Simultaneously honouring traditions and breathing new life into tired ideas, artists Dan Crowe and Jack Watts have been humbly producing clean and timeless work from the heart of London’s Sang Bleu, and in doing so, have joined a lineage of tattooists with an incredible passion for history, but a sharp vision for tomorrow. As part of our new on-going joint-interview series ‘Split-Sheet’, we paired them up to demystify their beginnings in tattooing, how they both came to work together and what they feel they owe to the tattooists of yesterday. Can you speak to your relationship with tattooing?J ..read more

Shane Tan has accumulated a large following of seriously dedicated patrons. With these devoted advocates collecting backpieces, bodysuits and sleeves, it’s hard to miss the hustle coming from this tattooer. Hailing from Singapore and tattooing since the millennium, Shane Tan really puts in the work. His vast understanding of composition, flow and use of colour speak volumes. The minimal colour palette against such contrasted backgrounds is unmistakable. Shane Tan is moving to the U.K. soon so if you’re looking for the perfect large-scale Japanese tattoo then maybe you should take a r ..read more

Embodying DIY culture and a heavy sense of Lynchian-like fantasy, London-based tattooist Clare Frances boldly experiments with typography and imagery embedded with romance and rebellion. Although every-moving, her rough designs and hyper-clean work continues to explore a world of darkness and digital-despair unseen to many. Here, Clare Frances speaks to her dream-like inclinations, the ways in-which tattoos exist between the external and the internal and how marking yourself is a way of creating your own reality. Hi Clare, can you speak to your relationship with tattooing? My first memories of ..read more

Karma Yeshe Konchok is an Australia-hailing tattoo artist and owner of infamous London-based studio Dharma Tattoo who produces enveloping, “over-sized” Japanese tattoos, as well as soft, Tibetan-inspired offerings that reflect his Buddhist practice, and give second-life to the nameless works that litter his studies. Here, Yeshe speaks to his first tattoo – applied with a tool built from a sea-urchin’s spine, how punk gifted him his fascination with his now-core art-form and to his religious beliefs that have allowed him to see the beauty in what he does. Can you speak to your birth-place and b ..read more

Instagram has always felt like the perfect tool for tattooers to connect with each other, new clients and serves as the de facto portfolio and news delivery platform for tattooing, but in late 2017, something as trivial as a little circle caused a huge stir. That something was Everence. Some of the most well-respected tattooers around changed their display pictures in unison to a mysterious logo and teased that big thing were coming. The reaction to which, was big, in fairness. But speculation raged and insults were thrown around in the lead up to the reveal of what this all meant. What was th ..read more

We’re willing to bet that at least one person in your studio is wearing or owns a pair of Vans right now. Not so much just a shoe representing a subculture anymore, Vans are everywhere. It’s easy to see why. But whilst they’re a lot of things, built to last the rigours of a tough trade, is not necessarily one of them. That’s why we were so intrigued when we received an email showing us the new range from the California brand; made for the makers collection. “Vans’ Made for the Makers collection is a meticulously designed classic engineered for tough jobs and made specifically for the creative ..read more

Make a trip to The Underdog Gallery in London between Friday 1st of December and Sunday the 10th, you’ll find them proudly exhibiting a new solo exhibition by British figurative artist Chris Guest. Chris has spent the last 6 months pouring blood, sweat and tears into the collection of beautiful and striking oil paintings. In the gallery found at the appropriately named Crucifix lane, he feels that he’s found the perfect space to showcase his art. Creating art has been a part of Chris’ life from an early age. He even had a taste of making money from his paintings from as young as 14, through co ..read more

I first met Stephen Byrne at Brighton Tattoo Convention and recognised his work immediately. I’d been following him for some time and loved his striking and clean traditional tattoos. I wanted to get tattooed by him but unfortunately, it wasn’t able to happen that weekend, and I stood by and watched whilst Stephen produced great pieces all day. Luckily for me, though, he agreed to take some time out to answer some questions and give us the chance to showcase his work. Hi Stephen. So the last time we spoke properly, you were getting ready for another tattoo at the Brighton convention. How was t ..read more

Sourcing its strength from modesty and restraint, Paradise’s fine-line work holds life and death in an obsessive vice-grip – offering a window into the New Zealand-hailing artist’s internal landscape. Working from the outside in, real-name-Rene O’Donnell-Gibson’s delicate and disarming markings infiltrated the industry in an incredibly natural and effortless way – as if his vision of love and loss was always destined for skin. Here, Rene demystifies his otherworldly influences, the importance of putting yourself in uncomfortable situations and speaks to the benefits of being a multi-disciplina ..read more

Joao Bosco was kind enough to send us a copy of his new book, Skulls Snakes and the Flower of Death. Here we take a look at this latest publication in a little more detail. “Through art we can understand our deepest fears, our morals, our mission on the universe or rather the lack thereof.” Beautifully presented in a collectors box, Brazilian tattoo wizard and world traveller Joao Bosco takes on a journey through some of his favourite imagery to tattoo and what it means to his self-proclaimed fantasy style. Recognisable in an instant, Joao’s work is a menagerie of Japanese, Western, traditiona ..read more