Cardiff’s Looking for

inspiration?
Super Studio GALLERY PLU
S
Physical Graffiti Awesome tattoos
from around the world

WIN
A hard act
to follow
ention Byron Gibson
Brighton Conv
Tickets for Portfolios
e Brighton ticket
+ Fre Steve Jarvis
iber!
every new subscr Monki Do
Dap
Skingdom
Inspired
by
Italy

travel Mel
Noir
Looks
Jeremy into the
Future
Justice

Tattoo
Shows
The Halloween Bash
Hong Kong
Tattoo Convention
Galway
Tattoo Show
£4.20
TTM111
Big Meas JAN 2014

the last word

in scripts
please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts • please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts
 CONTENTS
INTERVIEWS
Every month we scour the planet
to find the best artists.
We bring you their stories and
we showcase their work.
In this month’s issue...

87 Galway Tattoo Show

49 Gallery Plus

Physical Graffiti
14­ ‘Take a peek inside
Cardiff’s super studio...’ Cover Model Profile

24

Big Meas
40 ‘I do lettering, and that’s
it! Thats my thing’

disclaimer
Adverts and articles appearing in Total Tattoo magazine carry no implied recommendation from the magazine or from KMT Publishing Ltd. We
reserve the right to refuse an advertisement or article which we consider unsuitable. All details are correct at time of going to press. Whilst
we make every effort to ensure all advertisements, articles and credits are correct, Total Tattoo magazine and KMT Publishing Ltd will not be
held responsible for errors or omissions.
Jeremy Justice
78 ‘There are guys who think Material appearing in Total Tattoo may not be reproduced for any purpose without the written permission of KMT Publishing Ltd.
All letters sent to Total Tattoo magazine will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and as such are
they are too cool for subject to editing and editorial comment.

everything but they end Total Tattoo magazine No. 111 January 2014
Published monthly by KMT Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. Printed in England on re-cycled paper by Buxton Press Ltd
up missing so much’ Distributed by Warners Group Publications Plc

4 Total Tattoo Magazine

ON THE COVER Private View
Model: Natalie
Tattoos: Various artists 28 Ash Harrison
Electric Om
Photo: Tina Korhonen

94 Portfolio
Dap, Skingdom 33 Hong Kong
Tattoo Convention

Editor Advertising & general enquiries

James Sandercock
editor@totaltattoo.co.uk
Sub Editor
01787 242100
Subscription enquiries
Emma Garwood
totaltattoo@totaltattoo.co.uk
Art Director
0800 917 8794
totaltattoo@warnersgroup.co.uk
Perry Rule To find your nearest stockist call
artwork@totaltattoo.co.uk
Advertising Manager
Jill Feldt
01778 391150
or e-mail your postcode to
advertising@totaltattoo.co.uk vickyb@warnersgroup.co.uk
Social Media Manager
Emma Whittaker

REGULARS
totaltattoo@totaltattoo.co.uk
Contributors
Tina Korhonen
Travellin’ Mick
All correspondence should be sent to
07 editorial

Total Tattoo Magazine

PO Box 10038
Sudbury
08 newsflash

Suffolk
C010 7WL
www.totaltattoo.co.uk 46 subscribe

72 92 convention calendar
Halloween Tattoo Bash

93 total tattoo
goodies

68
Byron Gibson
97 next month’s issue

‘I love making an honest living,

playing the bad guy’ 98 mel noir

SUBMITTING PHOTOS
Images must be high resolution (300) and sized at 100mm by 150mm.
Email your photos to gallery@totaltattoo.co.uk or send them on a disc to
Gallery, Total Tattoo, PO Box 10038, Sudbury, Suffolk, C010 7WL
The disc needs to be labelled with the artist & studio name.
Competition Terms and Conditions
All winners will be picked at random (or on merit if applicable) after the closing date. Entries received after the closing date will not be considered. The editor’s decision is final.
Only one entry per person please, and remember to include your name and address.Winners of convention tickets will be responsible for their own transport and
accommodation unless stated otherwise.Total Tattoo is not responsible for items lost or damaged in transit – though of course we will try to help if we can.

Total Tattoo Magazine 5

please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts • please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts
 “Nothing ever becomes real
‘til it is experienced”
John Keats

EDITORIAL

U
sually I write my editorial sitting at my
desk, safe and sound in my office,
surrounded by all the familiar things
that make up my comfortable daily existence.
I cast my mind back over the month that has
just passed and I search for that one thing that has got inside my head
and just won’t go away. Then, armed with the internet and way too
much coffee, I begin to formulate my thoughts. To be honest, some
months it’s a cross between herding cats and trying to nail jelly to the
wall, but eventually it takes shape.

This month, however, I have saved this task for a very different
environment. I’m currently cruising at approximately 420mph, 2300ft
above the ground, on my way to the Brussels Tattoo Convention. I
thought that writing my editorial on the plane might give me a fresh
perspective on things. Rather than looking back on the month that’s
just gone, all I can think about right now is the weekend ahead – and all
the new people I’m going to meet and the experiences I’m going to
have. I’ve never been to Brussels before, so the moment I hit the
tarmac it’s all going to be unfamiliar, and that’s exciting.

I’ve been to more than my fair share of tattoo conventions over the
past twelve months; sometimes you need a shot in the arm, and there
is nothing like planning a trip to a convention abroad to get you revved
up again. Travelling and tattooing make a magical combination. I can still
remember with absolute clarity the first time I journeyed beyond the
UK to get tattooed. It was a massive adventure and it changed what
tattooing meant to me. Meeting tattoo fans from another culture
instantly broadened my horizons and made me realise just what an
incredible thing I had stumbled into.

It’s easy to forget just how stimulating travel can be, whether it’s a
weekend break or an intercontinental voyage of discovery. It enhances
our appreciation of everything around us, and changes our perception
of even the smallest things. And it’s no wonder that almost every artist
I have ever interviewed cites travel as a major influence or a
continuous catalyst for change and growth. For an artist such as Jeremy
Justice, who we feature in this issue, life without travel would be
unimaginably different.Yet strangely, the longer you go without
travelling the easier it becomes to live without it – but the more you
need it.

This is no great revelation. Most people have experienced that

heightened sense of awareness that travelling gives you... though right
now, as I get tossed around in this short-haul twin-prop plane on my
way to Brussels, all I really want to feel is the cool wind on my face and
the ground beneath my feet. But even this momentary discomfort is all
part of the trip. I’m sure I will be telling this story more than once in
weeks to come, with a smile on my face and a longing to do it all again
as soon as possible. Better start planning…

James
editor@totaltattoo.co.uk
www.totaltattoo.co.uk
www.facebook.com/totaltattoomagazine

Total Tattoo Magazine 7

 NewS & ReviewS
Tattoo news and reviews for your delectation and delight. If it goes on in the tattoo world, it goes in here.
Send us your news items, books or products for review and items of general curiosity and intrigue for the tattoo cognoscenti.
News, Total Tattoo Magazine, PO Box 10038, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 7WL

Book Review
Horitoshi I: Storia dell’Irezumi
Text by Roberto Borsi
Published by Chopsticks Production
170 pages

This is a record of a stunning body of work,

accompanied by a multi-lingual explanatory text
(which includes English), the author’s stated
intention being to provide a key to the
understanding and appreciation of Japanese
theory of Japanese tattoo construction and his
body suits. A delicious matt gold-embossed cover
encloses a fabulous collection of full-colour
humble admiration of Horitoshi I’s art work. The TATTOO ARTIST
text is fascinating to read, and the author’s
photographs, and the book comes complete with
description of his lifelong interest in the ‘martial WANTED
a DVD featuring an interview with Horitoshi I (in
yet gentle’ manner of Japan is heartfelt. Body for a new studio coming to
Japanese, with Italian subtitles), interspersed with
suits like this can take many years to complete,
film of him working, and enthralling scenes from Braintree in Essex.
so some of the photographs are inevitably rather
the author’s recent trip to Japan. There are very For info and to arrange an
dated in their appearance – and there are a few
few small pieces shown in these pages – it’s
minor typographical errors in the translated text interview please e-mail
predominantly backpieces and body suits – and
that niggle slightly – but overall this is a very
it’s all classic traditional Japanese tattoo imagery skinarttat2@hotmail.com
special volume that is well worth getting hold of if
of the highest quality. Roberto Borsi carefully
you are interested in the beautiful art of Irezumi.
shares his intricate observations on the rules and

If you want to
get ahead...
Let’s be honest, who doesn’t like a good anchor? As a tattoo image,
they have maintained their appeal for generations. The Anchorist
(www.theanchorist.com) is a website dedicated to this iconic symbol
and its constant
recurrence as a motif
on skin. There’s a book
on the way too, to be part
funded by the sale of some
rather cool solid knit hats (which are
just €25, with all proceeds going towards the book’s production
costs). We’ve got one to give away – so email
comps@totaltattoo.co.uk (with the subject line ANCHOR) and if your
name is the first out of the hat… you’ll have a nice warm head this
Winter. Terms and conditions apply (see page 5).
Closing date 31st Jan 2014
8 Total Tattoo Magazine
 COME WITH US TO
THE BRIGHTON CONVENTION!
Win tickets and hotel accommodation!
After the incredible success of last year’s super-sized Brighton Tattoo Convention,
the show returns to the Hilton Brighton Metropole hotel on 15th and 16th February
2014 and promises great things. The beautifully balanced artist list includes top talent
from the UK, Europe and further afield and, as ever, organiser Woody has been on
the look-out for ways to make the show a unique experience for artists and collectors
alike. We have seven Sunday passes to give away, with Sunday night hotel
accommodation in the fabulous Hilton thown in! If you want to be in with a chance of
winning this high calibre prize, then email comps@totaltattoo.co.uk with the subject
line BRIGHTON and let us know who fought the Mods on Brighton beach in the 1979
film Quadrophenia. Was it:

A. Power Rangers B. Ninja Turtles C. The Rockers

Convention it in the day, then chill in your room,

then it’s off to the after party. Sound good? I think so.
But act quickly – the closing date for this amazing
competition is 1st January 2014.
Terms and conditions apply (see page 5).

Free weekend convention pass for new

Total Tattoo subscribers!
Sign up for a new annual subscription to Total Tattoo during January 2014, and we will
send you a FREE Brighton Convention weekend pass worth £40. So not only will you
receive 12 issues of Total Tattoo for the price of 10… but you will also be able to attend
this most excellent of conventions for the whole weekend (paying only for your travel and
accommodation costs). Now that’s what we call more bang for your buck.

Book Review
Hennes
Published by Gentlemans Tattoo Flash
Available from www.gentlemanstattooflash.com

This quality hardback publication contains 110 pages of elegant fine line
illustrations. Page after page is filled with inspirational designs from this
vastly talented German-born artist. There are whole sections of iconic
traditional imagery such as skulls, flowers, wings, hearts, keys, ships and
daggers. Hennes’ work always retains the essence of what makes a good
tattoo and demonstrates the timeless power of classic designs. This book
has the power to inspire and impact on the drawing and tattooing style of
everyone who chooses to flick through its pages.

Total Tattoo Magazine 9

STOP SCRATCHING! new artist
wanted
Immortal Ink in Chelmsford,
Essex are looking for a tattooist
to join their friendly team. If you
are interested please send them
the following information: your
name, current studio, number of
years’ experience and when you
would be available to start – plus
portfolio of images. email
contact@immortalink.co.uk

Fade The Itch launches itself into the needle has faded. Developed by The Cambridge
increasingly crowded market place that is tattoo Clinic (www.thecambridgeclinic.co.uk) as part of
aftercare products. It’s already being used across their Fade On range of body art products, it
the UK by a number of artists and the feedback really seems to offer something different. We have
seems to be excellent. Fade The Itch holds the ten sample pots to give away, so if you’d like to
moisture in the skin with no greasy residue, give it a go email comps@totaltattoo.co.uk
allowing quicker healing – and as the name implies with the subject line ITCH. Terms and conditions
it puts paid to the dreaded itching, which can apply (see page 5).
make life miserable long after the memory of the Closing date 31st Jan 2014

Scottish Tattoo Convention

Special commemorative poster for sale
The organisers of the Scottish Tattoo Convention (29th - 30th March 2014)
have always put a lot of effort into creating great promotional artwork to back
up their great show. The convention’s posters always reflect its spirit of
independence, but this year there is something even more special.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War, they’ve
commissioned Joe Frost of Oddfellows Tattoo Collective in Leeds to create a
tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in that brutal conflict. This
beautiful poster will be available to purchase at the show for the princely sum
of just £3 and all the money raised will go to a local war veterans’ charity.

...and tickets to win

Jim, the organiser of the show, has also kindly given us 3 weekend passes for
lucky readers of Total Tattoo. Each of these passes will get you and a friend
into the show – and a step closer to getting your hands on one of those
posters. Just email comps@totaltattoo.co.uk with the subject line POPPIES
and let us know why you’d like to be there. Terms and conditions apply (see
page 5). Closing date 31st Jan 2014

Flaming gun TATTOOIST WANTED

Flaming Gun Tattoo in Colchester would Black Heart Tattoo In Epsom, Surrey are looking for
like to announce that Oliver Jerrold a new full-time artist to join their studio. If you have a
(www.oliverjerrold.com) has recently
strong portfolio in Black & Grey, Colour Realism, Portraits
and similar then email: info@blackheartuk.com
joined the team. Anybody interested in
You will have your own room, diary and freedom to work
getting some top notch tattooing should on whichever projects you wish.You will also get to join
check out their website at the studio on their travels to the best conventions in
www.flamingguntattoo.com Europe and work alongside some great guests.

10 Total Tattoo Magazine

 Erasing Hate
Available to view on our Facebook page
From 5th December, the documentary Erasing Hate
(which we reviewed in Total Tattoo issue 106) will finally be
available to UK viewers. This moving film follows Bryon
Widner, ex-hardcore white supremacist Skinhead, in his
quest to remove the visible tattoos that tie him to his former
life. It’s distributed by Scorpion TV, and you can watch it for
just £2.99 by clicking on the image at the top of our
Facebook page.

It’s the
Law

2014
Stricter legislation regarding
access to tattoo equipment
is the only real answer to
the problem of home
tattooing and the risks that it
represents – and local
authorities now seem finally
to be waking up to the
problem due to the

Subscription Giveaway
increasing quantity of
complaints they are
receiving. Halton Borough
Council (in Cheshire) has
Never let it be said that we at Total Tattoo Towers launched a campaign
don’t have sackloads of Christmas spirit. We against illegal tattooists and
have so much in fact that this festive season we in the last few months, with
are giving away TEN Total Tattoo subscriptions – support from Cheshire
Police, seven warrants have
yes, TEN! Just head to www.totaltattoo.co.uk
been executed at addresses
and sign up for our free newsletter where all will across the borough, with
be revealed… tattoo equipment being
removed from five
premises. The more we see
of this the better; it might
seem like closing the stable
LINKYS door after the horse has
bolted, but raising
Here is this month’s selection of web links, containing a wide range of awareness of the problem is
tattoo snippets for you to enjoy. If you know of a good Linky vital.
that you think our readers would like, drop us a line to
editor@totaltattoo.co.uk putting Linkys as your subject.

Thom and Chrisbee – from the halloween bash Tim Hendricks – The Monthly Throw Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzUUBbT-y_0 https://vimeo.com/search/page:11/sort:date/format:thumbnail?q=tattoo

Livescribe – Tattoo Teaser Brittan London Reese, Episode 1

https://vimeo.com/77841827 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u37qJs7wxY

Total Tattoo Magazine 11

please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts • please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts
 Interview by James Sandercock • Photos by Physical Graffiti & James

P
hysical Graffiti is the brainchild of tattoo artists Chris
Hatton and Chris Jones. Born of frustration and a
need for change – at a time when tattooing itself was
starting to experience its own growing pains – the shop
came about as a reaction to the circumstances in which
both artists found themselves. Both wanted to create
something they felt was the future of tattooing: a more
open and collaborative space that would encourage
communication and the sharing of ideas.
A lot has happened in the seven years since the shop opened, but Physical
Graffiti’s core values and ambitions have remained the same. So when the flat
above their ground-floor premises came up for grabs, Chris H and Chris J seized
the opportunity to create a vibrant, multi-level, open-plan workspace to house the
ever-expanding family of talented young Welsh artists who’ve chosen to call the
shop their home.

A visit to check out the new premises was

Chris Hatton (left) & Chris Jones

long overdue, and a chance to sit down

with two old friends and reflect on all
that they have gone through to get to this
point was something I was really looking
forward to. I was also interested in
finding out how the artists who work at
Physical Graffiti feel about being part of
this iconic studio. It’s a place that has
always seemed to have something
special about it.

So how did it all begin? Chris J tells the

story: “Back in 2005 I was the kid doing
all the new school stuff in Wales. Then
Chris Hatton popped his head up, and he
was really good at it. He’d done a set of
flash that was awesome; I just thought,
‘I’ve got to get to know this fucker!’

14 Total Tattoo Magazine

 Chris Jones

David Swambo

Sam Fisher

Tasha Pollendine Ash Davies

Total Tattoo Magazine

15
Chris Hatton Chris Hatton Chris Hatton
 I realised that if I didn’t leave the shop I
Tash Pollendine

Gavin Rose
was working in, I was going to get left
behind.” It was a similar story for Chris H.
He was working part-time in a studio that
wasn’t interested in the changing face of
tattooing, and this was becoming
increasingly frustrating for him. “I was
starting to get tattooed by more and
more different people and I was taking
that new knowledge back to the shop, but
the owner showed no interest in it at all.”

Gavin Rose
Both artists wanted more. They talked
about a fresh, open-plan, friendly
environment in which to work, getting
away from the intimidating tattoo shops
they had both experienced. And so
Physical Graffiti was born. At first, Chris
H worked there with Fil (who went on to
open Broad Street Tattoo in Bath), but it
wasn’t long before Chris J came on
board. With both boys being regulars on
the convention circuit – winning awards
left, right and centre (some things never
change!) – the shop’s reputation rapidly
grew. Like all new projects, the place
took a little time to find its own rhythm,
but things soon settled into the natural,
laid-back pace of its two owners.
Chris Jones

Ash Davies
Tasha Pollendine

16 Total Tattoo Magazine

 Gavin Rose

David Swambo Sam Fisher Tash Pollendine

Total Tattoo Magazine

17
Chris Jones Chris Hatton
Sam Fisher

David Swambo
Chris Jones

Tasha Pollendine

Chris Hatton
Chris H and Chris J are very different personalities, but they have always
worked well as a team. When one of them has a dip in focus, the other has
always been able to lift his own work to compensate, which has kept the
shop progressing. Both have had their ups and downs, but they’ve come
through, rediscovering their passion for tattooing in the process. Perhaps
most importantly, they’ve always kept the lines of communication open
between them.

Chris J’s reinvention from new school dropout to master of the realistic
portrait – seemingly overnight – has certainly injected massive energy into
the shop and has been one of the catalysts for the recent growth. I had to
ask him, “What triggered such a dramatic change?” “I cleaned up my act
for starters. I had always done black and grey portraits, but I ended up
doing my first colour one completely by chance. Some kid came in wanting
a portrait of Christian Bale in American Psycho, and he brought in a picture
Ash Davies

of a really badly done tattoo to show me the sort of thing he wanted. I

thought to myself, ‘At the very least, I can do a better job than that’. So I
booked him in on a Sunday when nobody else was around, and I really
enjoyed it. It just took off from there. For me, tattooing has got exciting
again and a bit scary. A portrait not only has to look like the person; you
have to give it life.”

The shop’s expansion was also necessitated by the growth of the Physical
Graffiti family. Talented younger artists are being drawn to the studio.
One thing that really came across when I talked to them is that this is the
place they want to be, and in some cases they’ve harboured that desire for
quite a while. Gavin Rose, for example, closed his own shop, Nocturnal

18 Total Tattoo Magazine

 Ash Davies David Swambo

Sam Fisher

Total Tattoo Magazine

19
Chris Jones Chris Hatton Chris Hatton
Ash Davies

Tasha Pollendine
Sam Fisher
Tattoo, to move to Physical
Gavin Rose

David Swambo
Graffiti. He told me it was always
his main goal to work here: “I
asked Chris for an apprenticeship
when he first opened the shop but
at that point he just didn’t have
the time. Working here has always
been in the back of my mind, so
when he offered me a permanent
position I felt like if I didn’t jump
ship that week I would always
regret it – and I’ve never looked
back. Now, for me, it’s the driving
force to better things.” It’s a
similar story for Ash Davies.
Physical Graffiti has always been
a special shop for him. “I grew up
in Cardiff and knew of Chris
Hatton’s work before I even
started to tattoo. I’ve always had
in mind that when I did come to

Tash Pollendine
work in the city, it would be here.
It’s such a relaxed, nurturing
environment to be in. I never feel
pressured. I want to hear what the
other artists think about what I’m
doing, and vice versa, and much
of that informal collaborative
attitude is down to how open the
two Chrisses are.”
Chris Jones

20 Total Tattoo Magazine

 Chris Jones David Swambo

Gavin Rose

Total Tattoo Magazine

21
Chris Jones Ash Davies
 That loyalty and affection is a thread that runs through the entire Physical
Chris Jones

Graffiti family and binds them together, regardless of how long they’ve each
been at the shop. Tasha Pollendine started out on the desk, answering phones
and booking appointments. After two years doing that and developing her own
drawing skills, Chris J offered her an apprenticeship. “Being Chris’s apprentice
during the period that he really started to push himself actually pushed me. I
never wanted people to think, ‘Why has he given her a chance?’ I did feel
some pressure, but I’ve always felt privileged to be in this situation. I love the
shop; it means so much to me.” The same sentiment is echoed by fellow
tattooists Sam Fisher and David Swambo, and piercer Dan Walters. Phrases like
“second home”, “amazing thing to be part of” and “why would I want to work
anywhere else?” seem to crop up again and again.

Chris H and Chris J claim that they have never really planned anything, other
than the colour scheme and the name of the shop. Even the opportunity to
expand their premises seemed to just fall into their laps. So, OK, the fact that
they’ve now got space for more guests to come and spend time with them might
be described as a “happy accident”. But surely a great team of talented artists
like this doesn’t just come together by chance? Chris H and Chris J eventually
have to admit that they’ve always been quite fussy about who comes to work at
Physical Graffiti; over the years, they’ve turned more than a few away. Perhaps
it’s that combination of patience and hard work that’s been the key to their
success; they’ve never tried to force things, and between the two of them
they’ve never lost the original spirit of what they wanted Physical Graffiti to be.

www.physicalgraffiti.co.uk

Ash Davies

Tasha Pollendine
Tasha Pollendine

Dan the Piercer

22 Total Tattoo Magazine

 Interview and photography: Tina Korhonen
(www.tina-k.co.uk)
Location: Murder Mile Studio

Cover Model Profile

T
his month’s cover model, Natalie Petal, grew up in Essex but in her
own words, never really felt like she fitted in. She went to study
Photography and Video at UCA in Maidstone, but her love of
illustration got the better of her. Creativity and hard work have always gone
hand-in-hand for her, which are of course two must-have traits for a
successful tattooist. She now works with Mike Stockings and Josh Peacock at
Legacy Ink and it would appear the sky’s the limit…

Where does your love of tattoos Are you drawn to any particular
come from? style?
I’ve always had a great interest in art and Not consciously; it’s just happening naturally.
tattoos, from a very young age. My dad and My work seems to be following a neo-
uncle gave me my first insight into the world traditional theme. I mostly get requests for
of tattoos. I always remember admiring their either animals or women – sometimes even
ink when I was little and I enjoyed all the great women with animals, which is even more
stories they had to go along with their ‘old exciting.
school’ pieces that came straight off the wall
and cost them about 50p. When my older Any reason why animals feature so
sisters started getting tattooed I would tag heavily in your work?
along and watch, and as my friends started to Right from when I was a little girl, I have
turn 18 I was constantly getting asked to help always had lots of pets; my family rescue
them shape their ideas and draw up tattoo animals. Ever since I can remember, Sunday has
designs. been the busiest day of the week, cleaning out
all the animals. We have had rabbits, guinea
And what about your tattoos? pigs, degus, chinchillas, a tortoise, chickens, a
I have quite a collection, but definitely need to ferret and French bulldogs. Now that my four
find the time to get more. My tattoos mostly sisters and I are older, we don't have as many
follow the neo-traditional style so I have a lot pets as we don't have much spare time, so
of work done by the lovely Becca at Jayne now we’re just down to three chinchillas, two
Doe. I also have tattoos by Nick Horn, LM chickens and a British bulldog. But one day I'll
Knight, Kodie Smith and Hunter Spanks. In a be the crazy animal lady again!
few years’ time I will probably be covered in
even more animal tattoos, but I do have a few Did you do an apprenticeship?
little ones that I love that don’t belong to the Yes, after graduating from university I knew I
animal kingdom! I have a few random tattoos wanted to be a tattooist. I worked very hard
that really make me smile, like the Mario on putting a portfolio together, developing my
mushroom on my toe from my time at drawing skills and studying other tattooists’
university and the tiny traditional swallow on artwork. I started my apprenticeship at Eternal
my wrist from when I was living in Dublin. Art under Prizeman in late September 2012.
For the first few months I watched him whilst
How long have you been tattooing? he tattooed; I helped out around the studio
I’ve only been tattooing for a year now, so I and I worked hard on my drawing. Prizeman
still find it difficult calling myself a tattooist. pushed me to become a better artist. He
There is still so much to learn; I’m working didn’t just teach me how to tattoo; he told me
hard towards deserving the title of ‘tattoo to put my heart and soul into every one of my
artist’. designs, to be a perfectionist and to keep
pushing my artwork to its full potential. He’s a
pretty cool guy.

24 Total Tattoo Magazine

Total Tattoo Magazine 25
 What was the apprenticeship like?
It wasn’t at all like the horror stories you hear,
about having to clean toilets for two years
before you can even touch a machine – but if
that’s what I’d had to do then I would’ve done
it! I got a few decent tattoos under my belt
before he let me loose into the tattoo
industry. I was snapped up by Mike Stockings
ay Legacy Ink who saw potential, and gave me
a chance.

What is it like being a young girl in

the tattoo world? Have you
experienced any chauvinism?
I think that the tattoo world is very accepting
of female tattoo artists now. My closest
friends in the tattoo industry are guys, and in
I know you still love photography.
fact it's the girls in the tattoo scene that can
How would you describe your style?
be nasty. I’d almost lost all hope of becoming
It’s a cross between surrealism and high-end
good friends with other women in this
fashion. I enjoy exploring fetish and fashion,
industry, but then I met girls like Jess (the
bringing out the beauty within them, and I use
Legacy Ink shop manager) and Neen (an
controlled lighting, costume and symbolism to
alternative model), who I consider to be great
achieve this. David La Chapelle is one of my
friends.
key inspirations. I'm a big fan of surrealism and
have a Dali portrait on my arm; he was my
What does your family think of your
first insight into surrealism and made me
tattoos and your choice of career?
realise just how much you can explore your
My mum and dad huffed and puffed a little at
imagination and push your artwork to its
my first few tattoos, but then they realised
limits. He is right there every evening, drawing
that I was thinking about each one properly
with me, reminding me to push that little bit
and taking my time collecting good work. I
further to create something unique. I tend to
think they respected me for that. My parents
avoid places like Tate Modern and head
have always been incredibly supportive of us
straight to The National Portrait Gallery.
all; they see how hard we work and have
always encouraged us to do whatever makes
Are you a glass half full or glass half
us happy. I am really lucky to have such a
empty person?
wonderful and understanding family.
I would say half empty. I am constantly striving
for more, to become better at everything I set
Do ever need to cover your tattoos
my mind to and push myself to the limit. Even
in everyday life?
though I have achieved so much already, I can
I understand people’s curiosity and I enjoy the
see that there is still so much more to gain. I
kind comments that I get about my tattoos,
guess it’s not great to be seen as a ‘half empty’
but sometimes I do just want to pop out to
person, but if you see things as ‘half full’ all the
get some lunch without being stopped and
time then it stops you from pushing that little
questioned. Sometimes I like to cover up on a
but further, doing that little bit more.
night out because there is always one drunk
guy who uses your tattoos as an excuse to
What do you do on a day off?
harass you. So yes, I do cover up my tattoos
If I’m not drawing on my day off, I like to go on
quite a lot actually.
little day trips or hang out with my nephews;
they’re a bit of a handful, but such funny little
How would you describe your look?
things. A good night out involves catching up
I enjoy playing around with my style and
with all my friends, a little black dress and lots
exploring new looks, but there are key items
of Sailor Jerry rum! I love getting my monster
in my wardrobe that I just can’t keep away
heels on and dancing all night long.
from, such as my vintage leather satchel, tacky
gold chains, jumpsuits, see-through tops, coral
Any tattoo tips?
lipstick, T-bars, vintage dresses and charity
Take your time. Don’t rush into getting
shop animal scarves. My fashion sense can be a
tattooed or set yourself a time limit to get the
bit up and down! I don’t believe in shoving
most coverage; you have your whole life to
yourself into a category and judging anyone
cover your body in beautiful work. Give
who looks a bit different to you. One day I’ll
yourself time to discover new artists and
walk out of the house looking like a 1950s
different styles, and make the right choice with
movie star, the next I’ll be rocking leopard Air
every tattoo, big or small.
Max trainers and a top knot, but above all, I
take elements from different styles and eras to
create my own unique look.

26 Total Tattoo Magazine

 PRIVATE VIEW
Our showcase for paintings, drawings and design work by the most creative tattooists on the planet.
This month Ash Harrison, Electric Om If you would like us to consider your work, please send examples to:
Private View, Total Tattoo Magazine, PO Box 10038, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 7WL, UK

28 Total Tattoo Magazine

Total Tattoo Magazine 29
30 Total Tattoo Magazine
Total Tattoo Magazine 31
please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts • please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts
 1.

hong kong
Text and photos Travellin’ Mick

tattoo convention
U
nbelievably, there has never been a major
tattoo event in Hong Kong... until now, that is!
The very first Hong Kong Tattoo Convention,
organised by Gabe Shum, Nelson Yuen and Jay FC,
took place in October 2013. With excellent artists
(mainly from Hong Kong and mainland China), a
great location and a colourful party atmosphere,
it was a huge success.
Gabe had limited the size of this inaugural event to about sixty carefully
handpicked artists, so the convention was of a very manageable scale and all the
tattooists were kept busy. A big draw, especially for the many visitors from China
and Taiwan, was Taiwanese artist Diau An, whose models proudly paraded their
backpieces in front of the cameras. Little Dragon (who formerly worked with Paul
Booth) was similarly in demand; his shop in Beijing is rapidly gaining a reputation
as one of the top addresses for ink in the Chinese capital. There were only a few
Westerners at this convention, and this made the European artists who were there –
1. by diau-bo, kaohsiung (taiwan)
including Polish comic expert Daveee and his German friend Smee – feel all the
2. by paul acker, deep six laboratory (usa)
more honoured. They told me they were blown away by Hong Kong’s hospitality
3. by smee, on the road
and the welcome they were given.
4. by guan zhi peng (china)

2. 3. 4.

Total Tattoo Magazine 33

This was a stylish, well-organised, high-end
show. The booths were of a comfortable 6.
size and beautifully furnished, and
enthusiastic helpers made sure that any
glitch was sorted within minutes. As soon
as the doors opened, the public (and the
media!) flooded in, and everybody was
overwhelmed by the genuine interest
shown by every single visitor to the show.
Another thing that made a big difference
was the quality of the entertainment. The
main stage was erected in a cosy bar
area, so instead of disturbing the artists
with loud music, people could party all
night to really good bands and DJs,
rounding off a particularly pleasurable
weekend.

So we can all look forward to what Gabe

and the team have in store for us in 2014,
when I’m sure the Hong Kong Tattoo
Convention will be back – bigger and even
better!

6. by davee, kult tattoo (poland)

7. by yu tattoo (china)
8. diau-an and team
9 & 10. by wu shang, supreme tattoo (china)
11. by horishow (taiwan)

7.

8.

34 Total Tattoo Magazine

9. 11.

10.

HONG KONG
Hong Kong became a British colony at the time of the Opium Wars in the early
nineteenth century and remained under British control until 1997 (when China
regained sovereignty). It has a fascinating history as one of the world’s most
important harbour cities, with – of course – a tattoo story to match. Tattooing
became very popular in Hong Kong from the early twentieth century onwards,
with sailors getting inked by such legends as Pinky Yun, Ricky, and Jimmy Ho.

Perhaps Hong Kong‘s most famous son is Lee Jun-Fan – otherwise known as
Bruce Lee, the movie star and martial arts icon who sadly passed away at the
early age of just 32 in 1973. To mark the 40th anniversary of his death, he is
honoured with a larger-than-lifesize statue on Hong Kong’s waterfront. And of
course there were more than a few visitors to the Hong Kong convention
proudly sporting Bruce Lee tattoos in tribute to their hero.

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People‘s Republic of

China, with a high degree of autonomy in its internal affairs. Despite its
diminutive size, it’s a major player in the world economy and has its own
currency, the Hong Kong Dollar. It’s one of the most densely populated places
on the planet.

Total Tattoo Magazine 35

 12. 13. 14.

17.

15. 16.

36 Total Tattoo Magazine

18. 19. 20.

INTERVIEW WITH GABE SHUM

Gabe Shum, artist-owner of Freedom Tattoo and a well-known
local personality, is the main organiser of the Hong Kong Tattoo
Convention.
Travellin’ Mick: Why does Hong Kong need a tattoo
convention right now?
Gabe: Hong Kong is a historic centre of tattooing, but it has
never had a tattoo convention. It’s the right time now because
there’s a lot of freedom here, and both the business and the art
of tattooing are booming. There still aren‘t that many great
shops, but they are coming!
Travellin’ Mick: There’s a huge and growing market for
tattooing and tattoo equipment in China, but it can be quite
intimidating for foreign artists because of the language barrier
and other cultural differences. Do you think Hong Kong, with its
21. English-speaking culture, is a good stepping stone for people
who are wanting to take a look into the People’s Republic?
Gabe: Yes, Hong Kong is a unique connecting point between
East and West. And this is true in both directions. Artists from
mainland China, who can’t attend foreign events very easily
because of travel costs and visa restrictions, can come to Hong
Kong without any difficulty. With this in mind, I am planning to
offer seminars on hygiene and safe working practices at next
year’s convention so that Chinese artists can learn more about
these aspects. I am also going to include exhibitions on tattoo
culture and tattoo history.
Travellin’ Mick: I was surprised at the extensive media
coverage you got for this year’s event.
Gabe: Yes, it surprised me too. Even Xinhua, the official
Chinese press agency, came to talk to us! They finally seemed to
feel that tattooing is not about gangsters any more, but about
art. We might have made an important step here and opened
the door for more events, not only in Hong Kong, but also in
Macau, Beijing or Shanghai. And there’s plenty of potential –
in fact I’ve heard that the number of tattooists in the People’s
Republic of China has recently grown by about 150,000...
which might sound a lot... until you realise that the total
Chinese population is 1.6 billion!

12. by li fei huang, xl tattoo (china)

13. by li fei huang, xl tattoo (china)
14. by a ming, 76th street tattoo (china)
15. by klaus hu fruhmann (austria)
16. by enzo, 76th street tattoo (china)
17. by yu tattoo (china)
18. by jimmy yuen, freedom tattoo (hong kong)
19. by he ping, mz tattoo (china)
20. by li chang (china)
21. by he ping, mz tattoo (china)

Total Tattoo Magazine 37

 22. 23. 24.

22. by yu tattoo (china)

23. by enzo, 76th street tattoo (china)
24. by electric pick (on the road) 27.
25. by cang long (china)
26. by vince, freedom tattoo (hong kong)
27. by electric pick (on the road) 26.

25.

38 Total Tattoo Magazine

please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts • please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts
 Interview - Perry Rule • Photos - Big Meas

P
retty much every tattooist will have been asked to tattoo a name or a
word at some point in their career, but rarely do you find an artist
whose script work is of such a high calibre that they can devote their
entire portfolio to it. Beautiful flowing fonts are the domain of Big Meas – a
sweet man with truly fontastic skills.

Where does the name Big Meas come from?

There was this older graffiti guy in my hometown that I really looked up to. I was signing some
graf I’d done using my tag name ‘Thirteen’ and he said, “Your name’s too long; you’re going to get
caught”. He asked me what letters I liked doing most and I told him ‘a’, ‘m’ and ‘s’ – and he came
up with ‘meas’ and it just stuck. I don’t do much graffiti these days. I’d love to do more but I got
all these trips booked, so I got to play it clean. I’ve kind of become a bit responsible.

How did you make the transition from walls to skin?

I’ve been doing graffiti, pinstriping and signwriting since I was 18. I’ve only been tattooing for
about four years and I never had any formal training. I ended up meeting some guys who were
painting with Von Dutch and they started teaching me to tattoo, but mostly it’s all self taught.

What was the spark that made you want to pick up the brush in the first
place? Were you into art?
I was really into Hot Rods and had a ‘63 Chevy back then that I was fixing up, and I wanted it
pinstriped. I just thought “I can do that”. I started with graffiti, moved to signs, then pinstriping
and finally tattooing. At that time I was training to becoming a prison officer, but most of my
friends were tattooing and doing well for themselves. They were happy and having fun and I just
thought to myself, “What the hell am I doing? This is bullshit”. Until that point the idea had never
crossed my mind, because basically I didn’t really draw a lot. I still don’t; I do lettering and that’s
it! That’s my thing.

The script that you do is a long way from the type that I see in graffiti…
Graffiti lettering is kind of like a coded typeface and to the untrained eye it can be hard to work
out, but because we spend so much time looking at it and designing it, our eye has become
trained. I can read it from a mile away. It’s the same with my tattoos; a lot of people can’t really
read them at first, whereas to me they are as plain as day.

Why focus solely on lettering?

I really wanted to tattoo but I knew I couldn’t really draw animals and stuff to a level that would
make me stand out. Lettering was my strong point and my tattoo teacher believes you’ve got to
have a niche. So after doing a traditional style apprenticeship he said, “If it’s lettering you want to
do, then just do that”. When I first started to work at shows, the organisers would ask to see my
portfolio and when they saw I just did lettering they’d say, “You won’t do well”, but I always ended
up being the busiest guy at the show… always!

40 Total Tattoo Magazine

Total Tattoo Magazine 41
 What are the main disciplines
required for your style of tattooing?
I do a lot of traditional tattooing day in, day
out at the shop where I work, and I want to
continue to develop that for myself – that’s
valuable. BJ Betts is an artist I really admire; he
does everything, but he will always be ‘the
lettering guy’ that I look up to. The disciplines
are similar to any other tattoo; you need good
line work and smooth shading but the main
difference is in the application. A standard
tattooist would line and then shade and then
colour, spending probably 25% of their time on
the line work and the rest divided between
shade and colour. With me the line work is
the tattoo and so it’s probably 75% line work
and the rest shading.

It seems to me that you need to be

extremely accurate with lettering.
The verticals and perpendiculars
need to be perfect. There seems
little room for error – it’s almost
more technical than a standard
tattoo…
I think a lot of artists can adjust things as they
go along to make things appear correct
visually – I see that a lot. I’ve learnt how to
trick the eye into thinking a line is straighter
than it really is. If you apply a technically
accurate typographic tattoo to the curve of a
body nine times out of ten it would look
wrong.

42 Total Tattoo Magazine

How do you develop the typefaces that you use?
I draw typefaces wherever I am. I am always drawing type. I never really plan the tattoos that I do
beforehand and I reckon I’ve only used stencils in maybe 15% of my tattoos. The rest are always
drawn on freehand. I’ve done that since day one. I’ve freehanded pinstripes on $150,000 Hot
Rods so I’ve always had that pressure. I never know what I’m doing until I start doing it. I talk
with my client while I doodle and the design kind of does itself. My customer today was really
muscular and I just worked the font around his body structure. The tattoo just evolved from the
things he said and the way his body worked. He didn’t even want to see it before it was finished.
In the past I had to talk people into getting a type tattoo, now people trust me and let me do my
thing.

Is there much of a crossover between your pinstriping and your tattooing?

Oh yeah. I did a piece in Scotland recently where I drew a line straight down and pinstriped
symmetrically from there. The centre line is just a guide – that’s pretty much all I need. People are
starting to experiment with asymmetrical pinstriped designs all off one side, which is really cool.

Total Tattoo Magazine 43

 How do you keep things progressing?
I collect books of old typefaces and
signwriting. I never trace the pictures I see but
I am aware that the images go into my head
and come out later in a drawing that I do. I
don’t think I have ever really done the same
font twice, unless it is a very standard script. I
was once given some great advice by an old
time signwriter: he said, “It doesn’t matter
what your font looks like, as long as the style
is cohesive to the whole thing”, so as long as
the stylistic elements of your script run
through the whole design it will always look
right.

You’re based at Truth & Triumph in

the States. Tell us a bit about the
studio...
My boss has been in the business for over
twenty years. At one point we had twenty four
tattooists working in two studios! That’s a lot
of different personalities to work around, but
it also makes a great inspirational hub. I learnt
a lot of stuff from Kyle Cotterman, which is
strange, as he never really uses a liner in his
work; his technique is to build up layers of
colour. I’m now using shading to enhance my
type as I want my tattoos to be as intricate
and technical as any portrait or biomech
piece. My ultimate goal is to win ‘Tattoo of the
Day’ using lettering. I’ve heard I’ve come close
a few times.

44 Total Tattoo Magazine

What’s next for you?
More travel, more books… I also want to
carry my signwriting into my tattooing. Just to
keep developing lettering in general and
change how people perceive it. I feel like I’m
part of a growing movement. Even in the few
years that I have been focusing on lettering,
I’ve seen a lot of guys specialising in text-only
tattoos and I feel driven to establish it as a
recognised style. If you put a lettering piece up
against a colour portrait people like the
lettering, but they love the portrait. I feel
technically that the lettering requires just as
much skill, creativity, and possibly even more
style, but I don’t feel it’s acknowledged. In
terms of progression, I’m starting to use a lot
more colour in my work and I’m always
looking at new styles of font. Ultimately I feel
there are a lot ways to develop and move
away from the black and grey script style, and
it could go in any direction. I just want to
move it on!

www.bigmeas.com

Total Tattoo Magazine 45

The Christmas present
that lasts all year!
Receive 2 issues FREE when you subscribe £15 inc P&P
Designed by Al Pachanka
Every issue delivered to your door
Black on White & White on Black
Available in all sizes:
Option 1 Call our subscriptions hotline on S, M, L, XL, XXL
0800 917 8794 and set up a direct
From:
debit for £10.50 per quarter (£42 per year)
and recieve 12 issues for the price of 10 www.totaltatttoo.co.uk
(For UK residents only)

Option 2 Subscribe securely online at

www.totaltatttoo.co.uk
and recieve 12 issues for the price of 11
Subscription rates: UK £46.20
Europe £88 • Rest of World £125
(UK and Overseas Residents)
please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts • please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts
please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts • please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts
GALL ERY
PLUS
Bio Mash
Back 2 Front
ead At
Where’s Your H
Twit Twoo
Hiss
bio mash
maciej enzo sowa, ink-ognito (poland)
marvin silva, empire state tatt
oo (usa)

image tattoo (usa)

paco dietz, graven
 dimitri hk, dimitri tatouage (fra
nce)

pioner (russia)

land)
joe myler, jmd’s bodyart (ire

joe myler, jmd’s bodyart (ire

land)

nick baxter (usa)

back 2 front
aelvin lim, imagine (singapore
)
fantonio macko tudisco,
macko tattoo shop (italy)

y)
llery (german
ev, dotstolines ga
chaim machl kiwi matt, slave to
the needle (usa)
 ada)
james tex, deadly tattoo (can

kenji shigehara, yz tattoo (jap

an)

inma, the family business

 eece)
live2, tattooligans (gr

pioner (russia)

den yakovlev, negative karma

tattoo studio (russia)
sandor jordan, akira tattoo (germany)
 tattoo
sylvio freitas, brazilian crew
rob koss, xxx tattoo (switzerlan
d)

paco dietz, graven

image tattoo (usa)
mogi horishige (japan) nick baxter (usa)

jammes, woody’s tattoo

oo
miguel angel bohigues, v tatt
 aric taylor, art junkies (usa)

dan arietti, black sails

wheres your head at
sean herman, royal street tattoo (usa)

ie rouge
charissa gregson, jol
jay jay dallas, royal arch (sweden)

ade, nine ade, nine

dane mancini, inkamatic (ita oo
ly) miles better, frith street tatt

dan arietti, black sails

xoil,
needle side tattoo (france)
rose price, organic element
old man brierley, art house tatt
oo

hanz, kingstreet tat nate kennedy,

too (germany)
frontline tattoos (australia)

paul terry, skin kandi

leigh oldcorn, cosm

ic tattoo

l da bear
michael suchanowski, michae
dominik insect borkowski, stud
io kosa (poland)

filip, studio za (croa

tia)
jake x, top hat tattoo
(spain)
miguel angel bohigues, v-tattoo
twit twoo alex caligari,
black ink studio (romania)

oo (usa)
sean herman, royal street tatt
ad tattoo
n, the kings ro
raymond johnso

todo, abt tattoo (usa)

dek kent, electric kicks
antony flemming, world of tattoos

freighter tattoo
patrick mcfarlane, the black

matt lang, mike parso

ns ink (usa)

efka, stigma tattoo

rty tattoo (usa)

mike chambers, northern libe
piotr gie, rock ‘n’ roll tattoo
 hiss sneaky mitch, dock street tatt
oos

jordan teear, frith street tatt

oo

jesse smith, loose screw (usa

)

cesar de cesaro, body garden

stacie jascott,
chalice tattoo
(usa)
 nakota garza, outer
nick baldwin, bold as brass limits tattoo (usa)

tattoo (denm ark)

søren granhof schjøtt, lowkey
old man brierley,
art house tattoo

e j miles, angelic hell

jason james, never say die

kamil, kamil tattoo

tim pangburn,
art machine (usa)

fingers dött, swahili bob's tatt

oleg turyanskiy (russia) oo
(sweden)
 oo (usa)
dan arietti, black sails canyon webb, off the map tatt

paul anthony dobleman, spid

er murphy’s tattoo (usa)

oo (usa)
joey ortaga, triple crown tatt

ektra tattoo
lee pickles, sp
 ns ink (usa) miss arianna,
matt lang, mike parso
skinwear (italy)

mike stockings, legacy ink

slick nick, 25 to life (holland)

ricardo pedro, m
odern body art
pioner (russia)
please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts • please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts
 Byron

G i b s on
Most of the time, you just never know what life has in store for
you. A chance meeting can turn the whole thing upside down.
At least that’s what happens in the movies – but not in the real
world… right?
For Bangkok based movie tough guy Byron was completely addictive. “For a three week
Gibson, that is pretty much how it happened. period I was working with Jean Claude and
I’ll let Byron pick up the story from here: “I some amazing stunt guys. It was my first
was 38 at the time and I had a lot of tattoos that movie and the more time I spent on set, the
I had collected over the past 22 years. I’d never more I wanted to be there. When that movie
really been interested in acting – it just wasn’t wrapped, Jean Claude told me I should carry
on my radar – but I went to a casting with my on; I had the right look for the movies and he
girlfriend for a Jean Claude Van Damme loved my tattoos. Shortly after that my name
movie. The casting director just seemed to like was circulating in all the right places and I
me. He took some photos and I left it at that. A started getting calls.”
few days later he called, wanting me to go in to
cast. I thought, no, I can’t be bothered. And It wasn’t long before Byron’s next opportunity
why would they pick me anyway?” came along. Once again his tattoos were key to
the casting – and in fact extra ones were stuck
“But encouraged by my mates, I decided to on for effect. But what seemed like a
give it a go. The only part left in the film was promising start was brought to a rather abrupt
for a ‘sex tourist’! Anyway, I came out of there and unpleasant halt when Byron was hit with a
feeling like an idiot and didn’t think much bout of dengue fever. He was forced to drop
more about it. Then I got a call from the out of shooting. “I thought my movie career
casting department to say that Jean Claude had was over before it had really began, but
liked the look of me and wanted to see me. I thankfully the jobs kept rolling in”.
went to meet him and he told me to forget the
sex tourist role; ‘I want you as gangster in my A chance meeting with another of the silver
movie’, he said. ‘You’re perfect. You have screen’s bad men helped to reaffirm that his
great character’. He wanted to use me for a career was on the right track. “I was in a
chase scene and a fight scene with him. The restaurant and this Mexican guy started staring
next thing I knew I was being trained in at me in a menacing way, so I stared back. I
firearms by the Royal Thai Police.” thought I recognised him from somewhere, but
Interview by James Sandercock I could not place him. Then it hit me… it was
Pics courtesy of Byron Gibson With his background in Muay Thai (traditional Danny Trejo [From Dusk Till Dawn /
kickboxing), the fight scenes were not a Machete]. We ended up having lunch a couple
problem for Byron and the whole experience of times. He has fairly heavy coverage and

70 Total Tattoo Magazine

 generally there are now so many actors with
tattoos, both male and female, that the
negative attitude of the old days is long gone.”

Byron’s tattoos have become a major way in

which he markets himself. “All the directors I
have worked with like my look. The
combination of tattoos and beard certainly
seems to gets me noticed.” His tattoos have
proved to be such an asset that his collection
has grown significantly over the last few years.
In fact he has just finished work on quite a
controversial movie called Only God Forgives
about a drug smuggler thriving in the criminal
underworld of Bangkok, directed by Nicolas
Winding [Drive] “I play a British gangster,
and the director loved my tattoos. In the film I
also had a bodyguard with a big dragon tattoo
over his chest and tattoos down both arms and
I’m sure that’s one of the reasons they picked
him for the role. There is no doubt – on the
screen they are a visually effective tool for a
director.”

Since getting his first ink at the age of 16,

gave me some valuable advice on what to do if Byron’s choice of tattoos has also changed
I wanted to pursue a career in acting. He told considerably but I guess that’s only to be
me to take a good look in the mirror and be expected. “At the time I was really into punk
honest with myself. He felt tattoos were a and we were going down to London to watch I want my tattoos to represent the new me. I
bonus that enhanced your character, and that I various bands on the scene – this was around have a flaming dice – and that’s about taking a
would never play the good guy… well, not ‘86 to ‘87. We followed the bands wherever gamble in this life, win or lose. I’m planning
often. So I took his advice and it’s worked to they went and that’s why I had the logos done. on getting a Guardian Angel done soon. I have
this day. I have a saying: ‘I love making an I remember my first one; I didn’t tell my mum had so many ups and downs over the years; I
honest living, playing the bad guy’, which is a about it and one day when I was asleep she have always felt some one must be watching
nice contradiction in many ways. came to my room and saw my arm. I woke up over me.
I wondered if Byron had noticed a change in and she was there, just staring at me, and then
attitudes towards tattooing in the film she went crazy!” It was in 2006 that Byron and his girlfriend
industry? “I would say yes, for sure. Since I’ve upped sticks and moved to Bangkok to run his
been involved in the industry, more and more So much has changed since those early days. import-export business. He’d had a colourful
actors have tattoos and more and more people Is it still important for Byron’s tattoos to life to say the least, and not for the first time
see them as acceptable. When I first started represent something? “I first got tattooed he decided to take a chance and it worked out.
getting tattooed in the 1980s, you were quite because I wanted to be some sort of rebel, or In 2008 he got into the film industry and since
an outcast. But it would seem that in this day maybe part of a gang. It was a macho thing, then has worked on more than twenty eight
and age nobody really cares that much. The but then again I was a teenager. I didn’t think movies, alongside actors such as Jean Claude
designs, inks and quality of work have about it too much. I was young and naïve and I Van Damme, Sharon Stone, Eric Roberts,
improved so radically. For me, as I’ve said, just wanted to have lots of tattoos. I went Dolph Lundgren and Tony Jaa. He was in The
they’ve definitely been a bonus, although I did through quite a long period of not getting Hangover Part II with Bradley Cooper and
work on a short project with John Woo tattooed, but then I found this great tattooist in recently, among other projects, Channel 5 has
[director of Mission Impossible] where they Bangkok called Jean. She has a shop in produced a feature on him to be shown later
didn’t want any visible ink. The film was Amarin Plaza and I love her work. At first I this year. He’s also working on a book
being shown in Japan, and there was concern started getting some rework done, and now she documenting his crazy, crazy life, which
about the stigma around tattoos over there. But is the only person who tattoos me. These days should make for an entertaining read…

72 Total Tattoo Magazine

please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts • please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts
 halloween
Words and photos by James Sandercock

tattoo bash
T
he Halloween Bash has become a tad nomadic, moving home several times
over the last few years. But as they say, a change is as good as a rest, so we
packed our bags and headed off to the cosmopolitan capital of Wales with
high hopes for this year’s convention. Yes, the Bash was in Cardiff last year too – in
the historic Coal Exchange to be precise – but for 2013 it moved across town to the
beating heart of Welsh Rugby, the Millennium Stadium no less. This was a very
different kettle of fish to the Bash’s previous venues. Would it prove to be a trick
or a treat?

As I rolled into town on my motorbike, I was forcibly brought to a halt by… the wind! And I’m not
referring to the aftermath of the previous night’s chimichanga (well OK, maybe a little); no – this was
something altogether more powerful and ferocious. Now you may think that perhaps I’m being a bit over
the top for dramatic effect, but you would be wrong.You have no idea how glad I was to get safely inside
that building.

The warm greeting that has always been afforded to me by the Bash immediately made me feel right at
home. No sooner had I got into my civvies than I was whisked off for a guided tour of the new venue,
which was just as well, because this year it was a multi-storey affair and somewhat challenging to
navigate.

Floor one was your point of entry into the show and consisted predominantly of tattooists. Let’s just say
it was compact compared to the other two floors, but it certainly wasn’t any the poorer for it. Electric
Vintage, Fools Gold, Podges and Avon Tattoo were just a few of the studios who were plying their trade
1. there. A straight shot through the room and through some double doors, you jumped on an escalator
and were transported to level two. This was entirely different: a large corridor full of a myriad traders
ran down to the next escalator, broken only by the main stage that was home to bands, burlesque and
Sunday’s competitions. Opposite that was the entrance to the next room of artists, which was slightly
larger this time, with more open space to stand around, chat and watch work develop.You could check
out what the teams from Never Say Die, Needle Asylum and Drunken Sailor were up to, as well as watch
Kustom Kulture and Creative Ink working.

3. 5.

4.

2.

74 Total Tattoo Magazine

6. 7. 8.

1. ali by cathy sue, dexterity ink

2. hannah by mugs, vintage electric
3. max pniewski, jak connolly,
duane robinson
4. arsene by will dixon, no regrets
5. ali by wendy, kustom kulture
6. ivor by col cooper, fool’s gold
7. kelly by quady, no regrets
8. gaz by giles twigg, inky g’s
9. 9. needle asylum
10. mark by tarlito,
one love (czech republic)
11. george by jon anderson,
nemesis tattoo

11.

10.

Total Tattoo Magazine 75

12. 13. 14.

15.

16.

18.
12. leighton by francis, inky g’s
13. sam by jelle, swansea tattoo company
17. 14. rachael by matt drury, black rabbit tattoo
15. brandon by josh delaney, chameleon tattoo
16. karl cooper, fool’s gold
17. matthew by podge, podge’s tattoo
18. by jak connolly, ink studios
19. brian by dave barry (ireland)
20. rachael by matt drury, black rabbit tattoo
21. gavin by chris harrison, bridgend tattoo
22. by luke naylor, pro body
23. penny by billy hay, custom inc

19.

76 Total Tattoo Magazine

 20. 21.

22. 23.

Last but not least was level three: a very similar layout, but the artists’ room was larger again.
The Southmead Tattoo team was there in force, with Jak Connolly next door; Jo Harrison was
there too, as were the crews from Chameleon Tattoos, Golden Dragon and Physical Graffiti, to
name but a few. The Bash has always had a loyal following and many of the attending studios had
been at all three venues over the seven years the show has been running. I felt I had to enquire
about how the new venue measured up to past incarnations; the general feeling was very
positive.

So with my tour over it was time to eat a vast amount of chocolate (generously heaped on the
artists’ tables for passers-by to help themselves…), drink way too much cheap coffee and then
feel slightly queasy. With that tradition well and truly upheld I started the first of many much
slower and very enjoyable explorations of the floors. I have to say I grew to really like the layout;
to get from the bottom to the top and back again you had to travel through the entire show,
which was a smart move by the powers-that-be.

Entertaining the good folk who choose to visit the Halloween Bash is an aspect of the show that
organiser Mac has always taken seriously, and this year was no different. There was always

Total Tattoo Magazine 77

 something going on over the weekend and, as
24. I mentioned, the vast array of quality traders
was very much appreciated. However, the
jewel in the Bash’s crown does not take place
during convention hours; I’m talking about the
Halloween Ball of course, and this year it was
a cracker thanks to a string of random events
that started with Jo Harrison walking past a
pub one Sunday night in Birmingham... It’s a
long story but the upshot was the booking of
magnificent Thom and Chrisbee [see our Linky
on page 11 - Ed] who rocked the socks off the
revellers and brought everybody together in a
way that only a really great gig can do. Note to
organisers: please book them again next year.

So once again Mac and his dedicated team –

including his Mum and Dad who worked the
door – brought together an enjoyable and
very professional show. The elements that
25. 26. have made it special in previous years were
still very much intact, despite moving home
yet again. For Mac, it’s always been important
that this show gives, not takes, and this year’s
charity auction was once again very popular,
raising £4,000 for the Jo & Mya Memorial
Fund.

As I swung my leg back over the bike and

headed off into the howling, foul night, there
was never any question in my mind that
braving the weather in blustery South Wales
had been worth it. In the game of trick or
treat, I had been treated.

29.

27. 28.

30.

24. rachael by gerry carnelly, 27. by max pniewski, southmead tattoo

octopus tattoo 28. simon by pj, rising phoenix tattoo
25. aled by adam burt, human canvas 29. tony by chris collins, frontier tattoo
26. dave by martin, avon tattoo 30. tony by chris collins, frontier tattoo

78 Total Tattoo Magazine

please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts • please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts
 Pictures: Jeremy Justice
Words: Perry Rule

J
eremy Justice does great posters. He also
does great tattoos. Add to that a great
personality, and you have yourself a
great guy. I sat down with him for a chat after
the Edinburgh Tattoo Convention earlier this year
to see if some of that greatness would rub off on me.
I started by asking Jeremy what keeps calling him back to the UK? “I just love it; I love the
UK every time I come here. The people are great and treat me so well; they just love
getting tattooed so I’m always real busy. I first got involved with working the Edinburgh
Show through doing a guest spot at Thou Art in Sheffield in 2007 and now I come back
every year because it’s such a good convention and the city is such a beautiful place to
visit. Everyone gets so excited about it, and I get to do great work here.”

At home in America, Jeremy can be found at Eye Candy in New Orleans, a shop he
helped start, but it seems he’s seldom there. He feels privileged to have the opportunity to
travel so extensively, and like many American artists, travel seems to be one of the primary
driving forces behind his career. He feels it’s almost an artistic duty. He tells me, “There
are so many things to see and do, so much information to take in, that you will never
develop as an artist by sitting in your room waiting for inspiration to come to you. You
have to go find it… and it’s easy with so many great international tattoo conventions.
It demonstrates that there is a real global community of tattooists who travel. Many of them
I’ll only get to see at conventions, but because I travel so much I see them more often than
my friends back home!”

80 Total Tattoo Magazine

Total Tattoo Magazine 81
 In the past few years, Jeremy’s work has
become more illustrative, incorporating
super smooth shading and high levels of
detail – a development he puts down
purely to international travel. He works
conventions in half a dozen countries a
year, and as well as being exposed to
other world class artists he also takes
inspiration from the countries themselves.
“If you go to Japan for instance, there are
dragons, phoenixes and foo dogs
everywhere – in packaging, on posters,
on clothing, everything. It’s hard to avoid
all the inspiration that’s out there, but you
have to go there if you want to soak it all
up.”

I wanted to know how Jeremy saw

tattooing; is it an art, a craft or a business?
“America is a huge place and per capita
there are so many more artists. There’s a
ridiculous amount of shops, and a
ridiculous amount of artists, but there’s
definitely a push to make tattooing more of
an artistic medium – almost to the point
where this becomes detrimental. When
tattooists see themselves as artists who
tattoo on the side, and lose touch with the
craft of tattoo, they become bigger than the
art. If your passion for another artform is
stronger than your desire to tattoo, then
you should go do that other artform
instead. For me it has always been
tattooing, since I was a little kid. Tattooing
has led me to other artforms, but tattooing
is my real passion and everything else is
secondary. People don’t realise that
tattooing is 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week. Aside from tattooing itself, every
morning I wake up and answer my emails,
call people and arrange my schedule,
draw tattoos, talk and plan with customers,
research and draw again to get ready for
the next day. It’s total dedication.”

82 Total Tattoo Magazine

Total Tattoo Magazine 83
“Social media is a powerful tool for a modern
day tattooist to promote your business by
getting your pictures out there, but then again
it does lend itself to people just trying to be
popular on Facebook – like the guy who
tattooed his girlfriend’s face, who seems more
interested in being talked about all over the
internet, as opposed to earning respectability
from within the industry.”

Jeremy’s initial interest in tattooing began as

a child when his uncle – who was sporting two
full sleeves of tattoos in the early eighties –
showed him the book ‘The Japanese Tattoo’,
full of amazing bodysuits, which blew his
mind. “Even now those tattoos still fascinate
me; they are such a commitment – great big,
beautiful tattoos. Tattooing is one of the last
things that’s not disposable. Nowadays you
have this mobile phone and next year you will
have another, but your tattoos will remain.
That for me is the whole point.”

84 Total Tattoo Magazine

Being semi-permanently on the road, Jeremy
seems perfectly placed to assess the cultural
differences between continents, but surprisingly
he sees many similarities. “It’s amazing how
the same tattoos get done all over the world!
One week you are in Cape Town, the next in
Japan, then the UK, and everywhere you go
girls ask for little stars. The culture itself differs
more than the style of tattoos, because some
places just have more exposure than others.
Cape Town is a good example: they have
great artists, but they don’t have the exposure
to magazines or the internet in the same way.
We just assume that if we’re getting it, then
everyone else is getting the same.”

Jeremy is known for his elegant Japanese

pieces, but this is not the whole picture.
Having started in a straight-up street shop,
doing a ridiculous amount of J D Crow flash
for $20, Jeremy still has a passion for all styles
of tattooing. “Too much of one style can get
monotonous. It’s good to perfect a style, but
it’s exciting to try something new.”

Total Tattoo Magazine 85

There are many events in a person’s life
that have an impact, but few of us can
imagine the devastation Hurricane Katrina
brought to Jeremy’s home state of New
Orleans. “When something that bad
happens, you can either let it destroy you,
or you can use that experience to make
you a better person. We evacuated to
Texas, but after being stuck there for three
weeks, not being able to go home, we
went on a three-month road trip, tattooing
all over the US. It changed me as a person;
it gave me so much more of an
understanding and respect for tattooing
because all these people who didn’t know
me at all would take us in, and be kind
and generous, and it was all through
tattooing. Shop owners and supply
companies were sending us stuff for free
and I really got to see what the industry is
made of. It gave me so much more respect
for the industry and a feeling of gratitude.
I’m thankful I’m a tattooist; this is an
amazing job that offers opportunities you
don’t get from any other profession. You
could airdrop me into Zimbabwe today
and I’d be tattooing tomorrow! Tattooing
absolutely took care of us at a time when
I needed it the most.”

If there is one message that Jeremy wants

people to take from this interview, it’d be
to pack your bags and maybe hit a few
international shows where the respect is
mutual, and everybody has travelling in
common. That in itself opens up
communication between artists, which
can only help to grow the community.

“There are guys who think they are too

cool for everything but they end up missing
so much. It doesn’t matter how good you
get – at the end of the day there’s always
going to be someone in a small town
somewhere who will totally burn your
tattoos. There’s always more to learn and
more to see, and you’ll get along better if
you have a humble attitude. If you stop
moving forward you’ll sink, just like a
shark.”

https://www.facebook.com/pages
/Jeremy-Justice-tattoos/
164838293555985

86 Total Tattoo Magazine

please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts • please mention total tattoo when replying to adverts
galway
Words by Perry Rule and photos by Perry Rule & Mitch

tattoo show
A
s the song says, “It’s a long way to Tipperary” and
1.
Galway is not far from there! A beautiful coastal town
on the west coast of Ireland, it was a wonderful location
for the first Irish convention to be organised by Martin,
the fiendish mastermind behind the online community
www.tattootv.com (and co-organiser of Manchester’s
premiere tattoo show, The Tattoo Tea Party).
Martin’s credentials were on show for all to see, reflected in the list of fantastic international
tattooists who came to support his convention. Many English artists made the journey via land,
sea and air, along with representatives from Poland, the United States and Italy (see
www.galwaytattooshow.ie for the full list). Special guests included members of the Leu family,
2. who were promoting their recent book (‘The Art of the Leu Family’, reviewed in Total Tattoo
Issue 106).

Allow me, if you will, to paint you a mental picture of the show as seen through my eyes.
You enter the building through large revolving doors set in an impressive glass façade. From the
reception area, with its lush marble tiled floor, you take an immediate right into a corridor that
leads you into the mouth of a huge function room (doubtless more accustomed to large wedding
parties than tattoo conventions). First you see the bar area, offering plenty of seating and a small
stage that was mostly used for the tattoo competitions and body painting show; on through the
beautifully illuminated columns, and you enter the belly of the beast, the humming arena of inky
art. Close to one hundred artists pitched up to present arms and the show was on!

4. 5.

3.

1. galway harbour
2. by jan tattoo (poland)
3. paul humphreys, evolution tattoo
4. by edek, kult tattoo (poland)
5. by isaiah cummings, fat cat tattoo

Total Tattoo Magazine 89

 6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11.

Saturday was a little slow to get going, but I was assured that by about three in the afternoon
things would be swinging, because by that time most people would have got over the night 12.
before. And sure enough, that prophecy came true. Tattooists plied their trade, whilst in another
bar area on the other side of the reception area, the film ‘Tattoo Nation’ was having its first ever
showing on Irish soil. A varied roster of talented bands played throughout the weekend (in a
separate room away from the artists’ area, which kept things at a manageable volume) and other
attractions included live art action and a free body-painting workshop. There was also a children’s
play area, where electronic games consoles, a giant Connect Four, an endless supply of popcorn,
and a photo studio complete with lights and a dressing-up box kept the smiles permanently
drawn on the kids’ faces. If for any reason mouths drooped, they were painted straight back on
again – quite literally in some cases, with the face-painting that was also on offer.

As Saturday drew to a close, and most of the artists were heading out to sample the delights of
Galway’s nightlife, something rather special was happening in the hall. XedLeHead was settling in
for a whole night of tattooing, during which he would administer a complex labyrinthine
geometric design on his customer’s chest (a design that he had spent all day creating). Fast
forward to Sunday morning and as the hall slowly gears up for another busy day, the faint hum of
his machine can still be heard floating on the air. In fact when I left the show later that day, he was
still working, both he and his customer looking as fresh as daisies even though by that time they
had been going for an astonishing nineteen hours. I heard that they finally finished at 2am Monday
morning!

Before going to this show, I had never really experienced proper Irish hospitality – the kind you
hear about, where you go into a pub as a stranger, then don’t leave until several hours later, full of
Guinness, with a whole load of new best friends all singing, dancing and laughing together (at least
until the painful realisation of the next morning, that is!) It’s a long way to travel, to be sure, but I
would head back in a heartbeat. It was a lot of fun in a beautiful town. The show takes place at
the same venue around the second weekend of September next year. I have already booked my
hotel; maybe me and my new Irish friends will see you there?

90 Total Tattoo Magazine

13. 14. 15.

17.

16.

19.
18.

6. by amy savage, jayne doe tattoo

7. by charly huurman, smiley dogg tattoo
8. by ylana paolini (on the road)
9. cian by marina inoue, classic tattoo (usa)
10. by soydan, yakuza tattoo
11. xed le head, divine canvas tattooing
12. by edel, eden art tattoo
13. by ruslan, black pearl tattoo
14. by david corden, on the road
15. by denise, snakebite tattoo
16. by joe myler, jmd’s body art tattoo
17. by hazel, design for life
18. by matt oddboy, real art tattoo
19. by joe westcott, inkfingers

Total Tattoo Magazine 91

 CONVENTION CALENDAR
Tattoo convention listings on this page are free.
Send your details to Convention Calendar, Total Tattoo Magazine, PO Box 10038, Sudbury, Suffolk,
CO10 7WL, UK or e-mail editor@totaltattoo.co.uk All details correct at time of going to press. E&OE.

UK CONVENTIONS June 7-8

Reading Tattoo Convention
Rivermead Leisure Complex, Richfield Avenue, Reading, RG1 8ER
February 10-11
readingtattooshow@hotmail.co.uk
Back in the Day Tattoo Expo
www.readingtattooshow.co.uk
Holiday Inn (East) London Road,
0118 959 0700 or 0118 959 8616
Newport Pagnal, Milton Keynes MK16 0JA
www.facebook.com/pages/Needle-Gangstas-Back-in-the-Day-
Convention/487670711284263 June 13-16
Inkfest 3
February 15-16 Sand Bay Leisure Resort, Weston Super Mare
Brighton Tattoo Convention www.inkfest.co.uk
The Hilton Metropole Hotel, Brighton, East Sussex
www.brightontattoo.com June 21-22
Ink for Heroes
March 1-2 The Racecourse, Knavesmire Rd,York, North Yorkshire YO23 1EX
Tattoo Tea Party www.inkforheroes.co.uk
Event City Limited, Phoenix Way, Urmston, Manchester, M41 7TB inkforheroes@hotmail.co.uk
www.tattooteaparty.com
July 12-13
April 6 Milton Keynes Tattoo Expo
Ink & Iron stadium mk, Stadium Way West, Milton Keynes, MK1 1ST
The Tower, Reservoir Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B16 9EE www.mktattooconvention.co.uk
www.inkandiron.co.uk Tel 01908 604201
info@inkandiron.co.uk
July 19-20
April 12-13
Cardiff Tattoo & Toy Convention
Tattoo Extravaganza Portsmouth
Mercure Cardiff Holland House Hotel & Spa
Portsmouth Pyramids Centre, Clarence Esplanade, Portsmouth,
24-26 Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 0DD
Hampshire PO5 3ST,
tattooextravaganza@live.co.uk info@cardifftattooandtoycon.co.uk
www.tattooextravaganza.co.uk www.cardifftattooandtoycon.co.uk

April 12-13 OVERSEAS CONVENTIONS

7th North Lakes Tattoo Show
Shepherds Inn, Carlisle, Cumbria December 7-8
Tel 01228 545156 Lady Ink
www.northlakestattooshow.co.uk Eventzentrum Z 2000, 2000 Stockerau (bei Wien), Austria
www.facebook.com/events/483741388346936/
May 11 www.facebook.com/LadyInkFemaleTattooArtistsOnly
Somerset Tattoo Convention
Blake Hall, St Saviours Avenue, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA6 3NZ February 7-9
Milan Tattoo Convention
May 17-18 Centro Congressi AtaHotel Quark,Via lampedusa 11/A, Milan
Liverpool Tattoo Convention www.milanotattooconvention.it
The Adelphi Hotel, Ranelagh Place, Liverpool, Merseyside, L3 5UL
Tel: 0151 709 0479 March 7-9
www.liverpooltattooconvention.com Mondial du Tatouage
Mondial du Tatouage de La Villette
May 24-25
211 Avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris, France
The 4th International Northern Ireland Tattoo
www.mondialdutatouage.com
Convention
Ulster Hall, Belfast
Facebook.com/nitattoo.convention April 25-27
ww.nitattoo.co.uk 4th International Nepal Tattoo Convention
Yak and Yeti Hotel
June 7-8 www.nepaltattooconvention.com
Northampton International www.facebook.com/NepalTattoo
Tattoo Convention
Saints Rugby Ground, Weedon Road, Northampton, NN5 5BG To find out about our special offers for display adverts, email
www.northamptoninternationaltattooconvention.com advertising@totaltattoo.co.uk
Tel:01604 949958

92 Total Tattoo Magazine

NEXT MONTH
A glimpse of what the future holds!
If you would like to see your work published in Total Tattoo, send your pictures to gallery@totaltattoo.co.uk
or send discs to Total Tattoo Magazine, PO Box 10038, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 7WL, UK

Chad Get Inspired

Get Excited
Koeplinger Get ink!
Gallery Plus
on the road
less travelled Exhibition
A selection of Art
from Tattooists

Brighton
Tattoo
Western Convention
Japanese A taster of what
to expect
French Style
with Henrik G ‘In Focus’ this month
Black N’ Grey Haunted Tattoo
Tattoo Studio
Miguel Bohigues
V-Tattoo
Scroobius Pip
The Uk master of the
spoken word

£4.20
TTM111
Tattoo Shows JAN 2013
King of Tattoo, Tokyo
Brussels International Tattoo Convention
Sheffield Tattoo Convention

Miguel Bohigues
Henrik G

Scroobius Pip
Chad Koeplinger

To find out who sells Total Tattoo in your area, email your
postcode to vickyb@warnersgroup.co.uk

Save money with a subscription! For details, call our free

subscriptions hotline on 0800 917 8794 or visit
www.totaltattoo.co.uk

Tattoo studios! You can sell Total Tattoo on an easy

sale-or-return basis. To find out more, email
totaltattoo@totaltattoo.co.uk or phone 01787 242100

Total Tattoo Magazine 93

 PORTFOLIO
Showcasing the art and tattoos of some of the best tattooists working today.
If you would like us to consider your work, please send examples to:
Portfolio, Total Tattoo Magazine, PO Box 10038, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 7WL, UK

DAP
SKINDOM (ITALY)

94 Total Tattoo Magazine

Total Tattoo Magazine 95
 STEVE JARVIS
MONKI DO

96 Total Tattoo Magazine

Total Tattoo Magazine 97
 MEL NOIR
When Tatts Meet Tech

Recently, I was struggling to plug some cables into Along the same lines, but much closer to becoming a reality,
a friend’s TV. The problem was that it was almost ‘smart’ tattoos are being developed that could help those with
diabetes. These medical marvels have particles in them that can
impossible to see round the back; we needed a
sense glucose and change colour accordingly. In the future, this
torch. “Don’t worry”, I said, “I’ll just download may replace the need for finger prick tests, and of course
one to my phone”. Simple things like that would hypothetically you could work them into pretty much any design.
have been considered futuristic, crazy stuff just a There may be some debate over whether it would be a tattooist or
few short years ago. So this got me thinking – in a doctor who would administer the tattoo – but perhaps this in
the natural progression of things, what on earth itself will encourage some crossover between the professions and
we’ll see tattoo machine-wielding medical superheroes. Who
will tattoos look like two or three decades from
knows?
now?
On a smaller scale, there are people out there who are already –
There are some weird and wonderful advances being made in and right now – using technology to make their tattoos come to life.
around tattooing that not only challenge the traditions of the There seems to be a trend at the moment for getting QR Codes.
ancient industry that we all know and love, but also stretch the For those of you who don’t know, a QR Code is a graphic that
limitations of what exactly could be classed as a tattoo. The you scan from your smartphone, which automatically opens up
following examples meet the tattoo criteria – they’re permanently websites for you, or links you to other interesting stuff. So if you
under the skin and they can certainly be classed as images – so have a QR Code tattooed on you, other people can simply scan
for the purposes of our voyage into the future, we will say they that code with their phone and be taken straight to your blog,
count. But as you read on, it might be wise to be a little flexible your video, your online animation... The internet’s your oyster.
with your idea of what a tattoo is...
There’s a lot happening within tattooing right now, and the face
The other day I came across a website promoting an amazing of the industry may look very different in the future, which is
invention: ‘programmable’ tattoos that will change whenever you something to get excited about. However, while all of this is
want them to! An electronic sheet is implanted into your skin; it really cool, I think I’d probably prefer just to stick with some
heals within a few days, then it’s ready for an image to be good old-fashioned tattooing. Sometimes, we should accept that
uploaded on to it. You need to buy the machine and the special the primary purpose of art is simply to be art.
software (the product is called ‘moodInq’), and then you can
upload any picture you like and change it any time you want to. If
you think about it, I guess this really isn’t too different to the idea
of downloading a torch to your phone. A decade ago, if you’d
told a tattooist about this tech they’d have thought you were
insane. In fact many tattooists would probably still think that;
because this really does help to reinforce the idea that tattoos are
becoming just another aspect of our throwaway society. I was
intrigued enough to click the Buy Now button... only to find a big
FOOLED YA! flashing up on my screen. But even though this
invention is not real now, it could well be – sometime in the not
too distant future.

98 Total Tattoo Magazine