By Paul Dobleman:
Once again, more ass! April’s winner is Hollywood Nelson! I chose this story because it was written so well. Congratulations! Hollywood Nelson, you’re an asshole! She chose the griffin donkey for her collection… (more…)
Story and Photos by Nate Igor Smith
As I write this I am currently on a flight from Los Angeles to New York City on my way home from shooting the Musink tattoo convention and music festival in Orange County, CA. I was out there working for Sailor Jerry and having some fun along the way. Sailor Jerry once again set up a trailer to tattoo bands, promote the brand and host some serious games of corn hole. Dan Smith was doing the tattoos all weekend and tattooed bands like New Found Glory, Bayside, Paramore, Against Me! and a bunch of others… (more…)
By Paul Dobleman:
Once again, many great stories. I chose this one because of its random simplicity and it was original compared to “I spit in my bosses face” type stories. So this asshole also wanted no photo of herself and to remain candid we will call her “Alex” Asshole of the month… (more…)
By Paul Dobleman:
There were a lot of good ones but this is the winner for January and the first asshole of the year! Due to the nature of the story this person wanted to remain candid so we’ll just call him, James. This is James’s story…
By Paul Dobleman
Send me a story via letter or e-mail of why you are the asshole of the month! If your story gets chosen, you win a free donkey tattoo from the asshole of the month flash page. This will be for 2012 only and each winners story that was chosen proving them to be the asshole of the month will be posted on Tattoo Artist Magazine’s blog, along with a picture of themself and the donkey tattoo they chose.
Lindsey Carmichael: But you are not the type of person I know to be affected in a negative way by nonsense. And most of the people who would have negative things to say about the show or whatever—it wouldn’t affect you. From what I’ve seen, in your life- only great, positive things have come of this. So, I’m just wondering, what the experience was like? It seems at times overwhelming, but mostly great…
Dan Smith: Well it’s such a funny thing, because everybody and their dog has an opinion about it. Yet, no one really knows about it. Everyone wants to know about it, and wants to talk about it, but it is what it is. How much thought and energy do you want to put into the fact that it’s a TV show? In order for tattooing to be a TV show, it has to cover some stuff that’s exaggerated, or that might not be 100 percent accurate, or whatever else. That’s just being realistic about what TV is.
LC: It’s a show.
DS: Why should that make you have an opinion about somebody that you don’t know, haven’t met and haven’t had a conversation with? You know? They film for 50 or 60 hours a week and put that into a 45-minute show…
Dan Smith (as seen on TLC’s LA Ink) has been working hard on putting one of the best straight edge tattooer books together. Come on out for a night you wont soon forget!
“A collection of tattoos, art, and profiles some of the best Straight Edge Tattoo Artists in the world”
Dan Smith Book Signing & Release Party (Available for purchase or bring your own copy) 9 x 13 – 256 Page Hard Cover Book Book price: $50
If you can’t make the release, you can order your copy HERE. (more…)
Alright, this year’s trip to Paradise Tattoo Gathering was super cool, and I also had a chance to go to Off The Map Tattoo and guest-spot the week of the show.
Let’s just say that the name Off The Map is fitting! It’s in small town USA where nobody locks their doors or cars, which seemed weird to me because back home in L.A. we lock up everything, including the dogs…
By Nick Schonberger Courtesy of Complex: Few tattoos are as classic as “Mom” emblazoned in a banner with heart. Or, as ridiculed as a mistaken ode to a now former girlfriend.
Regardless of inspiration, letter based tattoos are as common as they are easy to screw up.
We know you don’t want to end up on LOLtatz or a year-end ”fails” list. So, Complex enlisted BJ Betts, type titan and author of several acclaimed tattoo industry lettering guides to ensure readers get it right. Follow these simple steps and you’ll be well on your way to the text-based tattoo of your dreams. Check out The Complex Guide to Tattoo Lettering... (more…)
By Dan Smith
I thought showing how I would attempt a tattoo from the reference stage to sketching, to completion, would be an interesting blog post for Tattoo Artist Magazine (TAM). As this is an industry magazine, and similar posts have been done on reference/inspiration and technique/execution, I know I am not “giving anything away” that isn’t already out there, but mainly showing how I would do it…
I’m going to start this out by saying what an incredibly long week it was leading up to this convention. Crash, John and I all woke at 4 a.m. (well Crash and I did, I think John got up at 5 a.m.) to catch a flight from Atlanta to L.A. on June 3rd…
By Crash
I’m too old for this shit, but damn, what an adventure! I thought I could write something short to share the TAM Road Trip journey and give TAM Blog a little more content. I believe the potentials we have with the TAM Blog are pretty evident, and given enough time, can be fashioned into something powerful, entertaining and educational…
By Takahiro “Horitaka” Kitamura
My first blog…
I’ve never blogged before but I’ve been a contributor/reader/supporter of Tattoo Artist Magazine since its inception, and so when Crash asked me to join the new blogging crew, I readily agreed. I figure it’ll be a mix of tattoo news, upcoming projects, food posts and photos of my dog… Very similar to my Facebook probably. Hope ya”ll like it… (more…)
By Rose Riot
Keith Morris is known as one of the godfathers of American Punk. He is responsible for fronting two of the most crucial bands in the genre, Black Flag and The Circle Jerks. His latest band, Off! is creating a stir among fans young and old. The word on the streets is that Off! is the real punk rock deal. Having seen them recently at SXSW, I would agree. I felt honored that I was granted an interview with Keith, a man who has a lot to say and some great stories to tell… (more…)
May 4, 2011 marked another milestone in the tattooing world with True Tattoo’s Grand Re-opening in Hollywood, Ca. Oliver Peck bought True Tattoo from long time friend Clay Decker January 1st this year, and in true Pecker fashion decided it was time for a party!!! [Video on expanded page](more…)
Jack Rudy is a world-renowned tattoo artist and has become a staple in the community by producing a body of work spanning 35 years. Jack and his peers revolutionized the genre of black and grey, fine-line tattooing making it one of the most popular styles found in today’s culture…[Video and pictures on expanded page]
This post will be much like the Fresno convention, short and sweet! The Fresno convention is one of those rare two-day shows that has all the talent and pageantry of a three-day convention, without the Friday blues that many of us are accustomed to. There are very few shows where you don’t hear at least one person say, “Friday was slow… I’ll kill it on Saturday.” So Fresno just cuts out the Friday complaints and gets right to it on Saturday… [Video on expanded page](more…)
“If you don’t have roots, you don’t have shit…” -Mike Ness By Crash and Jimmy Perlman. Photos by Rose Riot.
Crash: All right Mike- You’ve been getting tattooed for a long time, so this isn’t a fad thing for you…and one thing I’ve noticed about younger bands is that they tend to just pop up fully tattooed- it’s like ‘instant street cred’ or something… (more…)
By Paul Dobleman: 
Story and Photos by Nate Igor Smith
By Paul Dobleman
By Big Gus
By Nick Schonberger
By Dan Smith
By Kent Smith
By Crash
By Takahiro “Horitaka” Kitamura
By Rose Riot
May 4, 2011 marked another milestone in the tattooing world with True Tattoo’s Grand Re-opening in Hollywood, Ca. Oliver Peck bought True Tattoo from long time friend Clay Decker January 1st this year, and in true Pecker fashion decided it was time for a party!!! [Video on expanded page] (more…)
Jack Rudy is a world-renowned tattoo artist and has become a staple in the community by producing a body of work spanning 35 years. Jack and his peers revolutionized the genre of black and grey, fine-line tattooing making it one of the most popular styles found in today’s culture…[Video and pictures on expanded page]
By John
