If you were to go through all the posts on this blog and look specifically for posts that had to do with a new product that incorporates tattoo art, well, you would find quite a few items.  That’s because it really never ends, this concept of taking the popularity and fashionable elements of tattoos and slapping them on some random product.

Not that I’m complaining, of course.  For the most part I think it’s pretty cool that tattoos have made such an impact that if someone really wants a set of dinner plates with classic American tattoo designs all over them, well, then that can easily be arranged.  However, I don’t really believe that it’s the people who are firmly entrenched in the tattoo sub-culture, i.e.: the tattoo artists themselves who are buying into all this stuff.  But really, who cares whether it is or not?

My most recent discovery in the world of tattoo related products are these paper towels from UK based retailer Rockett St George.  Yes, these are just your regular everyday paper towels for use in any kitchen or tattoo shop anywhere, with the sole difference between these and say a roll of Brawny being (aside from the price) that the Rockett St George paper towels are covered in the aforementioned designs of classic American style tattoos.  For £5.50 ($8.20 USD), you can have a 20 metre (somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60 feet) roll of tattoo themed paper towels.

I know you want them.

The more time that passes, the more uses for tattoos there seems to be.  I mean, it isn’t just about getting art inked on to your body anymore.  Permanent makeup, while nothing new, is one such example.  The ability to alter your personal appearance through techniques used by or perfected by tattoo artists is growing and expanding, just as tattooing itself continues to grow and expand.

What made me realize this was this news story out of England.  Using shading techniques that are also used by tattoo artists, the HIS hair clinic in Birmingham provides the illusion of hair for desperate bald men.  That’s right, they’re tattooing hair on to these poor bastard’s scalps.  Ian Watson, the creator of the technique claims that the end results look “completely natural”.

You know, maybe I can’t relate to the desperation of certain bald men and their quest for hair because I’m not bald and I probably won’t ever be bald.  Thankfully that gene doesn’t run in my family.  Still, I like to think that even if I was bald, I’d just accept that fact and live my life.  Even if the scalp tattoo looks completely natural, there is no way in hell that it’s going to actually feel natural.  A waste of time, money and good ink, if you ask me.  Not to mention that baldness advocates like Larry David certainly won’t be the least bit pleased.

Give it up for Durb Morrison.

If aren’t familiar with Durb and the work that he does, then all I can say is that it’s time to learn.  Quite simply legendary in the tattoo world, Morrison has done much to help tattooing and tattoos make the lengthy and often difficult transition into the mainstream.  Many people are tempted to believe that it was tattoo artists like Kat Von D or Ami James who really provided the extra push needed to introduce the art form to a wider demographic.  But beyond the cheesy reality TV shows and all the fanfare brought about by the growth of tattoo fame, Durb Morrison has been working hard behind the scenes to keep the art form that he loves thriving.  The truth of the matter is that Durb Morrison is just plain badass.

Currently 38-years-old, Morrison has been tattooing since the age of 17, although he didn’t actually begin tattooing professionally until the age of 18.  Before that time, Morrison developed an interest in tattoos at the young age of 14.  As a young punk, he went through the whole “home tattoo” phase, a period in which he and his friends began messing around with their mother’s sewing needles in an attempt to replicate the tattoos that they thought were so cool.  While this perhaps wasn’t the best way to learn, it definitely was a way in which Morrison was able to get a glimpse of world that was filled with possibilities.

In 1994, Durb opened his first tattoo studio in Columbus, Ohio, called Stained Skin.  In 1999, he followed up Stained Skin with a Newark, Ohio studio called Second Skin.  His life has thus far been absolutely filled with all things tattoo and tattoo related.  He organizes and promotes the Hell City Tattoo Festival in Columbus, which takes place this May 21st-23rd (as I’ve mentioned many times before on this blog), and a tattoo convention that has become one of the biggest and most widely anticipated American tattoo festivals/conventions currently going.  He’s tattooed musicians, designed album covers for musicians, is a regular contributor for Tattoo Magazine, has created a tattoo application for the iPhone, owns his own publishing company (Pint Size Publishing) and…did I mention that he’s also a very gifted tattoo artist?

Now I’ve said a lot, but I don’t really feel like I’ve said anything about Durb Morrison.  He’s so prolific and such a talented artist that it’s probably better for me to just stop now and tell you to go here.

As I previously said: give it up for Durb Morrison.  He just might be the hardest working man in the tattoo biz.

Back in August of last year, I wrote about an English guy named Kirk Bradley and the rather over zealous tattoo that he had done.  The tattoo was a major vote of confidence for his favourite football (soccer) club, Manchester City.  Bradley, so confident that his team would go the distance and win the 2011 Champion League championship, had a tattoo etched on his upper bicep of the Championship Cup and the words: Manchester City 2011 Champions League Winners.

Well, as of this past Wednesday, Bradley’s all too predictable fate was realized.  Manchester City lost the game that would have put them in the league that you need to be in before you can even get to the Champions League and compete for the championship itself.  Make sense?  If not, all you need to know is that Bradley’s plan to see his team win it all didn’t even come remotely close to fruition.

I wish I could say that any of this comes as a surprise, but it really doesn’t.  Not because I knew that Manchester City wouldn’t advance far enough in the rankings to compete for the championship, but because getting a tattoo of something that hasn’t happened is stupid.  Stupid things typically fail to materialize into smart things.

Ever the optimist, Bradley is now considering having the 2011 on his tattoo changed to a 2017, so that he can fail once again in seven years time and look like a bigger tit than he currently does.  Might as well.  I mean hell, the tattoo is there.  It sure isn’t going anywhere.

I’m starting to think that Denmark doesn’t like tattoos.

Back in February, I posted a link to an article about the Danish prison system’s ban on tattoos in the workplace for guards.  That was quite surprising considering how liberal of a country Denmark is and that Copenhagen in particular has a strong legacy of very good tattoo artists.  I myself still have plans to get to Copenhagen one day in search of the highly skilled Uncle Allan.

Despite this, Copenhagen once again finds itself in the spotlight, this time for handing out a 1,000 kroner ($131 USD, £87 GBP) fine to a tattoo artist who dared to do his job and tattoo a customer’s face.  Denmark apparently has a law dating back to 1996 which forbids a tattoo artist from tattooing a person’s head, neck, or hands.  All together now: WHAT?

I know, I know…that is completely insane.  What really gets me about the whole thing is that the law is from 1996!  It wouldn’t be that surprising if the law came from 1886, but 1996?  It just blows me away.

I don’t have a lot of information on the issue, but from the information that this tiny article supplies, it seems that the cops were just waiting around outside of the shop to bust the guy who had just had his face tattooed.  I guess the cops in Copenhagen don’t have anything better to do.  Not that I’m trying to suggest anything disparaging about Copenhagen, but dudes need to sort this one out.  A law like that is a total step backwards in time.

If there are any Danes out there who can fill me in more on this story, I’d love to hear from you.  In the meantime, come on, Copenhagen.  Get rid of that law.

I don’t really like to make fun of people’s tattoos.  Honestly.  I know that sounds a little holier-than-thou, given that everyone at some time or another in their lives has either criticized or otherwise full-on mocked the shit out of someone’s tattoo(s).  You just know that you have.  It doesn’t mean that you still do it, but come on, some tattoos are just bad.

It is in this spirit of accepting that some tattoos are just plain bad and admitting that we are all guilty of at one time or another laughing about as much, that I provide Mike’s Number One Super Important Tattoo Tip For People Planning to Get Elaborate and Extensive Tattoos: If you’re in love with a particular portion of pop culture like, a television series or, oh, I don’t know…Star Wars and you absolutely need to have it tattooed on to your body, well then the most important thing that you need to do is to find a very good tattoo artist.  Why?  Because if you skimp on a tattoo artist and get your entire back tattooed with characters from the Star Wars films by some dude who can’t tattoo, then your tattoos can end up looking like squiggly magic marker renderings of C3P0 and a Luke Skywalker that is more David Bowie than Jedi Knight.  And that particularly sucks when you have tattoos of one of the single most popular film series of all time all over your body because people are constantly going to be looking at your tattoos and wincing.  Because your tattoos are crap.

Hey, since I’m not sparing anyone’s feelings today, I might as well go right ahead and say that a good example of the type of person I was just referring to is 42-year-old Luke Kaye of Swindon, Wilts, England. Kaye has fourteen Star Wars related tattoos and has spent over 100 hours getting his homages to the films all over his body.  The tattoos range from bad to not so bad, to crap.

Oh well, at least Kaye is happy – and sorry ladies, but he’s taken.

No doubt about it, the economy is not too good across the world.  This has had varying degrees of impact on everyone, tattoo artists being no exception.  Tattoo artist Jay Moynahan, who owns the Foundation of Youth tattoo shop in Waterbury, Connecticut has experienced a 30% drop in business thanks to the shakey economy.

Moynahan, however, has begun to explore other payment options for people who might not have all the money they need to get a tattoo.  The end result is that bartering for tattoos at Foundation of Youth is an acceptable practice.  Moynahan will trade tattoo work for items such as Wii or Xbox 360 video games/systems, toys for his 2-year-old son, even shoes.  For Moynahan, the idea is to not only get something of value in return for his work even when money is scarce, but also to build up a loyal customer base that will hopefully remain until money isn’t so scarce.

“I believe that a lot of people who are trading will come back, and pay with cash when they have it,” said Moynahan, a Waterbury native who opened the store two years ago. “We want to be as favorable as possible to the customer.”

A cynical person could scoff this whole thing off as a dude who’s desperate for business.  But there’s something about the act of bartering for a tattoo that really highlights the true spirit of an artist.  It may just be one little shop in Waterbury, Connecticut, but I like this idea of Jay Moynahan’s and I wish him luck with it.

Not that it matters whether there’s a male or female hand behind the tattoo machine at any given time, but it’s a fact that some of the greatest tattoo artists currently working in the tattoo universe are female.  Seeing a woman working as a tattoo artist is totally commonplace in various cities and countries around the world.  Japan however, is not one of those places.  Laden with a reputation for an outdated and all around negative attitude toward the tattooed and tattoo artist in general, checking out the work of a female tattoo artist in Japan is not nearly as easy as it is over here in the Americas.

So when I found out that there was an astoundingly good, female tattoo artist from Japan who still practiced the Japanese traditional tattooing of Tebori, I kind of rushed to see what exactly Horiren had to offer.  And…wow, I mean, just…wow.

Oddly enough, unlike most tattoo artists, Horiren made her way into the Japanese tattoo world by practice, study and of course, talent – and not by apprenticing, at any point.  She worked as an illustrator for many years before actually setting off to pursue work as a tattoo artist.  It was during a trip to Australia that she had her first tattoos done, and because she was paying to have what was basically tattoo flash done, she began to consider what it would be like if she designed her own tattoos.  Then, through a process that involved reading American Tattoo magazines, studying photos of Yakuza member’s tattoos in a particular Yakuza journal and of course, actually practicing on herself and friends, Horiren learned her art form.

For the first 8 years of her career as a tattoo artist, Horiren focused on doing small tattoos.  Five years ago, she changed things up a bit and began doing tremendous full back pieces.  Unsurprisingly, her skill level could well handle such a transition.  Though she works primarily in the Tebori style, sometimes Horiren will use a tattoo machine, but only if the person she is doing the tattoo on is short of time or if she had previously begun a tattoo with a tattoo machine.

To get an appointment with her for a tattoo, meet someone who knows her.

– Hey, that’s one more reason to visit Japan!

Hey San Diegoans: looking for something to do this weekend?  Why not go get some BBQ, get tattooed and help out with a completely worthwhile cause?

A local woman’s softball team in the America’s Finest City Softball League (AFCSL) is holding a fundraiser this weekend, with the help of local tattoo shop, On Point Tattoo.  One of On Point Tattoo’s artists, Nicole (Coco) Boyce, doubles as a member of The Square Shooters women’s softball team.  The team is attempting to raise money to help teammate and friend Christynn Holt deal with the enormous medical bills as a result of her ovarian cancer.

In addition to struggling to raise the necessary funds for Christynn’s medical bills, the team is also trying to raise enough money to enter the Sweet Madness tournament; a charitable tournament whose theme this year is “Homerun for Christynn”.  All proceeds from the tournament will also go to helping Christynn in her fight against cancer.

Now that you know all the details, why not head over to On Point Tattoo this weekend (1020 Grand Ave. in Pacific Beach), and chose from the four different  ribbons that will be on sale for as cheap as $30 per tattoo?  There is a standard teal ribbon, which the Shooters have been wearing on their uniforms as a reminder of Christynn, their teammate who can no longer play.  Then there is a single pink ribbon for breast cancer.  You can also get one with both ribbons intertwined($50), and finally one that is a camouflage design, using both the teal and pink ribbons.

The proceeds from this will go to Christynn and the girls (which ultimately goes back to Christynn).  Maybe you’ve got a relative or a friend or a loved one of some type who passed away from cancer.  If you’re in San Diego and you’ve got the money and the skin, it can be a great way to honour/remember that certain person, as well as lending a hand with a worthwhile cause.

Hey!  Good news if you have tattoos and live in the state of Illinois – you can now donate blood!  The state of Illinois has officially deemed you human enough to donate blood immediately!

Previously, Illinois state law prohibited anyone with tattoos or piercings from donating blood for a period of at least 12 months following a piercing or tattoo.  In all seriousness though, it wasn’t so much that the state of Illinois previously had a problem with tattooed people, but more a case of the state of Illinois not being sufficiently prepared to regulate the tattoo industry.

Now however, Illinois has a Body Art Division amongst the Department of Public Health.  This Body Art Division is responsible for enforcing and inspecting the tattoo studios and shops of Illinois, ensuring that people who go to get tattoo work or piercing done do so in a clean, safe and hygienic environment.  Since this body is now in place, Illinois was confidently able to pass its Tattoo and Body Piercing Establishment law which makes tattooed and body pierced people’s blood just as valuable as anyone else’s – without the 12 month wait.

This law should have been in place years ago, but…better late than never.