I had a friend ask me this week if white tattoo ink is used because they don’t see white tattoos anywhere, while white ink is rarely a focal point of a tattoo it is one of the most important parts. White is most commonly used as a highlight to make a piece really pop! There are certain styles that don’t use white highlights; blackwork for example.  White can be used for colour blocking when the design calls for it but it is rare. Rather than white an artist would ordinarily use negative space in the tattoo and the contrast of skin tone with the other colours or black, rather than filling ..read more

Despite South Korea being home to some of the best tattoo artists in the world they are still fighting for the right to tattoo. The beginning of this story starts over on the island of Japan, just off the tip of South Korea, where tattoos were first criminalized.  In the 1980’s a Japanese gang, Yakuza, was gaining prevalence and their gun smuggling was starting to become a greater concern. In 1992, the Japanese government introduced the Gang Countermeasure Law, in an attempt to get the gang scene under control. However, the business owners and general population feared for their lives if ..read more

This week I thought I’d do a little educational post on different terminology surrounding black tattoos in the industry. Ever since the Brutal Black article came out I’ve noticed some confusion with all the differentiation between tattoos that rely heavily on black. So I’m going to summarize the difference between: Brutal Black Project, black out, black work, and black and gray.  Brutal Black I did a post last year called: Meet the Brutal Black Project, Constructive Torture. Every once in a while we have someone come in asking for a brutal black tattoo, but this is not something every sho ..read more

Pinup girls are one of those iconic images that are constantly evolving and changing as society does. There are many contributors that played into the development of the pin up girl through the 19th and 20th century. From illustrations, to photography with real models and into the tattoo industry the becoming of the pinup is not as simple as you may think. The first pinup girl is credited to Charles Gibson sometime in the late 1800’s (I’ve seen both 1877 and 1895), known as the Gibson girl. The Gibson girl was said to be inspired by American girls that Charles Gibson saw on travels to America ..read more

Franklin Paul Rogers, known as Paul Rogers is a monumental tattoo figure, he has participated in every part of the industry through his years in tattooing. He is even referred to as the Father of American Tattooing. Rogers was born on September 9th, 1905 in a cotton mill town in North Carolina. He worked at cotton mills in various towns throughout his life, even while building his career as a tattooer. Paul Rogers got his first tattoo from Chet Cain at the age of 21 and completely fell in love with the craft (which resonates with a lot of us in the industry). World Famous Tattoo Ink, reports t ..read more

Geometric is a unique tattoo style that utilizes clear shapes to create or accentuate an image. Like with American Traditional there are certain meanings attached to the symbols; but just because there are common meanings doesn’t mean that they have to have those meanings to you. Geometric can be anything from a small simple mandala to a full sleeve of interconnecting shapes. These have a really striking look because of the inorganic shapes we are not used to seeing with the organic flow of the body. Geometric tattoos can also go hand in hand with illusion tattoos.   Most geometric t ..read more

A freehand tattoo means that the stencil is drawn directly on your skin rather than drawn on paper, put through a stencil machine, and then transferred to your skin. These are quite often done with sharpies or special stencil markers; not literally freehanding with a machine.  This process can look a little odd if you’re not familiar with it. Artists generally start with an under sketch in a light colour and then go over the lines with a darker colour to get those crisp lines really clear. Depending on the complexity there can be more layers and colours to get the stencil just right and w ..read more

In the tattoo industry, every artist does things differently. Especially with booking appointments. There are 2 types of bookings that we see: open books and closed books. Open bookings are when you can book at any time for a future date. Closed books are when an artist will only accept appointment bookings within a short window for a few months at a time.  There are different reasons some artists may opt for open books or closed books, it’s for the most part personal preference. Most artists manage their own books. We are in a unique situation that Chris decided to hire me as a reception ..read more

Laser tattoo removal is a great tool in the tattoo industry. You may not think of a tattoo removal as working with the industry but it’s a versatile service that has its place in artwork. Laser technicians can work on more skin issues but for the purpose of the tattoo blog I will just be focusing on the removal aspect, by no means is this all encompassing of the laser application world.  How It Works There are different types of laser machines, but the principle is the same. Tattooing works by depositing ink into the second layer of your skin. When the ink is put in it creates a wound and ..read more

The tattoo industry, like much of society, has a long history of being male dominated, often it’s been called an old boys club. Today the field has grown so much, with lots of respectful men and women creating an ever diversifying landscape to uphold a new kind of tattoo scene. Though women have always been a part of the industry there was some blanket discrimination in the early days. Discrimination that many tattooers and shop owners are fighting to get rid of today. Discrimination is still present but has come a long way and in my experience most reputable tattooers are actively working to ..read more