Gyan, a 31-year-old from Seoul, studied graphic design in college and later worked in a studio producing posters, books, and videos. He worked as a freelance illustrator before becoming a tattoo artist a few years ago. His love for drawing and imagery led him to believe he could translate well to tattooing, and he gets […]
Category: Tattoo
Yerae’s Flower Tattoos and Scar Cover-ups
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 […]
The Universal Code: An Interview with Tattooist Mikhail Nechaev
Mikhail Nechaev is based in Germany and frequently travels to tattoo guest spots across Europe. 2014 marked his graduation from a technical university with a degree in Electrical Equipment and Power Supply Engineering for Enterprises, Organizations, and Institutions. As a former executive chef of a high-end Japanese restaurant, he believed that becoming a tattoo artist […]
A Dialogue with Gigi Regarding Her Line Art Tattoos
Gigi, a 35-year-old native of Seoul, enrolled at Suwon University to study apparel and textiles but left after the first year to become a fitness instructor and then a tattooist. With only three years of professional tattooing experience and a strong desire to learn, she has received plenty of advice from skilled Korean tattooers. Her […]
Madame Chinchilla and Mr G: Triangle Tattoo & Museum
Tattoo enthusiasts must visit Triangle Tattoo & Museum in Fort Bragg on the Mendocino County coast of California. Madame Chinchilla and Mr G, tattoo artists, industry historians, and life partners, founded this space in 1986. Both had trained under Bert Rodriguez, a Mexican-American tattoo artist who started a Santa Rosa studio in 1978 and the Tattoos & […]
The 5th Seaside Tattoo Show at Ventura County Fairgrounds
The first-ever Ventura County Fair was held in 1874 at the conclusion of the local San Miguel Days agricultural festival; 149 years later, Christina Diaz organized the 5th Seaside Tattoo Show at the Fairgrounds in a Quonset hut named San Miguel. The Pacific Ocean is so close to this venue that it can be heard […]
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 […]
2023 Capitol City Classic Tattoo Convention
In the second year of the Capitol City Classic Convention, held on May 19 to 21, the event hosted by Sacramento’s Royal Peacock Tattoo Parlor attempted to improve by avoiding the Mother’s Day weekend and moving the convention a week later, as well as bringing in talents such as Tin-Tin, Eddy Deutsche, Tutti Serra, Fibs and others who […]
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 […]
Shane Tan’s Complete Collection, From Paintings to Japanese Tattoos
Shane Tan, known for his triumph in Japanese-style tattooing, spent seven years developing his self-titled book. Tan’s passion for woodblock print masters is evident in the 448 pages of hand-drawn line drawings, paintings, and tattooing of characters ranging from Tenjiku Tokubei to Nango Rikimaru. Although woodblock imagery has a long history, it flourished as a […]