Victor Farinelli: Ink Master Review (Episode 8)
By Victor Farinelli
Ink Master is a train wreck and Sarah Miller is the engineer. As I said in my last post, she needs serious mood stabilizing medication. She is a shitstorm of manic depression. This episode is not different.
This episode was the black and gray challenge, and the special guest judge was Mr. Freddy Negrete. The twist this time around was that they had to work in teams. For the flash challenge, the contestants had to create an image on scratchboard. Since Tatu Baby was the winner of last week’s elimination challenge, she got to pick the teams for this flash challenge. She stuck Sarah with Mark “I got one foot out the door” Matthews. The other teams were Clint Cummings with Jamie Davis, Steve Tefft with Sebastian Murphy, and Tatu Baby with Jesse Smith… (more…)
Vice: Tattoo Age Thom deVita Episode I (VIDEO)
Thom deVita began tattooing in the late 60s in New York’s Lower East Side, when the practice was illegal. He quickly began to forge his own styles, drawing influence from Puebla Indian designs to Lord and Taylor shopping bags. In this episode, we hear from Ed Hardy, photographer Clayton Patterson, Nick Bubash, Scott Harrison, John Wyatt, Angelo Scotto, Bubba Reeves, Robert Ryan, and more, as we unfold Thom deVita’s epic story…. [More info on expanded page] (more…)
Victor Farinelli: Ink Master Review (Episode 7)
By Victor Farinelli
A long time ago in, in a galaxy far, far away… a girl needed lithium. Sarah Miller needs some serious medication. One minute, she is bouncing off the walls she is so excited, the next she is about to kill herself. She displayed this so well in this episode: The Star Wars challenge… (more…)
Jay Brown Provides Inside Look at The Northwest Tattoo Museum
By Jay Brown
The Northwest Tattoo Museum is a project that was started almost two years ago when in a conversation it was suggested that there needs to be a tattoo museum in the Northwestern US. In answer to this call myself (a longtime tattoo artist of 24 years at the time) and avid hoarder of everything tattoo, and my fiancé Jennifer DeRose, who is an anthropologist/archaeologist decided to take on the challenge. I then dug out my collection of tattoo machines, old flash and other stuff I had piled up over the years while Jennifer started building the database for the museum’s collection… (more…)
Workhorse Irons Builder Gathering 2012 (Final Compilation Video)
Workhorse Irons Tattoo Machine Builder Gathering 2012 featuring SOBA, Seth Ciferri, Cory Rogers, Mike Pike, Chris Smith, Chris Quidgeon, Marv Lerning, and Special Technique’s Ugly Bill, plus a guest visit from Bill Waverly.
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Carl Zimmer: Science Tattoo Emporium (Metol)
Carl Zimmer is a blogger and writer for both The New York Times and Discover Magazine, which also hosts his blog, The Loom. Zimmer writes on a wide range of scientific topics. He is the author of 12 books, the most recent of which is Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed. When Zimmer asked on his blog how many scientists out there had tattoos, he was inundated with photo submissions and commentary, which he has collected into the neat book you can see and order below. It’s our pleasure to share some of them… (more…)
Victor Farinelli: Ink Master Review (Episode 6)
By Victor Farinelli
Let’s celebrate the land of the free, home of the brave with GUNS! Sorta like banjos, only different. Episode VI was “all about attention to detail,” Dave Navarro emphasized. For the flash challenge, the contestants had to carve an image into the stock of a gun. Guns owned by real, meat-eating, beer-bellied, heart-diseased ‘Mericans! Where’s my Rascal scooter? (more…)
Vice: Tattoo Age Valerie Vargas Bonus Footage (VIDEO)
While we’re waiting for the premiere of Tattoo Age’s Thom DeVita killer episode, we just released some Valerie Vargas Bonus Footage. Vargas takes us to meet the legendary English tattooer Lal Hardy who has been tattooing since 1975 and is generally considered to be one of the people who elevated tattooing in the UK in the 1980s.
[More info on expanded page]
Victor Farinelli: Ink Master Review (Episode 5)
By Victor Farinelli
Before I get started on the recap, I want to rattle some cages. There is some gab on the inter-webs about the contestants on Ink Master “stealing” tattoos from other artists. Don’t know if it is true or not, but some interesting tidbit came to my awareness that is kinda funny. Not funny: “ha-ha,” I mean funny “hmmmm.”
On Episode IV, Trey “Big Daddy” Benham did a piston with flames on his client’s arm for the new school challenge. It was a decent tattoo, one of the better ones I have seen of that kind of idea. Well, buzz-buzz, the inter-webs start throwing around the suggestion that this was actually taken, almost exactly, from a tattoo that was done by one of last year’s contestants, Jeremy Miller. So like the old “You Make the Call” segment on Monday Night Football… well, yeah; you make the call… (more…)
Crystal Morey: William Thidemann Interview
By Crystal Morey
I just spent a couple weeks in Colorado, participating in the Paradise Gathering giving seminars and at Kaze Gallery in Denver, and I got a chance to sit down with one of Kaze’s owners William Thidemann. I love talking to William. His world is wonderfully black and white and he filters it through a well thought out canon of ethics that centers on respect and hard work. It is incredibly refreshing to come home to the states and find that it isn’t all reality TV and triple Big Gulps, there are still people there working to improve their lot and who inspire growth in those around them. William’s demeanor impressed me… his door seemed to be open to anyone who comes in earnest, be it a hot mess needing to cover up her old lover inspired tattoos, or younger tattooers looking for help with compositions and design. He was like minor royalty… ha-ha, like a duke. The Duke of Denver! But seriously I appreciate his pragmatic view of the world and his steadfast dedication to the code he lives by. Interviewing him was a treat… (more…)
*NEW* Scott Harrison Paintings Available
All paintings are unframed, ink on paper unless otherwise noted, prices include domestic shipping and handling, payment can be made through PayPal or money order. E-mail me with the E-mail address at which you’d prefer to receive the PayPal money request or to reserve the painting until I receive the money order. Paintings are sold on a first e-mail, first served basis… headbandbrothers@hotmail.com (more…)
Dawn Cooke: Ask Not What Your Culture Can Do For You, But What Can You Do For Your Culture
By Dawn Cooke
I have been thinking lately about how important it is to support the culture and community of tattooing. It seems like a no-brainer, but I noticed that it doesn’t seem like people have any real criteria for the support they do give. It’s almost like people have an odd biased that is based on a “what can I get out of this” attitude. This makes sense since we have such a capitalist environment at play… (more…)
Vice Magazine: Tattoo Age Thom deVita Extended Trailer (VIDEO)
The next Tattoo Age series is about Thom deVita. Thom is an artist on many levels, and tattooing is just one of the ways he expresses himself. He began tattooing in New York City in the late 60s, when the practice was illegal. In this episode, which starts on November 21, we will hear from Don Ed Hardy, Nick Bubash, Scott Harrison, John Wyatt, Angelo Scotto, Bubba Reeves, and Robert Ryan, as we try to tell the epic story of Thom deVita, the artist. (more…)
Victor Farinelli: Ink Master Review (Episode 4)
By Victor Farinelli “Tattoo Her What?!” or “I am a Tattoo Artist That Leads a Sheltered Life.”
So the big hub-bub about this episode is that a gal wanted to get a phoenix coming out of her tunnel of love. It seems that all the artists thought this was over the top. They played this little segment on every preview. Come on folks. This is old hat. Dave Lum was thinking shit up like this all day in the late 80s/early 90s – and much better ideas I might add. Steve “throw the horns” Tefft asked, “Where do they get these people?” I think that they are in every town. One just hasn’t popped in your shop yet Mr. Tefft… (more…)
Bryan Burk Article Preview for Tattoo Artist Magazine Issue #32
Cover By Byran Burk
Interview by Miguel Montgomery & Adam Warmerdam
Miguel Montgomery: On a little bit of a different note about your tattooing, I’ve seen some Japanese tattoos with American roses in the background. I haven’t seen too much of that. Did something spark that made you want to do that? Or did you just take it upon yourself, like ‘this snake needs a rose next to it’?
Bryan Burk: There were a few conversations I had when I was working with Bob about how we should try doing that stuff. And there were some kids that I had tattooed on, one was my friend Jeff, who’d gotten a bunch of tattoos and wanted to fill in all the space around them. So he was one of the first people that I filled in with roses and water around everything because it kind of fit in all these little spaces he had. On his it worked, and I think if you’re gonna do blue water with roses and some American stuff, it works. As long as you kinda keep it pumped up on the American side of town; color clouds and blue water with black behind all of that, like Eddy Deutsche, like Eddy meets late Sailor Jerry-type Japanese compositions, it’ll work. But I think if you’re doing black Japanese background with grey water, for whatever reason, roses look weird… (more…)
Health Issues With Tattooing (Mike Rubendall)
By Petri Aspvik
Petri Aspvik: What type of physical problem have you encountered due to tattooing?
Mike Rubendall: Before I was physically active and aware of what being in good health was, I had major back and neck pain. It seems to be a common problem amongst tattooers due to poor posture and long hours of tattooing throughout the years.
Have you had to see a doctor, chiropractor, masseuse therapist, acupuncturist or anything similar because of problems or because you want to avoid them?
I would regularly see a massage and physical therapist. They have been helpful for me for the most part. However, I feel maintaining a healthy diet and exercise is a more effective method to avoid any type of chronic pain caused by tattooing… (more…)
Vice Magazine: Tattoo Age Mutsuo Episode III (VIDEO)
In Part 3, Mutsuo reflects on the blurry line of legality of tattooing in Japan, along with the prejudice against tattooed individuals that still lingers within society today, where people with tattoos are not welcome in public baths, beaches, pools, etc. He muses on why tattooing makes him happy and provides personal thoughts on spirituality, while bringing us to local temples of his hometown and introducing us to his lovely family. (more…)
Victor Farinelli: Ink Master Review (Episode 3)
By Victor Farinelli
This week’s episode is titled “80-Year-Old Virgin” or “I Have No Respect for Traditional Tattoos.”
You don’t have to be part of the skinhead retirement program to have respect for traditional tattoos. The masonic temple that is Western tattooing is built on its foundation. It is our history. I was looking forward to this challenge to see if all these photo-realism/new school scamps could pull off something that a lot of middle of the road, i.e. this glum lot, take for granted. In short, do not get a traditional tattoo from any of these wenches and scalawags. It hurt my head to watch it. The only redeeming value of this episode is that Richard Stell was a guest judge, and Oliver looks like he could give two-shits-and-a-fuck about being there. Riddle me this: Why does Dave Navarro always have duckface? It is a peculiar look… (more…)
Chente Rios Article Preview for Tattoo Artist Magazine Issue #32
Workhorse Irons Builder Gathering 2012 Teaser III
Workhorse Irons Tattoo Machine Builder Gathering 2012 featuring SOBA, Seth Ciferri, Cory Rogers, Mike Pike, Chris Smith, Chris Quidgeon, Marv Lerning, and Special Technique’s Ugly Bill, plus a guest visit from Bill Waverly.
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Workhorse Irons Builder Gathering 2012 Teaser II
Workhorse Irons Tattoo Machine Builder Gathering 2012 featuring SOBA, Seth Ciferri, Cory Rogers, Mike Pike, Chris Smith, Chris Quidgeon, Marv Lerning, and Special Technique’s Ugly Bill, plus a guest visit from Bill Waverly.
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Marcus Kuhn: The Gypsy Gentleman Episode V (VIDEO)
Here is just one extraordinary example of our collective creative potential when it’s put into motion! This is Marcus’ contribution to our community. If you really ‘get it’ and want to help Marcus make more or spread the word, link The Gypsy Gentleman to your own site and blog. These episodes will only get better as Marcus and his crew gain experience and a decent budget. Enjoy! -Crash
Send PayPal Donations by cut-and-pasting this link and then clicking the “donate” icon above: justgoodtattoos@yahoo.com
Workhorse Irons Builder Gathering 2012 Teaser
Workhorse Irons Tattoo Machine Builder Gathering 2012 featuring SOBA, Seth Ciferri, Cory Rogers, Mike Pike, Chris Smith, Chris Quidgeon, Marv Lerning, and Special Technique’s Ugly Bill, plus a guest visit from Bill Waverly.
(more…)
Vice Magazine: Tattoo Age Mutsuo Episode II (VIDEO)
In this episode of Tattoo Age we delve into the history of Three Tides Tattoo. We hear from Mutsuo, Chris Garver, and Masa Sakamoto, as they give us insight into how western-style tattooing gained ground in Japan after the 1999 Tokyo Convention. We also hear about all the guest artists who have contributed to making Mutsuo the artist he is today.
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