Yerae, born in Jeju, South Korea, in 1989, had a traditional upbringing in which her parents insisted she obtain a stable career that did not include being an artist. Her grandfather, who engaged in art, recognized Yerae’s talent and provided her with drawing supplies and encouragement to pursue her artistic ambitions. Yerae became a tattooer in 2020 […]
Category: Color
Tattooer Jimmy Shy is Reviving Pinky Yun’s Legacy
Taiwanese Jimmy Shy’s vibrant dragon and tiger artwork is essential to the present and the past of tattooing. Takahiro Kitamura’s 2023 book “Tattoo Master Pinky Yun: The Don Ed Hardy Flash Collection” featured his rebirth of Yun’s (1927-2010) iconic artwork. According to Jimmy Shy’s remark for that publication, “Pinky Yun (…) is the godfather of the Asian […]
Swani’s Ceramic Fine-Line Tattoos
Swani, a native of Seoul who is 31 years old, enrolled in 2014 at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Limoges in France, which offered a major in ceramic arts and design but ultimately decided to pursue a career as a tattooist. Before becoming a professional tattooer in 2017, he studied for two years under the […]
Upcoming Book Release: Tattoo Master Pinky Yun
Scorpion Front Publishing will print “Tattoo Master Pinky Yun: The Don Ed Hardy Flash Collection” by author and American-Japanese tattooist Takahiro Kitamura in March 2023. The life and work of Pinky Yun, born in Canton, China, on October 29, 1927, are shown on 111 pages in a 90s-style graphic arrangement. Yun moved to Hong Kong […]
Adriaan Machete, Acclaimed Neo-Traditional Tattooist
Inspired by the work of Renaissance and Art Nouveau painters, German tattooist Adriaan Machete is renowned worldwide for his delicate and exquisitely colored body art. His professional tattoo career began around 2007 after he apprenticed with Iban Maya. His major break came in 2010 when he was invited to be a guest artist in various […]
Arirang’s Painterly Tattoos
Arirang developed an interest in the arts at a young age and wished to further his studies in them, but his family did not have the financial means to do so. He worked for years at a car wash, restaurants, and bars, and as a tiler on a construction site to save money to become a […]
Q&As with Yeono about Photorealistic Tattoos
When Yeono was 17 years old, her mother decided she wanted a tattoo and sought her assistance in locating an artist. She was awestruck by the precision and artistry of Japanese tattoos (especially the extraordinary backpieces). Yeono quickly connected with tattooing and realized it would be her lifelong passion and profession. She investigated the possibility of following the […]
Taki: One of America’s Finest Japanese Tattoo Artists
Takahiro “Taki” Kitamura was born in Tokyo in 1973 and moved to the United States with his parents when he was two. His father taught for 18 years at the University of California, Davis (UCD), and his mother instilled Japanese culture in her children, from cuisine to folktales, to preserve their history. Kitamura got his […]
Fluffy Talks About Her Floral Animal Tattoos
Fluffy, a member of a new school of South Korean tattooers who likes tiny, intricate tattoos, has learned the skill at Seoul’s Studio by Sol Academy. Cats, snakes, and dolphins embody flowers and vivid hues. The customers seek it to depict their beloved family pets or significant others. And like her colleagues, Fluffy seeks to […]
Interview with Jehoo on Stylized Reinterpretations of the East
Jehoo was born in 1980 in Pohang, South Korea. After studying electricity in high school, he supported his family as a mechanical engineer for the steel industry for a decade. After ten years, he decided to become a tattooer, but due to a lack of apprenticeships in his country, he was forced to learn independently; […]