Ok, this isn't my usual monolithic tattoo news review as I've been on the convention circuit for the past two weeks, but I wanted to share some things I found when I opened my eyes and Inbox this morn.

First, before I even reached for my first cup, The NY Times greeted me with the image above (by Ashley Gilbertson) of the coffee knux tattoo in its article on the best cafes in NYC. And it reminded me of an old fave on KnuckleTattoos.com of such career killers wrapped around a cup of coffee. And then it made me long once more to tattoo my hands. And then I remembered that one day I may need to be employable once more. And then I also remembered that the Times article had nothing to do with tattoos, so I drank some coffee and moved on.


Then, my Inbox dinged with a real tattoo story: Daily Candy's front page profile today on the fabulous Amanda Wachob. And while the word "tats" and phrase "upgrade your tramp stamp" made coffee shoot out my nostrils in frustration, it is nice to see a great artist get some sweet props from the masses. We featured Amanda here last October and noted her experimental tattoo projects that got us hyped (sans caffeine). Here's a sample of Amanda's work below.

And finally, just before I was about to click publish on this post, I got a Facebook reminder that, tomorrow, Amelia Klem Osterud will discuss her book The Tattooed Lady: A History at Word bookstore in Brooklyn from 7:30-9PM. We featured the book here in November and I've devoured my copy since. As an added bonus, tattoo artists Bad News Becca and Emma of Porcupine Tattoo will be discussing their work.

So, that's the run down of tattoo goodness I found all before noon. A good omen for the day. [The mega-round up will be up soon. I hope.]

Here's a tattoo pursuit making me love Canadians even more: The Two Dollar Tattoo Project.

In essence, it's a challenge to inspire tattooists to create works beyond their comfort zone and then share their creations online. It's also a way for shy collectors to get an artful little tattoo without the big reveal. And for me, it's another part of my tattoo voyeurism as I love seeing blog updates of work coming in that are fun and well done.

The project is founded by "eccentric curmudgeons" Philip Barbosa from Stick & Poke, George Brown and Matt Ellis of Seven Crowns Tattoo, and Alie K. at TCB Tattoo Parlour. Let me let them tell you the details of Two Dollar Tattoo:

"All artists participating will be expected to create unique works of tattoo art executed with only a single needle (as in single-needle configuration, No cheating using a round or a mag for any of the tattoo!). Line-work, shading, colour...all must be executed with the same needle! The size of the final product will be expected to fill the space of a "toonie", a Canadian two-dollar coin (approximately 28mm or 1 1/8" in diameter). The artist should utilize all of the space within the circle since in this case its not just size that matters. The Two Dollar Tattoo Project is expected to be both a game of camaraderie as well as a professional courtesy for artists and industry people. The only monetary exchange for the tattoo is to be a shiny Canadian $2 coin, which can be used for sizing of the drawing and final stencil, and MUST be utilized as proof of compliance with the set parameters."

The video above (found here on YouTube) shows how it's done. More details can be found on the site's right sidebar.

And as for how these tattoos heal and will age (that is, will the lines spread into each other becoming a two dollar blob) ... well, here's their answer.  

Like David Hasselfhoff and unpasteurized cheese, tattoos are big in Germany, and this weekend, I got a large dose of all (a little less Hoff than cheddar but one in the same). The 18th Annual Frankfurt Tattoo Convention -- yes, the convention was older than some of the attendees -- kicked off this past Friday in its usual spot: The Messe Frankfurt, a massive modern expo hall in the center of this commercial city.

It wasn't my first Frankfurt tattoo foray. It was about seven or eight years ago when I last attended and, other than a shorter artist list and more vendors, much hadn't changed. There are certain elements that give this gathering its own specialness, which I will list for you but first...

Frankfurt Tattoo Convention photos. Photos I obviously didn't take as they're in focus.

Ok, key points on the show:

1. Lots of Germans. They may not understand all my jokes and refer to me as a "small hyper person," but there was a lot o' love. Most at the Frankfurt show were serious collectors with large intricate work that harmonized really beautifully with their bods. Typical German craftsmanship.

2. A dearth of hipsters. Some say hipsters are as likely to be seen at a tattoo con as in Target, but I've seen enough getting their asses tattooed with Hello Kitty (one is enough!), or the ubiquitous ironic tattoo that keeps booths busy, to say otherwise. Maybe it's an American thing. Because as I walked through the crowded aisles of the convention hall, I looked around in wonder and thought to myself: "Wow. I haven't seen one dude who would ask to borrow his girlfriend's skinny jeans and Spice Girls tee." [Well, maybe except for this dude.] I took a deep breathe of that testosterone and it smelled good. 

3. Germany still holds the record for most tribal and blackwork tattoos per capita. And considering that I'm covered in blackwork [and even did a book on it, ahem], I was giddy being among my tribe. It was in serious contrast being at the Detroit convention the previous weekend where barely any people entered the tribal competition. In Frankfurt, there even was a portion of the hall sectioned off -- complete with Tiki hut -- where traditional tattooists, including Vatea, Roonui, and the Suluape family, worked by hand and machine. That said, I did notice that European artists were working in way more black and gray as well as fantasy & comic-styled tattoos.

4. Convention food sucks all over the world and Frankfurt was no exception. I'm not asking for haute cuisine, just something I can digest. And oh, my heart goes out to convention-going vegans. Best bet: always pack a lunch.

5. Finally, the very best part of Frankfurt, and any show, is seeing friends whom I only run into a few times a year in different cities, in different countries. It always makes me feel that there still is a "tattoo community." Shout-outs to Volle, who tattooed his Maori inspired art non-stop but still had time to look up and crack jokes; Elson Yeo of Singapore, who did a rockin horror sleeve over extensive scars, working the keloids perfectly into the design; and Clarabella of Brazil, my first Euro-convention homegirl who has been accessorizing me for over a decade.


So, I landed back into Brooklyn just a couple of hours ago and will now settle into my jet lag. I'm taking a convention break until the NYC one in May so if you have photos and stories of those you're heading to, send 'em my way.

Auf Wiedersehen.

Not that I spend a lot of time - or any time for that matter - reading Entertainment Weekly, but Jay Fingers from The Ministry of Cool and StereoCool brought this article to my attention the other night over some adult beverages at the Needles and Sins Compound.

Turns out that Penguin Books is releasing a "Penguin Inks" series "in which the publisher commissioned tattoo artists and illustrators to re-imagine the covers of six modern classics."



Of course, they fail to mention anywhere the names of these tattoo artists, so I can't exactly give credit where it's due.  In fact, it really wouldn't surprise me if they just hired an in-house design team to do something in a "tattoo style." 

Now that I think about it, I really can't understand why any of these books would need tattoo-centric cover art.  From the standpoint of a graphic designer, I don't understand how this stylistic choice represents or enhances the stories beneath the dust-jacket; other than a "Well, tattoos are cool" perspective.

What are your thoughts?  Anyone know who these artists are?

(Oh, and while I have my "graphic designer" cap on, I'd like you all to know that I did the cover art - as well as produce and engineer - a pair of indie/electro tracks for Alex Walker, available right now as a free download from Lapdance Academy.  You can grab them in high quality MP3 format right over here.)

When trolling around the Detroit Tattoo Expo this past weekend, I previewed an upcoming art book that will be a must for your library:

Pint Size Paintings: Miniature Paintings by Big Artists.

In essence, Durb Morrison and the Hell City crew have curated a 224-page hardcover art book featuring paintings done on mini-canvases, specifically 2" x 3". Fine art from top tattooists like  Kari Barba, Aaron Bell, Zsolt Sarkozi, Nick Baxter, Guy Aitchison & Michelle Wortman, among so many, many others, are displayed in gallery format. With Volume 2 already in the works, Pint Size Paintings may grow to be the biggest collection of miniature artwork any where.

The canvases may be small, but there's nothing meager about the artwork. In fact, working on this scale was a challenge to many artists. I particularly like how Damon Conklin described it:

Miniature painting teaches the art of delivering only the lean nutrients of a piece ... graphic glorification of the lowest common denominator. No bones no fat no bullshit only the most important strokes of beauty.

The debut show of these mini- masterpieces will take place at Hell City Killumbus 2010 in May along with the book's release.

You can get a preview of the work yourself, including the ones below by Guy, Nick and Kari, on the book's MySpace photo page.

My guess is that the book will sell out fast, so it's probably best to pre-order it for about $30 from the Hell City Books online.

[Ed. note - Brian Grosz has been getting tattooed by Mike Rubendall of Kings Ave Tattoo for several years now.  His previous reflections on the process can be found here.]

Outside of the fluorescent lighting and the lack of leg-room, the train ride out to Massapequa was fairly painless.  Ordinarily, I drive out to my sessions at Kings Ave Tattoo, but given the miserable weather (and the fact that NYC trending topics on Twitter were "Snowpocalypse" and "SnowtoriousBIG"), I decided that mass transit was the way to go.  After all, I find driving in Long Island to be fairly treacherous in the first place, but the moment the weather turns sour, my van pulls a Cinderella and morphs into a giant lunchbox/cinder-block with Lindsay Lohan behind the wheel after a long night at the club.

I ducked into the cab-stand at the train station, which was manned by a squat man with hair plugs watching horse racing on a flickering television set.  When he asked where I was heading and I replied, "844 Broadway at North Kings," he keyed the button on his dispatch handset and growled, "Someone get down here - I got one for the tattoo shop!"  I suppose it's a popular destination in them there parts...

The cab screeched up outside and as I closed the door behind me, my driver - an older guy in a satin "Vietnam Vet" baseball jacket and presumably a laryngectomy - turned around, raised a device to his throat and asked in a robotic montone, "Tattoo shop?"

I responded in the affirmative as casually as I could, thinking to myself, "Jesus, I've gotta quit smoking..."  But, as he spun the wheels and swerved out onto Broadway, I was hit with the notion that I'd actually had this very same cab driver in Poughkeepsie, NY, over a decade ago.  After all, both hacks had the same flagrant disregard for traffic laws and the passenger's bill of rights.

While Mike was setting up and choosing colors for the left side of my chest (I've tried to keep this piece entirely in his hands in terms of color choice, design elements, etc), I mentioned my experience with my cyborg cab driver and the long-shot possibility that he had driven me to the Poughkeepsie train station back in '98.

"He's been driving forever and he did disappear for a few years - it's totally a possibility."

"No shit," I mused.  "But I figured it would be rude if I asked him, based solely on the cabby/voice-box connection."

"Well," Mike proposed with a smile, "You could've asked him, 'Do you have a brother in Poughkeepsie?  Because I know a cabby up there who sounds just like you...'"

A couple of hours later, we had completed the color for the Fu dog on my left side: orange and golden mane, red spots and blue eyes (for my father; the dog on the right will have green eyes, like my mother and an inverted color scheme).  As I carefully slid into my shirt and coat to venture back out into the cold, Eric at the front desk rang up the cab company for my return trip to the train station.  Apparently someone on the other line picked up because he simply replied, "Yeah" and hung up the phone.

"That was easy," I said.

In his best impression of the dispatcher he said gruffly, "Tattoo shop - one goin to the rail, right?"

I could only imagine who would be my driver on the way back... Admittedly, I was kinda hoping for Handsome John Pruitt - that guy with the hook for a hand who drove the tow-truck in Adventures In Babysitting.

###

[Kings Avenue Tattoo is located in Massapequa, Long Island and is home to artists Mike Rubendall, Grez, Matt Beckerich, Justin Weatherholtz and Brian Paul.  For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call 516-799-5464]

John Mack is back with another story about getting tattooed by Horiyoshi III over the course of nine years. Check out his previous posts:  Part I Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, and Part VI.


During the first years of my visits to Horiyoshi III, all manner of tattoo devotees were constantly present: foreign and domestic apprentices, Horiyoshi's clients, Horitomo and his clients, journalists, even graduate students researching their masters thesis or doctoral dissertation.

Quite a few of the apprentices and clients I recognized from photographs in the various books about Horiyoshi's work. This photo of was taken by Mr. Handa, who appeared in Takahiro Kitamura's book Bushido: Legacies of Japanese Tattoo. This book influenced my tattoo choices, and here was one of the characters from the book taking pictures of my tattoos! What a role reversal. [See a larger image of the above on Flickr.]

Everyone took advantage of the opportunity to brandish their tattoos. Japanese of many occupations change clothes for work, which allowed the apprentices to show more skin, and of course we clients had to expose our tattoos. Outside the studio, tattoos could be displayed only at public baths and once a year at festivals, so this was a welcome respite from the disapproval lurking out there in the real Japan.

Everyone was polite, yet quite interested to see each others tattoos in progress. When I undressed, those present would take the opportunity to scrutinize me. Privacy was not a part of this experience. Nonetheless, I became accustomed to it, and I too was able to observe many superb tattoos.


Around 2007, the scene changed. The hangers-on were gone, and Horiyoshi and I were regularly alone during my appointments. Journalists, sensing the the opportunity to record the end of an era, descended on the studios, where Horiyoshi welcomed them. I found it interesting to listen in on the interviews and even got the opportunity to comment myself.

Once in 2008, I arrived at the tiny Isecho studio to find it jammed with photographic equipment, a columnist for Tattoo Master magazine, an interpreter and a photographer. They took this fine cover photo for the Spring 2009 issue right there in that tiny room.

The mix of clients has changed over the years as well. In the early years of my experience, most appeared to be construction tradesmen, followed by non-Japanese, then Yakuza.

In 2009, I mentioned these changes in clientele to Horiyoshi and asked about the current mix. He gave the following estimate by profession:

• * 60% Craftsmen and tradesmen. I found that many of these clients were themselves tattooists.

• * 10% Yakuza.; Horiyoshi added that there are other tattoo artists whose clientele is almost entirely Yakuza.

• * 30% Other.  "You're in this category, John-san," he told me with a grin.

As for nationality, 30-50% are non-Japanese. "In fact, today all appointments are with foreigners," Horiyoshi commented one Saturday in 2009.

Rather than the mark of the Yakuza, these days a traditional Japanese bodysuit just might be the mark of a "foreigner."

--
Horiyoshi's practice is now limited to finishing existing clients' tattoos. As I have repeatedly witnessed, all new clients are politely referred elsewhere.