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05/13/2008
The Smell of Tattoo

While the Don Ed Hardy clothing and accessory line has gotten mixed reviews from the seriously tattooed, I've defended the Hardy brand because if someone is gonna make a buck off of traditional Americana and Japanese tattoo motifs, it should be the man who was among those who raised the craft to a fine art and shared techniques and ideas with the world.

That said, I ain't buying any perfume with associated with a tattoo artist. Having married one, I can say that the eau de tatouage has top notes of blood and sweat with a whiff of tears coupled with that flirty fragrance of antiseptic. And that's just the tip of the smells that come with tattooists...and it ain't all roses.

The National Post wasn't diggin the tattoo scent thing either. It gave the Ed Hardy Women fragrance one nose out of four, and that's only because they liked the packaging. They described the fragrance itself as sticking your nose into a bowl of syrupy canned peaches.

The Ed Hardy line is actually a good lesson for artists who are approached to design for a commercial brand: when you license your designs to ...

Phil Holt is the tattoo artist's tattooist. Tattooing for over 12 years professionally and in a variety of styles, he can take a Tonya-Harding-dressed-as-the-devil half sleeve and make it into a beautiful biomechanical work of art.

Recently, Phil put up a number of his fine art for sale online -- magical works, from his limited edition giclee dragon and monster prints to his breathtaking Original Sin original watercolor to my most favorite, the last of his enamel on steel angels. All can be purchased through his site except the watercolor, which is available through Canvas Los Angeles.

As Phil wrote on his blog in March, he and his family have had to move back to Tampa, Florida -- away from Skull & Sword in San Fran -- until he can sell his home (which he says is short of full scale foreclosure). Thus, by purchasing these stellar works of art, you'll also be supporting a member of the tattoo community caught in the midst of this housing crisis.

Grime is still keeping Phil's position at Skull & Sword open, while he currently works at his former ...

Needled tries to present the very best of tattooing without mocking the bad. That is, unless you're a celeb who has the resources to find the best and pay for it. Then it's open season. But there are moments when I yearn to do the blog version of shaking someone silly and screaming What were you thinking?!

For example, I love BMEzine's Modblog, but when I see something like the Twinkies chestpiece tattoo and the comments saying how awesome it is, I just wanna vomit cream filling. Sometimes acceptance of all things in tattoos isn't a good thing. Sometimes you just have to call someone a dumbass.

Thankfully Vice mag's Aviva Yael and P.M. Chen have done this for me in their new book, No Regrets: The Best, Worst, & Most #$%*ing Ridiculous Tattoos Ever. [In fact, I was surprised BMEzine didn't get any props in the book as the tattoos featured are often straight from BME's most popular posts.]

You know the ones I'm talking about: the I'm Gonna Kill You Ray Romano tattoo, the Hitler portrait, and the

Paper Mag has posted on its blog that Williamsburg tattoo artist Scott Campbell (shown above), owner of Saved Tattoo Studio & Gallery, will be designing a series of Mom tattoos for Mother's Day, this Sunday, May 11th for just $100 a pop! A far cry from his $1,000 for the first hour regular tattoo rate.

Campbell will be needling folks with his own take on Americana tattoo art at Earnest Sewn, as part of their Installation Series, from 9 a.m.-7 p.m.. The shop is located at 821 Washington St., b/t Gansevoort & Little West 12th Sts.

While some moms may find it a wonderful sentiment of love, others like mine would prefer that you don't show up to brunch bloody. Chocolates should work fine.

I'm giddy. The planets have aligned to join a few of my favorite things -- tattooed girls in white dresses with black satin sashes, tattooists in tuxes and beach wedding bashes!

I'll end my Julie Andrews moment and get to the point: the BEST wedding blog and book -- Offbeat Bride -- just featured tattooists in love, Lea Vendetta and Dave 'Bastard' Archer renewing their vows on their 13th wedding anniversary. And the pix are pure hotness.

See more photos on Flickr taken by Tom Flip.

Also check out their tattoo portfolios on DLTattoo.com. If ya want more on these talented tattooists, read my Dave and Lea interviews from 2005. They've sold Big Kahuna tattoo since those interviews but you can find them in Florida's Paradise Tattoo, and Altered State as well as guest appearances at Aaron Bell's Slave to the Needle in Seattle.

Two new sites offering tons of tattoo goodness have recently launched and we're lovin'em. There are just so many baaad sites that exploit tattoos for the sake of easy Google ad revenue that it's a pleasure to see new places online that also promote fine art tattoos and tattoo history. Two of the latest to join my list of faves: Sang Bleu magazine's new site and Mundurucu.com, publishers of the art and history of tribal cultures.

I featured the print magazine of Sang Bleu last November, and I'm excited about its online incarnation, especially its photo blog highlighting exemplary tattoo work. Just yesterday, they featured new work from the legendary Filip Leu. A must-bookmark!

Mundurucu is also no stranger to Needled. In 2005, I reviewed their book The World of Tattoo. It remains one of may favorites on the tattoo culture of various indigenous peoples worldwide. With their site, Mundurucu offers snippets of their research for free along with rare imagery. Of course, they have links to their books if you wish more info, but owning many of their titles, I can confidently say that they are great resources and references ...