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 […]
Category: Tattoo
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 […]
Secret Sidewalk Tattoos History and 20th Anniversary
Eddy Reyes Sr was born in 1975 in Pajacuran, Mexico, and immigrated to the Bay Area of northern California, USA, at two years old. He began tattooing at 13 with a handcrafted machine and became a professional in 1995. He planned to utilize tattoos to depict the Bay Area by fusing what he saw on […]
Sop’s Single-Needle Tattoos
Sop, a native of Seoul, has been tattooing since 2016 and has a private studio in the South Korean city. His delicate line-art technique depicts his inner kid with whimsical, flowing lines. Sop aspires to be as proficient with line drawing as the renowned French cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé (1932–2022), known for many children’s books. Using […]
Freddy Corbin, Oakland’s Tattoo God
Freddy Corbin was born in Tampa, Florida, in 1966, grew up in Sacramento, and at 18, went to San Francisco, California, to pursue a career as a tattoo artist. Joshua Golden gives him his first professional tattoo at Lyle Tuttle’s shop. Corbin spent a lot of time at studios and received body art from various […]
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 […]
Outer Limits: The United States’ Oldest Tattoo Shop
Kari Barba (1960–) is a distinguished, award-winning tattoo artist with more than four decades of expertise in the industry. She is a co-owner of Outer Limits Tattoo & Museum, the oldest continually functioning tattoo studio in the United States and the second-oldest in the world. This establishment was founded in 1927 by an unidentified person […]
Snakes and Dragons: A Chat with Tattooer Intat
Intat served almost two years in the military after dropping out of college. His index finger was nearly amputated due to a terrible hand accident he suffered while on active duty. After finishing his military service, he studied tattooing and developed more effective hand-use methods since he had lost most of his sense of touch […]
Girin’s Fine-Line Illustrative Body Art
32-year-old Girin studied animation and cartooning at Sejong University in Seoul and taught at an art academy for a while. Still, he was more intrigued by tattoo art and learning the craft. Self-taught and beginning a career in tattooing in 2017, Girin enjoys utilizing a three-needle liner to give a great deal of texture and depth […]
State of Grace Tattoo Studio’s Twentieth Anniversary
We interviewed tattoo legend Takahiro “Taki” Kitamura; we are now in San Jose, California, for his studio’s 20th-anniversary celebration. In addition to permanent and guest artists tattooing in the shop, there is street art, a panel discussion, an art display, and much more. State of Grace studio collaborated with Empire Seven Studios, the Japanese American […]