Tattoo Book Reviews Tattoo Books for Serious Tattoo Lovers!!!

Tattooing From Japan To The West:
Horitaka Interviews Contemporary Artists
By Takahiro Kitamura
Meet 26 leading contemporary tattoo artists. Interviews and over 425 exciting color photos of their artwork, from tattoos to paintings, make this an invaluable tattoo resource. This is a viable contribution to tattoo history worldwide, containing insightful interviews with living legends like Don Ed Hardy, Doc Forest, Horiyoshi III, Paul Jeffries, Bob Roberts, and Mike Malone. These tattoo pioneers shed light on the tattoo’s evolution from a sub-cultural phenomenon to a mainstream trend, and explore tattooing as a “finer” art form. Their artwork runs the gamut, from full Japanese body suits to traditional American hearts and roses. Some of the best, established contemporary tattoo artists like Freddy Corbin, Theo Jak, Grime, Scott Sylvia, Chris Garver, Juan Puente, and Horitomo are included, in addition to up-and-coming tattooers Jill Bonny, Scott Bryant, George Campise, Chris Conn, Paco Excel, Robert Hernandez, Eiland Hogan, Klem, Chad Koeplinger, Jason Kundell, Jason McAfee, Brent Patten, and Jesse Tuesday. This single volume by tattoo artist Horitaka is compiled from over three years of writing for Tattoo Life magazine, and is a necessary reference for anyone interested in tattoo culture.


Body Art
DVD

Throughout history people in nearly every culture have gone to great lengths to decorate or alter the bodies they were born with. The reasons area as varied as the patterns and processes themselves: they seek to define themselves and their positions in society, to declare their allegiance to a god or to a cause, to conform to the customs of their group, to shock or entertain, or simply to make themselves more beautiful. From body painting to piercing to scarification, from tattoos to plastic surgery, from the Bronze Age to the computer age, this film explores and celebrates the stunning diversity of Body Art.

Written On Skin:
Irezumi - The Art Of Japanese Tattoo
By Takashi Kashiwagi

Irezumi is the traditonal Japanese art of full-body tattooing by hand. Recorded by a world-renowned photographer of Irezumi, this is a study of the art of Horioshi III, a living legend in Japan's ancient and complex world of traditional tattoo. The pages follow a young woman as she embarks on the painful process of acquiring her own full-body tattoo. The stunning photography is complemented by an erudite, though never intrusive, account of Irezumi --and throughout the book are images of completed works of irezumi by Horioshi III and other masters, both living and dead. This beautiful cloth bound book is a story of a young woman, and art book, a photography book and a meditation on the origins, meanings, rituals, and uncertain future of tradiitonal Japanese tattoos.

Hot Bodies, Cool Styles:
New Techniques in Self Adornment
By Ted Polhemus

The first book to reflect the global wave of enthusiasm for all forms of body decoration. Along with tattooed celebrities, men and women around the world are embracing body decoration. If Chanel jewelry is out of reach except to the few, asking for Chanel or Gucci tattoos has become the new craze. Nose rings have entered the boardroom, and navel piercing or tattoos at the base of the spine are de rigueur. Ultraviolet face and hair paint, hair extensions, bleached crew cuts, henna design on hands and feet, ornaments made from found objects—the new creative options give both the single-minded makers of style and the more uncertain majority the opportunity to join in. Ted Polhemus shows how body adornment has been natural to all peoples until the modern period, and why we are now reverting to our roots. After analyzing the various forms of decoration, he shows how we are influenced by the exotic, drawing on tribal or Far Eastern models; the naturalness of artifice and the artifice of the natural look; and how body decoration makes us masters of our own identities. The photographs, taken by the talented young team of UZi PART B, reveal key designs and creative techniques. A practical advice section, specially commissioned from Betti Marenko, includes body preparation, healing times, and safety tips, and provides a valuable guide for those acquiring a tattoo or piercing. 200 color illustrations.

500 Tattoo Designs
By Henry Ferguson

Tattoos are no longer unusual or uncommon; they are now an undeniable element of mainstream style and fashion. But tattoos are expensive and, more importantly, permanent; so choosing an image is a very big decision. Here to help is 500 Tattoo Designs, a vast reference library of popular tattoos. Neatly organized by theme, the clearly executed line drawings cover every conceivable subject area - historical and traditional to modern, from tribal imagery of native American Indians, Japanese and Chinese characters, arcane hieroglyphics to gothic skulls, Celtic amulets, and more. The book also features body positioning hints for specific designs, a discussion of color dynamics, and notes on health and safety. Whether you want to show off your design or conceal it, this book is packed with hundreds of possibislities.

Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia
By Danzig Baldayev

Once upon a time, before the advent of the indie rocker and the alternative chick, before primitivism became a style trend and tattoo parlors set up shop on the good avenues, tattoos were the secret language of a restricted world, a world of criminals. The photographs, drawings and texts published here are part of a collection of 3,600 tattoos accumulated over a lifetime by prison attendant Danzig Baldayev. Tattoos were his entrance into a secret world, a world in which he acted as an ethnographer, recording the rituals of a closed society. The icons and tribal languages he documented are artful, distasteful, sexually explicit and sometimes just simply strange, reflecting as they do the lives and mores of convicts. Skulls, swastikas, harems of naked women, a smiling Al Capone, assorted demons, medieval knights in armor, daggers sheathed in blood, benign images of Christ, mosques and minarets, sweet-faced mothers and their babies, armies of tanks, and a horned Lenin - these are the signs with which this hidden world of people mark and identify themselves.
Electric Tattooing by Men, 1900-2004
By Madame Chinchilla

A historical and contemporary collection of portraits of male tattoo artists worldwide, and of their work. Each artist has a personal statement about their love of the art of tattoo. Black and white portraits accompanied by quotations and/or text. This is a companion volume to Electric Tattooing by Women.

The Sketchbook:
80 Unique Designs by the World's Finest Tattoo Artists
By Nancy Heimburger, Marco Bratt

The artistic versatility of tattoo artists has frequently been overshadowed by the negativity that surrounds tattooing in general. Many tattoos are made by would-be artists who copy overused designs. A perfectly tattooed body requires the skills of a professional and talented artist, who creates a unique and personal design. These designs are often inspired by one or more of the various tattoo styles of Japanese, Maori or other tribal origin. "The Sketchbook" offers the reader a selection of 80 of these unique designs by well-known and less famous, but very promising, tattoo artists from around the world. Each artist was requested to create a sketch unrestrained by commercial demands and which reflects their own personal motivations. The book is divided into two sections: the first comprises an explanation of how this collection was brought together, along with a brief illustrated overview of the history and various styles of tattooing. The second section is devoted to the artists, each sketch being accompanied by a biography and favorite quote.

Tattooed: The Sociogenesis of a Body Art
By Michael Atkinson

Tattoos have become increasingly popular in recent years, especially among young people. While tattooing is used as a symbol of personal identity and social communication, there has been little sociological study of the phenomenon. In Tattooed: The Sociogenesis of a Body Art, tattoo enthusiasts share their stories about their bodies and tattooing experiences. Michael Atkinson shows how enthusiasts negotiate and celebrate their 'difference' as it relates to the social stigma attached to body art – how the act of tattooing is as much a response to the stigma as it is a form of personal expression – and how a generation has appropriated tattooing as its own symbol of inclusiveness. Atkinson further demonstrates how the displaying of tattooed bodies to others – techniques of disclosure, justification, and representation – has become a part of the shared experience. Cultural sensibilities about tattooing are discussed within historical context and in relation to broader trends in body modification, such as cosmetic surgery, dieting, and piercing. The author also employs research from a number of disciplines, as well as contemporary sociological and postmodern theory to analyse the enduring social significance of body art.

Skin Shows:
The Tattoo Bible
By Chris Wroblewski

Undoubtedly the most exciting and unique publication on the subject of tattooing ever presented. A photographic journey both through the history and the global culture of tattoo art. It begins by uncovering the origins of tattooing in Europe during the 19th century, with wonderful images of early studios and equipment, as well as accounts of the strange personalities of the tattoo world as it was. As time passed the art fluctuated in popularity, until the iconic tattoo images of the 1970s emerged from America leading a renaissance that is still being felt worldwide today. The book is a startling and provocative appraisal of an ancient art form that until rencently remained hidden in the cultural backwaters of our society. Headhunters, skinheads, circus freaks, Buddhist monks, and tattoo fetishists all reveal their obsessions and dedication to the ritual of ink and pain. 392 pp. with 600 color pictures.

Maori Tattooing
By H. G. Robley

This classic of ethnography was assembled in the 19th century by an astute observer and skilled illustrator who first encountered the Maori art during his military service in New Zealand. Maori tattooing (moko) consists of a complex design of marks, made in ink and incised into the skin, that communicate the bearer's genealogy, tribal affiliation, and spirituality. This well-illustrated volume relates how moko first became known to Europeans and discusses the distinctions between men and women's moko, patterns and designs, moko in legend and song, and the practice of mokomokai: the preservation of the heads of Maori ancestors. Unabridged republication of the classic 1896 edition. 180 black-and-white illustrations.

Body Art: The Human Canvas
Ink and Steel
By Gary Lee Heard

Throughout time, numerous cultures have used body markings to signify status or enhance beauty. In Western society, during the early part of the 20th century, tattooing was primarily limited to military personnel and fringe communities such as bikers. However, the last 10 years have seen a mainstream acceptance of body art, in large part due to the high visibility of pro athletes and musicians. BODY ART is a photographic essay on what has become one of the main components of pop culture in America today. Gary Lee Heard has the uncanny ability to capture not just the ink on the subjects, but a glimpse into their personalities through the more than 200 striking images. These powerful portraits are accompanied by quotes from the individuals who have decided to express themselves in this dramatic art form.

The Tattoo Encyclopedia:
A Guide to Choosing Your Tattoo
By Terisa Green

A unique illustrated reference on the origins and meanings of nearly one thousand tattoo symbols that serves as a guide for choosing a personal image and provides a fascinating look at the tattoo as a work of art. A comprehensive, informative exploration of the colorful world of tattoos, The Tattoo Encyclopedia presents concise descriptions of symbols both common and unusual and sheds light on their historic, religious, and cultural significance. Organized in a convenient A-to-Z format, cross-referenced, indexed by category, and illustrated with three hundred samples of authentic tattoo line art, this book features a stunning array of images ranging from ancient Buddhist and Chinese designs to those sported by twenty-first-century bikers. The definition of each symbol includes the widely accepted interpretation based on historical fact and cultural source, as well as various interpretations that have developed across different cultures and time periods.