In an effort to stay relative in a digital age, Skin Deep Tattoo Magazine is now being sold on a digital subscription.
I’m glad to see Skin Deep taking this step, I know it’s tough for anyone in print to stay profitable. I don’t know if it’s the economy or the digital age (or a combination of both,) but magazines need to adapt to the times – if they want to survive.
On February 27th, Evolution Tattoo will be holding a fund raiser for tattoo artist Paul Humphrey.
Paul’s son, Presley Ray-Humphrey, was born on December 12th with a twisted bowel. A surgery to correct this has already been done, and the young lad is recovering well. As you can imagine, the medical bills are ridiculous, so Evolution Tattoo decided to hold an event to help.
I don’t have a ton of details about the event, but I know the event will include tattooing, auctions, music, and children’s events.
Dave Barton announced on his blog, that he’ll be tattooing at Neuma Studios starting January 26th.
Dave also mentions he has a few large project he’s eager to do, and is giving special rates for those. If you’re in the area, and dig what Dave is doing, give him a shout.
Tattoo by: Dave Barton at Neuma Studios in Oxnard, CA.
Last week, The Columbus Groove featured a short interview with Gunnar. The article focused on his newest art project, ‘Story to Tell.’
“The original painting started as two 3×4 foot canvas panels. After I sketched in the Jersey Devil, Rich picked up another panel and asked me to paint in the Atco Ghost, another local legend. Then he picked up another and another…so when it was complete the sketch was 4×27 feet…”
For up to date information on this project, follow Gunnar on Facebook and/or Twitter.
Rumors about the new(est) tattoo reality show, New York Ink, have been popping up here and there… but these are the first confirmed details we’ve seen about the show.
CASTING MAJOR NEW SHOW-Looking for dynamic individuals WHO WANT TO GET TATTOOED BY FAMOUS TATTOO ARTISTS in NEW YORK!
Ami James, star of Miami Ink, along with Tattoo greats such as Tim Hendricks, Tommy Montoya, and more are coming to New York - And they want to TATTOO YOU!
From the producers of LA Ink & Miami Ink, comes a new docu-series tattoo show in NYC! We are looking for people who want amazing tattoos with amazing stories behind them who live in New York! If you don’t live in NY, you must be available to come to NYC.
If interested, please email us immediately and tell us your story.
Email : Billywonka@aol.com
Please put “NY INK” in subject title
Include your name, age, where you live, TEL #, type of tattoo you want(be as detailed as possible) , your photo , your occupation, tell us your story behind what you want, do you have other tattoos already and any other info about your story.
For those of you that missed Kevin’s post, NY Ink is conducting a casting call. While we’ve tried to keep the amount of ripping on reality tattoo TV (think LA Ink, Miami Ink, etc.) around here to a minimum, it’s hard not to get carried away. Knocking on tattoo-based TV programming is both easy and seemingly fair, given the endless number of reasons anyone can supply about how these shows are “ruining” the modern tattoo scene. The problem is this: if you think about it the tattoo industry as a whole has, and stands to continue to, gain something from appearing in these kinds of shows.
The real damage done by putting tattoo shops on TV has less to do with a beloved blue collar art form receiving mainstream exposure and a lot more to do with types of people cast for the shows. Certain personality types make everyone involved with these businesses look like their lives are a constant shit-show, but they also make for good ratings and a dedicated viewership. While the necessary evil of these cast members needs no further explanation, there isn’t much posted online in the way of the positive effects these shows have had on the industry.
Think about it: how much money has been funneled into tattooing since Kat became the face of reality tattoo TV? Given we’re in the midst of a recession in the US, I find it interesting something most of us would classify as ‘luxury spending’ continues, frequently if Facebook’s photo album notifications are to be believed. I’m not saying the going hasn’t gotten tough for everyone, but I suspect without these shows tattooers would be feeling the sting quite a bit more than they have been. The increasingly popularity and (dare I say it?) rise of social acceptance of tattoos–only in part because of these shows–has to feed into what’s keeping shops busy.
I contacted Michelle Myles from Dare Devil & Fun City tattoo for her opinion. Hearing from someone within the industry actively trying to be involved in the popularized media portrayal of tattooing struck me as something worth mention.
Her full response can be read at the shop’s blog (Devil City Press) but here are some highlights for you to consider:
“I don’t know that we’ve [tattooers] gained anything from all the media exposure. In fact if anything we’ve been robbed of a community we hold dear.”
“My response to the casting call? Sign me up. I don’t really think I’m someone they would pick. I don’t drink, I’m in a stable relationship, I run a solid shop, I’m not very emotional and I’m not a huge jerk who yells at people. There’s two ways to respond to change. You can be bitter and mourn for what once was. Or you can step up and try to be a part of the change. We can’t control how they portray us but you can control how you portray yourself.”
I don’t think I could have put it better myself. The question is, do the rest of you think it’s possible for this next round of reality programming to portray the industry as a whole in a better light?
Several months ago, we speculated on New York being the newest location in TLC’s on-going reality tattoo series. Well, it appears it’s actually happening.
A blog posted on the Dare Devil Tattoo website is encouraging people to vote in the casting call for New York Ink. Note that votes are being casted for individuals, and not an entire shop.
Juan Salgado has entered the piece below in H&M’s ‘Your Art Here’ contest. Here’s what Juan had to say about the contest:
“VOTE FOR ME IN THE “YOUR ART HERE” CONTEST BY H&M!!! WE HAVE UNTIL OCT 15 TO BE SELECTED TO DECORATE THE H&M WINDOW IN TIMES SQUARE NY!!! EVERY VOTE COUNTS SO HIT THE FIFTH STAR, THE LIKE BUTTON DOESN’T COUNT AS A VOTE. YOU CAN VOTE EVERY DAY SO DO IT AGAIN!!! THANKS FOR SUPPORTING ART AND THE TATTOO COMMUNITY, SPREAD THE WORD!!!”
You can support Juan, and vote for his piece here.
Art by: Juan Salgado in Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Sean Herman was kind enough to send us this piece about the continuing effects of the BP oil spill on his home, the local economy and the tattoo industry. Read Part 1 first, if you haven’t already.
A huge part of our economy is the fishing industry. Everyone fishes here, the shoulder of the causeway going across the bay is filled with people fishing, fishing to make a living, and fishing to eat that night. You see, where we live, a majority of people are blue collar and working to survive. When this oil pushed the fish to the shore, to be eaten by the sharks, it did the same to our economy and our workers. It pushed the fisherman toward the shore, to then be eaten by the BP execs offering to give them a job. Their “jobs” only lasted so long, and put them in harm’s way, causing many to get sick. But that’s ok, they are just little fish that have to be sacrificed, right? It is sickening to watch.
Sean Herman was kind enough to send us this piece about the continuing effects of the BP oil spill on his home, the local economy and the tattoo industry.
Pete and I were looking out from the front of the new shop, the bay glistening in our sights, and he looked over at me and said, “It’s like watching a terminally ill family member die before you. It’s looming, impending, and there is nothing you can do about it, everyday you watch them fade before you.” Pete was talking about the bay that we had both grown up on. I grew up on the Eastern shore of it, and he grew up on the other side, in Mobile. This was a few days after the oil spill in April that forever changed our lives. I worked with him a lot at that point, trying to do the build out for the second shop we were opening on the eastern shore. Our conversations went in every direction, but always seemed to come back to the spill, time and time again.