My next large-scale coffee table book project for Edition Reuss will be a massive collection of top New School work from around the globe. Of course, the term New School itself is pretty fluid and not universally defined, but my approach is to highlight cartoony/animated tattoos that follow the Americana traditions of strong linework and readability but color bombed with vibrant hues, morphed into fantastical characters and imbued with a lot of sexy fun and humor. Think Joe Capobianco, Tony Ciavarro, Jime Litwalk and Kristel Oreto. [*And Joe just reminded me of Dave Fox's work, of course!]

In researching, I've come across many artists beyond the US who have really exciting portfolios that I have to share with y'all. Here's the first artist in this series:

Check Kowhey of  Balance Tattoo in Miyazaki City in Japan.

Of course a trip to the Japanese island of Kyushu would be a sweet tattoo vacation, but Kowhey is also traveling to conventions worldwide to work his psychedelic interpretations of ancient Japanese myths as well as tricked-out Americana motifs like pin-ups, pirates and pirate pin-ups.

You can find more of his work here.