I totally love this simple blackwork bordered ear that was done by Su at Buena Vista Tattoo Club (buenavistatattooclub.com) in Germany. I don’t know what else I can say about it, because it just is what it is, and it is… great.
Author: Shannon Larratt
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Six microdermals at 76
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Back in May, Buddy Williams (of Ancient Ink in Antelope, California) had a 76 year old woman walk in off the street. She wasn’t brought in by a grandchild that she was trying to impress by being the “cool granny” — she was just another normal customer thinking about getting a piercing. She asked Buddy about his microdermals, and wondered if he could do some for her. So he did, giving her a set of them. Since then she’s come back again to add more of them. There have been some longevity issues with the microdermals, with them not lasting as well in her skin as they normally would (three have been replaced), and we agreed that’s probably due to her older skin being less elastic than that of a younger person.
Nonetheless, it’s always wonderful to see stories about how body modification is one of those things that reaches every possible demographic and is one of those pure human experiences that everyone can enjoy. It’s also got the good “moral of the story” that you should never make assumptions about the person walking in the door of your studio — maybe they’re there to yell at you for piercing their grandkid, but more likely they’re another good customer waiting to happen. And I think that the fact that I’m even making this comment is an important lesson on ageism. Should I even be noticing this at all? Shit. Now I feel guilty.
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Hitting all the bases
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After a while corsetry pictures all start to look the same, but these pictures that Shorty of Ink and Pistons Tattoo and Slushbox Art Gallery (PiercingsbyShorty.com) created in collaboration with a body painter, hair stylist, and photographer. The photography and hair are great of course, but what really set it apart for me was the way the body paint and corset piercing intermingle and play off each other. Giving full credit where it’s due, the body paint and makeup was by Georgette Pressler of Devious Body Art (DeviousBodyart.com), the hair was by Melrose (Melrosehairdesign.com), and the photography by Tara Hauck (TaraIncPhotography.com). I think as people become more familiar with things like this, you have to present it better and better — it was the same with suspension. In the beginning, just watching a minute of simple suicide suspension was enough to really wow a crowd, but these days, it requires a sense of the theatrical and depending on the context, increasingly complex rigging. Same thing with corset projects.
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Little Swastika Book
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Marc, better known as Little Swastika, is an avant garde tattoo artist that’s a leader in the new worlds of dotwork, geometry, “trash” tattooing, neotribal spiritualism and fine art tattooing. He has just released a limited edition book of paintings and sketches done between 2005 and 2009. It is 108 pages long, printed in a limited hand-numbered and signed edition of 108 copies, and costs 108 euro (about $140 USD). This is a must-have for any tattoo studio — it’s not flash, but it’s a wonderful design resource — or tattoo artist interested in this style as well as art collectors. You can click below to take a closer look, or visit little-swastika.com to find out how to get your own copy of this incredibly special book.
Marc’s work has been featured on ModBlog ever since I first saw his work, at the time at his earlier studio Swastika Freakshop, but while I have your attention, let me show you two recent creations. On the left, and amazingly dense and manic chestpiece that somehow mix the scrawlings of a madman with ripples and spirals and sacred geometry, and on the left, an evocative backpiece in dripping in saturated full color, with multiple layers of both scribbled block printing and Marc’s highly stylized and very recognizable red script. If you enjoy art tattooing, Marc is one of the best, creative and technically gifted.
Finally, since they have not yet been covered on ModBlog, I want to give coverage to Marc’s work with double backpieces. Marc’s art is sometimes so big and powerful that it takes more than one person to contain it, as he splashes his striking visions across friends and families. Here are three examples of multi-person tattoos that he’s performed, as well as a shot of him working on laying down a stencil on two of his latest subjects. I love all of these (even though the one in the top row does cover up a BME logo!).
Again, you can find Marc online at little-swastika.com, or click here to see a collection of ModBlog entries of his work. I just spent a few minutes going through it myself and found lots of wonderful pieces that had slipped my memory — his portfolio is beyond incredible. Have I mentioned what a fan I am? Finally you can also track him down on Facebook at facebook.com/tattoingisdeath. There are very few artists who I whole-heartedly endorse. Marc is one of them.
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Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
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Ana Laco posts this all-kinds-of-win photo of Morten and Matt earning their asstronaut wings.
