market place, has been at the heart of community life.  The interaction that took place went beyond daily transactions, spawning an exchange of ideas that changed the world for the people around them. To this day they influence what we take for granted about society. The freedoms however, had their limits. The philosopher Socrates was charged and condemned for ‘corrupting the mind of the youth’ of Athens and of impiety, ‘not believing in the gods of the state’. The Athenian rulers sentenced him to death through poison. >>>

TECH AND TATTOOS

‘Dermal Abyss’ Tech Tattoo

The evolution of Artificial Intelligence — AI — from something menacingly coming at us in various shapes and sizes from distant futures in sci-fi movies, to something that is a major part of our everyday life has been swift. Assisting, chartering, calculating and developing, it is hard to imagine life today without machines and algorithms. As with any technological revolution before it, the rise of AI has given birth to a bunch of questions and concerns. >>>

Exploring Sacred Geometry Tattoos

Drawing on the knowledge of symmetry found in nature, such as in honeycombs, nautilus shells, sunflowers, peacocks, snowflakes etc, Sacred Geometry Tattoos use repetitive patterns in order to emulate the sense of ease and harmony that these natural phenomena project. Expressing an admiration for how these shapes work in creating our world, it offers an approximation of visual representation to what we already intuitively experience as balanced and beautiful. Most Sacred Geometry tattoos are complex, original designs utilising dots, lines and shading to create intricate and often mesmerising arrangements. >>>

No matter if you are getting your very first piece of body art, or if you are already covered in ink from head to toe, each experience is unique. And some slightly more… intense than others. In any case, it pays off to set yourself up as well as possible beforehand in order to make the experience as little traumatic as could be. We are kidding, its not that bad, really. It is actually an exciting endeavour, and whatever pain experienced is easily forgotten. Otherwise, why would everyone want to do it again? >>>

While the state laws on tattooing are not so harsh, should you get a traditional (and considered magic) Sak Yant tattoo by a Thai Buddhist monk, there are a number of rules of conduct to follow post-needle. The Sak Yant tattoos were originally done on warriors seeking strength and protection in battle and are still considered a manifestation of desire or intention. South East Asian communities consider these marking to be very powerful and that they bestow blessings on the bearer. >>>

Just last week, renowned tattoo artist Fuzi released the first issue of Seulment Pour La Vie, a magazine dedicated to contemporary tattooing. It sets out to show how tattooing has come to embrace almost every other area connected to the arts, such as photography, graphic design, graffiti, and architecture. >>>

A History Of Tattooing Tools — Ancient Tools and Techniques

The oldest preserved tattoo kit, found on the island of Tongpatu in Tonga, is a somewhat more quiet ancestor to its modern counterpart. Dated at 2,700 years old, the tools have been identified as ‘bone combs’, flat pieces of bone that have been shaped to have sharp points on one side. These points still have tiny bits of ink, and so there is no doubt as to their usage. The pieces were first discovered by archeologists in the 1960s, but at the time could not be identified and they were kept in storage until recently.  >>>

The History Of Tattooing — Tattoos, Tools And People Through Millennia

Step into a tattoo studio today and you will hear the constant buzzing of machines, powered either by air pressure or an electric motor, as they penetrate the skin at a rate of anywhere between 50 to 3,000 times per minute. For some people, this sound invokes mild (at best) trepidation, for others, excited anticipation. You will see people from all walks of life getting their skin adorned with a myriad of styles and techniques: Old School, Blackwork, Neo-traditional, Watercolor, Black and Grey, and more. You can find a tattoo studio in almost any city in the world.  >>>