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Osa Wahn considers herself an artist, not a tattooist. Owing her life’s calling to her father, Osa started tattooing at the age of 12, and she won her first award at Shockin’ City Tattoo convention the following year when she was only 13 years old.
On a rainy and freezing cold autumn day, I step inside Shockin’ City...
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Oly Anger has very quickly made a name for himself as one of Canada’s go-to guys for stunning black and grey work. After reading this, you won’t be in any doubt as to why that is.
"I started tattooing by myself, about five years ago in a small town in the east of France. After a few months, I understood I would have...
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You ever look at an old cathedral and at first, you are just awed by the sheer size of it, but when you look closer, you see the fine detailing etched in there? Looking at Kevin Marr’s work, you get the same feeling because the man does nothing small or by halves…
His pieces are big, bold and ballsy. The smallest...
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With the barrage of tattoo artists and shops popping up on what seems like every other street corner, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to discover tattooers with a few surprises still hidden up their sleeves. So when someone like Matthew J. Hockaday comes around, it’s happy days.
A few minutes into a conversation...
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Poor Josh Bodwell looks bleary eyed. All around him day two of Tattoo Jam is getting cranked up, but his body is still somewhere back in the US. No, we’re not getting all metaphysical – he’s been travelling for 24 hours and his body clock is all over the place.
But he’s ready for a day at the convention, right? “Sure...
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Mark Poole is a quiet and unassuming tattoo artist who works out of his studio, HooDoo Inc. in Stoke-on-Trent. He is also a regular on the convention circuit and one of those artists who prefers working his ass off, than standing up and shouting about how wonderful he is…
Mark is also one of those artists who doesn’t...
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It is Artist Friday at Tattoo Jam 2011 and five of the world’s most recognisable and talented artists are having a head-to-head paint-off, an on the spot demonstration of their painting skills. The audience is stunned into silence watching these five tattooists slinging paint, starting with a blank canvas and ending...
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Some things come under the banner of ‘total no-brainer’. Paul Booth and Hans Giger together at Giger’s very own museum in the Swiss Alps? We were at the airport before they had even completed the press statement…
The H.R. Giger Museum is based in the beautiful, medieval town of Gruyeres located on top of a hill at the...
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After having worked too much for a couple of years, George Campise experienced a calmer time by the beach in Italy before returning to San Francisco. He went back to work at Seventh Son Tattoo before recently opening Warhorse Tattoo doing “the fucking greatest job in the world”, creating something he originally was...
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What started out as a regular interview turned into something of an autobiography for Holly. She was on such a roll, we figured we’d simply let her get on with it. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time Holly had pretty much written her own ticket.
I would say I have always been drawn to tattoos. I thought they were...
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Scott Olive. The name may be unfamiliar to some, but to others it will already be etched into the memory as somebody to nail down, just as soon as he sets foot on UK soil that is…
Scott’s work is basically, incredible. Each can be seen as a masterpiece in this style, turned up to 11 and then some. Thankfully Scott...
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There are some tattoo artists that other artists look up to, but there is also a breed above this. The skin illustrators who are so good at what they do, they are influencing the here and now in more ways than they can ever imagine. I would call Jesse Smith a living legend, but he would probably be embarrassed and...
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We featured Colt Prehm in an artist feature of his own a few issues back, so when he came to us asking if we thought people would be interested in an article from him on the subject of better drawing, we didn’t have to think too long.
Of interest to tattoo artists for sure – and speaking as one whose life is consumed...
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Piotr Deadi Dedel started getting ink under people’s skin in the Spring of 2006. Five years on, he’s one of the most soulful and inspiring dark artists working in the world today.
Tell us about your beginnings.
"I was born in Poland in a little town called Tarnobrzeg and moved to Cracow to study landscape architecture...
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There’s a fine line between purposefulness and obsession. Mike Toth, from Toth Art Collective, is straddling that line. As a kid he had to bandage his hands after receiving scabs from constantly washing his hand. As a tattooist he’s never satisfied and sometimes lies sleepless after having seen someone else master a...
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Arriving to meet Takami at Mick Tomo’s Ruby Arts studio in York, where he’s working in a guest spot, everything is as you’d expect it to be: a busy day in Mick’s well-appointed shop, young guy getting his first tattoo necking Coke like it’s a potion of invulnerability (his sweat suggests he needs to up the dosage),...
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The more and more I delve into the tattoo world, the more I am inspired by the artists out there plying their trade. We aren’t talking about guys and girls who can just copy stencils, or colour in pictures on skin; we are talking about genuine artists…
Long gone are the days of the tattooist just being a tattooist;...
-
The Italian Gentleman, or Stef as he is better known to his friends, is one of the tribe of artists who have hit the road in recent years. Not just for the experience, nor for the added influence you can pick up. No, Stef is one of those artists who choose to pitch themselves against the world, harbouring the ever...
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Working out of Carnevil – his very own ‘Cabinet de Tatouage’ – D-GRRR is one of the hottest tattoo artists working in France today, but to say his talent extends way beyond the needles is an understatement.
So Denis, why GRRR?
"It came from a comic book onomatopoeia. I’m a big grouch; nothing ever goes right,...
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Flip to ‘noon’ in a dictionary and you will find it defined as ‘the highest, brightest or finest point or part’,which seems surprisingly fitting for French artist NOON. Although the man himself won’t reveal what’s behind the nickname, one gets a suspicious feeling it could stem from his work, the height of artistic...
Osa Wahn considers herself an artist, not a tattooist. Owing her life’s calling to her father, Osa started tattooing at the age of 12, and she won her first award at Shockin’ City Tattoo convention the following year when she was only 13 years old. On a rainy and freezing cold autumn day, I step inside Shockin’ City...
Oly Anger has very quickly made a name for himself as one of Canada’s go-to guys for stunning black and grey work. After reading this, you won’t be in any doubt as to why that is. "I started tattooing by myself, about five years ago in a small town in the east of France. After a few months, I understood I would have...
You ever look at an old cathedral and at first, you are just awed by the sheer size of it, but when you look closer, you see the fine detailing etched in there? Looking at Kevin Marr’s work, you get the same feeling because the man does nothing small or by halves… His pieces are big, bold and ballsy. The smallest...
With the barrage of tattoo artists and shops popping up on what seems like every other street corner, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to discover tattooers with a few surprises still hidden up their sleeves. So when someone like Matthew J. Hockaday comes around, it’s happy days. A few minutes into a conversation...
Poor Josh Bodwell looks bleary eyed. All around him day two of Tattoo Jam is getting cranked up, but his body is still somewhere back in the US. No, we’re not getting all metaphysical – he’s been travelling for 24 hours and his body clock is all over the place. But he’s ready for a day at the convention, right? “Sure...
Mark Poole is a quiet and unassuming tattoo artist who works out of his studio, HooDoo Inc. in Stoke-on-Trent. He is also a regular on the convention circuit and one of those artists who prefers working his ass off, than standing up and shouting about how wonderful he is… Mark is also one of those artists who doesn’t...
It is Artist Friday at Tattoo Jam 2011 and five of the world’s most recognisable and talented artists are having a head-to-head paint-off, an on the spot demonstration of their painting skills. The audience is stunned into silence watching these five tattooists slinging paint, starting with a blank canvas and ending...
Some things come under the banner of ‘total no-brainer’. Paul Booth and Hans Giger together at Giger’s very own museum in the Swiss Alps? We were at the airport before they had even completed the press statement… The H.R. Giger Museum is based in the beautiful, medieval town of Gruyeres located on top of a hill at the...
After having worked too much for a couple of years, George Campise experienced a calmer time by the beach in Italy before returning to San Francisco. He went back to work at Seventh Son Tattoo before recently opening Warhorse Tattoo doing “the fucking greatest job in the world”, creating something he originally was...
What started out as a regular interview turned into something of an autobiography for Holly. She was on such a roll, we figured we’d simply let her get on with it. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time Holly had pretty much written her own ticket. I would say I have always been drawn to tattoos. I thought they were...
Scott Olive. The name may be unfamiliar to some, but to others it will already be etched into the memory as somebody to nail down, just as soon as he sets foot on UK soil that is… Scott’s work is basically, incredible. Each can be seen as a masterpiece in this style, turned up to 11 and then some. Thankfully Scott...
There are some tattoo artists that other artists look up to, but there is also a breed above this. The skin illustrators who are so good at what they do, they are influencing the here and now in more ways than they can ever imagine. I would call Jesse Smith a living legend, but he would probably be embarrassed and...
We featured Colt Prehm in an artist feature of his own a few issues back, so when he came to us asking if we thought people would be interested in an article from him on the subject of better drawing, we didn’t have to think too long. Of interest to tattoo artists for sure – and speaking as one whose life is consumed...
Piotr Deadi Dedel started getting ink under people’s skin in the Spring of 2006. Five years on, he’s one of the most soulful and inspiring dark artists working in the world today. Tell us about your beginnings. "I was born in Poland in a little town called Tarnobrzeg and moved to Cracow to study landscape architecture...
There’s a fine line between purposefulness and obsession. Mike Toth, from Toth Art Collective, is straddling that line. As a kid he had to bandage his hands after receiving scabs from constantly washing his hand. As a tattooist he’s never satisfied and sometimes lies sleepless after having seen someone else master a...
Arriving to meet Takami at Mick Tomo’s Ruby Arts studio in York, where he’s working in a guest spot, everything is as you’d expect it to be: a busy day in Mick’s well-appointed shop, young guy getting his first tattoo necking Coke like it’s a potion of invulnerability (his sweat suggests he needs to up the dosage),...
The more and more I delve into the tattoo world, the more I am inspired by the artists out there plying their trade. We aren’t talking about guys and girls who can just copy stencils, or colour in pictures on skin; we are talking about genuine artists… Long gone are the days of the tattooist just being a tattooist;...
The Italian Gentleman, or Stef as he is better known to his friends, is one of the tribe of artists who have hit the road in recent years. Not just for the experience, nor for the added influence you can pick up. No, Stef is one of those artists who choose to pitch themselves against the world, harbouring the ever...
Working out of Carnevil – his very own ‘Cabinet de Tatouage’ – D-GRRR is one of the hottest tattoo artists working in France today, but to say his talent extends way beyond the needles is an understatement. So Denis, why GRRR? "It came from a comic book onomatopoeia. I’m a big grouch; nothing ever goes right,...
Flip to ‘noon’ in a dictionary and you will find it defined as ‘the highest, brightest or finest point or part’,which seems surprisingly fitting for French artist NOON. Although the man himself won’t reveal what’s behind the nickname, one gets a suspicious feeling it could stem from his work, the height of artistic...
