Back from LA

Just got back from the Perseverance show in LA.  Great show! If you're in the area, I highly recommend checking it out at the Japanese American National Museum.  I was glad to see Horitoshi's presence felt via Junii, LA Horitaka, and of course Horizakura. If you can't make the show, I recommend the catalog - great pics, recollections and commentary, and at a very reasonable price!  Here are a few pics of the book and a few pics nabbed from Horitaka's Instagram page. Big ups to Taki for putting together a tremendous exhibit, I'm glad I could be a small part of it.

Front cover of catalog

 

Inside, a page from artist LA Horitaka!

Best pics so far of me in my current state, nice job Kip Fulbeck

Glimpse of the setup at the show, larger than life and double-sided full body prints were amazing!

More shots from opening night

Perseverance 2014

At Shinji's urging, yesterday I met up with Horitaka from State of Grace Tattoo in San Jose and artist/photgrapher Kip Fulbeck.  They were in town taking pictures for a show on Japanese tattoo in LA next Spring at the Japanese American National Museum (see event info here, Facebook page here).  The guys at Kings Avenue Tattoo setup a little area in back for photography, and we did our thing.  Excited to see the show and accompanying book, and grateful that Shinji, Taki, and Kip would have me involved! Will post an update as I hear more.

Shot of the setup, from Taki's Instagram account

I finished my munewari and I completely dropped the ball on this blog! Sorry guys, I suppose mentally I've moved on to other things. Being distracted by my recent wedding may have also had something to do with it. I say "finished" but we'll see - I'm still considering something around my neck, if we come up with an interesting take on the standard juzu border that may happen. Since I don't have any more work planned, this could very well be my last post! Seems like an opportune time to share a picture of my face, I don't believe I've ever done that all this time. Thanks for sharing the last 7 years with me, it's been an experience! Pics pulled from the Adorned site, Shinji took these.

 

In the Spring 2012 issue of i-D Magazine, hitting newsstands now! I joked with Carolyn Murphy that I was more than happy to be an uncredited armrest in this photo-shoot, but it's true.  Some cool pics in this series by Iango Henzi and Daniele Duella , everything seemed very promising from what I saw in the studio.  Hopefully I can get my hands on a hard-copy soon.

Heck of a way to start the Year of the Dragon.

What's next? All that's left is something for the center of my chest..to be decided.

Happy New Year! This year is the year of the Dragon, and mine are coming along beautifully.

This is my left wrist, almost done! Next week we'll put the finishing touches on this one, and I wouldn't be surprised if we finished the other dragon as well.
On New Year's Day I went to the annual Coney Island Polar Bear Swim, which was a lot of fun.  My first time, and the mild weather this year made it much easier than I imagined.  Still, the Atlantic is chilly in January!

There was a large crowd gathered and as soon as I stripped down to my trunks there was plenty of curiosity.  I didn't expect it, but old women were the most straightforward.  Not afraid to touch and ask lots of questions! I'm plenty happy to talk to nice old ladies though.

Finally got my copy of the Bloodwork book. Wow! I'm blown away. The first surprise was when the two volume set was handed to me.  It's so damn heavy I almost dropped it on my foot.  I'd say about 30lbs of great tattoo pics.

Wonderful design on the cover, as you can see. The second surprise was when I opened the book - they used one of my pictures for the inside cover! Guess they liked it.

These books cover many different artists from all over the world, and the general format is a cover page with a portrait of the artist and a map showing their location, and then several pages devoted to each tattoo collector associated with that artist.  Each collector gets a smaller portrait, a fold-out three page spread with  a couple of views, as well as a few more pages devoted to more full-page views and several detail shots. These are all full body tattoos, hence the "Bodies" name.

My name is actually misspelled on my title page, but I'm not mad.  I was actually reconsidering giving my full name in the first place.  Problem solved! My bare ass is all over the damn place, is it wrong to hope for a modicum of anonymity?

Here's my three-page foldout.  Trying to suck in my gut. ;)

Another view of my back, and some detail shots.
I don't want to share photos of the other artwork, but trust me, there is plenty of tremendous artwork showcased in these two books.  This is absolutely the best tattoo book I own as far as quality of subjects, pictures, and overall design and packaging.  If you're an appreciator of tattoo art like me, do yourself a favor and check out this book. I'm honored to be a part of it.

Here are a couple of pics of my right wrist.  As you can see, we started to color it in.  Green! Quite pleased so far (as usual).

Regulars may remember that some time ago I was photographed for the "Bloodwork: Bodies" tattoo book.  Well it's finally out! For full details, check out the website here.  Looks like this is an amazing book.  The photographers took their time doing tons of shots to put together a panoramic view, which seems to be one of the trademarks of this series. Can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Did an amazing photo shoot last night.  Japanese-themed thing for a well-known magazine featuring beautiful famous people..and me. Will definitely post a photo when the magazine comes out in a few months. This weekend I have a tattoo session, will be posting new photos of that very soon.

Starting the color on the dragon on my right arm.  Interesting to see the tebori at work on a smaller scale piece. 

Outlines of both dragons are done. My right arm is still healing, but I think you get the idea.  Now comes the shading!

Forearms /  Outside

Wrists  / Inside

And...Blogger just forced an upgrade to my template and hosed my whole layout. Sorry, I'll try to get that sorted soon..

So now that the primary munewari tattoo shape has been completed, what next?

Well, if you are an admirer of Japanese tattoo, you may have noticed there are several common forms of tattoo that appear outside the edges of a munewari or other large tattoo shape.  I don't know if there is a proper term for this class of items, but I've always thought of them as sort of "finishing touches" that mark the completion of the tattoo.  Visually, they are similar to a gate or border around the edges of the tattoo. I've always made a connection to the edges of protective seals used in the occult, like the outside of this fanciful seal from John Dee (notice the similarity to mandala!).

For me tattoos have always shared something in their essence with talismans.  But that's just me.  For everyone else, perhaps these are just interesting things to get tattooed once you're done with a big project but hungry for more ink.  Let's look at some different types. Images are taken from "1000 Japanese Tattoos, Shisei Zekka Soran Vol. 1", sorry about the terrible quality.

Juzu

Juzu, or prayer beads, are probably the most common type I see.  These are used by Buddhists and Hindus to keep track while chanting or reciting mantras, etc.  I suppose a rosary would be the Western equivalent.  There are many types, from ornate to plain, and are usually made of wood.

Note the juzu at the end of the half sleeve

Another popular choice would a few kanji (Chinese characters used in Japan). I've also seen bonji, a script used to write Sanskrit (typically a mantra or sutra).

Please don't let this say "BAD MOTHERFUCKER"

And yet another option I've seen, but less frequently, is a dragon.

Small drag and juzu

In speaking with Shinji I discovered he saw the overall shape/effect of my tattoo as being akin to a temple.  Seen in this light, the outer edge is similar to the temple gate.  I was pleased that his view was quite similar to my own.  In keeping with the "gate" theme, we selected two dragons.
For those of you not familiar with the layout of a Buddhist temple, a refresher - at the temple gate in Japan, as well as in China and in Korea, typically stand two fierce looking guards.  In Japan these are known as "Nio."

These figures are the protectors of the temple, and are a complementary pair. The open-mouth figure is called “Agyō,” who is uttering the sound “ah.". His close-mouth partner is called “Ungyō,” who sounds “un” or “om." These sounds represent the first and the last, similar to the Western alpha and omega. This formula is the same as utilized to form the Sanskrit sacred words "AHAM" or "OM". Check out this site or Wikipedia more info on the Nio.
You'll notice in temples that Ungyō is on the left and the Agyō on the right. You may also see temples with komainu or "lion dogs" in front - at times these may be in a mouth-open/mouth-closed pair, alluding to the same symbolism.
Shinji has already outlined on dragon on my left arm, and will outline the other dragon on my right arm this evening.  Next post should be in a few days and will be pictures of the new work. I just thought it would be helpful to explain the symbolism first.  Of course, you could ignore all this and say "Oh a dragon, that's some pretty standard Asian-type tattoo to get."  I'm quite certain that's what most people will do. Besides, I'll be pretty tired of explaining this whole thing soon anyway.  Take care!

Kintaro - Feminine?

In the past month I've noticed two pretty young ladies sporting Kintaro tattoos. Does that strike anyone else as rather odd?

Kintaro, a semi-mythical character supposedly based on a real fellow by the name of Sakata Kintoki, is the quintessential Japanese masculine figure. He his known for his great strength, and his legendary exploits in battles alongside Minamoto no Yorimitsu. In Japan, it is a common custom to decorate a young boy's room with images of Kintaro, in the hopes they will one day be a strong young man.
I cannot deny that perhaps there is a certain "cuteness" to Kintaro. The Kintaro image, especially in a childlike rendering, denotes a certain gentleness. It is this combination of strength and kindness which drew me to the imagary.

Mapping mythological figures across cultures is always difficult, and I'm not a mythologist by a long shot. But the first distinctly American figure that comes to mind when trying to find a cross-cultural analogy to Kintaro is Paul Bunyan. As you may know, Paul Bunyan is a mythological lumberjack who entered American folklore in the mid to late 19th century.
From Wikipedia:

One legend says that at the mouth of the river in the Two Mountains area near Saint-Eustache, Quebec, loggers stormed into battle against the British, among them a fierce and bearded giant named Paul Bonjean, monikered as "Bonyenne"....Defender of the people, the popular hero's legends moved up-river from shanty ("chantier" in French) to shanty.

Later iterations of this story coupled Paul Bunyan with his trusty giant blue ox sidekick, Babe, a similarity to Kintaro and his fondness for playing with animals. Legends of Bunyan often feature outlandish feats of childhood strength, much like Kintaro's most famous tale in which he wrestles a giant koi. In this picture Paul is carrying an axe - another symbol long associated with Kintaro.
So again I ask - given the cultural significance, is Kintaro an appropriate image from a woman, or has this bit of Japanese folklore been taken out of it's context? I'm leaning towards the later, but I'm always open to other explanations and opinions.

For you enthusiasts of Horitoshi family artists, Toshihide will be working out of local shop Invisible NYC for two weeks starting on July 20th. Contact info for the shop is here. Give'em a shout for more info on availability! Here are a few pics of his work:

Sorry for the mediocre pics and the poorly tied fundoshi! That's all I got.

this koi was the last bit, mostly white on the fins and some color on the head

The camera when off here by accident, but it's better detail then the other front facing pics..

Painting in the background by my wife..

Big news - I just completed my munewari tattoo on Sunday night! After 7 years, wow.  Of course, I still have a few things planned; but this is a big milestone for me.  Pics soon.

Hiya Folks,
Been a busy month for me, but here's the down and dirty:
The tattoo is progressing nicely. We spent one session filling in some leaves orange on my forearm and my tricep.  Wow, a little bit of color on my arm changes everything!

We also worked on the koi on my torso some more, filling it in with more black and gray. Next time, we'll put some color in there.

I stopped by the NYC Tattoo convention a few weeks ago, and actually had a better time than I expected.  I got to chat with Mike McCabe about his "Tattoos of Indochina" book. He signed my copy afterwards.  Nice dude!

Signed, you can have my copy for $1,000,000 USD

Oh, and here's a related article that came up today on the Needles and Sins blog about an effort in Thailand to crack down on religious tattoo tourism. Interesting stuff.
Speaking of Needles and Sins, while at the convention I finally got a chance to meet Marisa Kakoulas. She's the primary contributor / blog queen round those parts of the web. It was nice to harass her in person instead of just on Twitter for a change. (follower her here and while you're at it, follow me too here.)
Shinji was hanging around the convention despite the lack of an offical New York Adorned presence, and he was nice enough to introduce me to Bill and Junii of Diamond Club Tattoo Studio in San Fran. Good people!

That's Junii on the right, sporting a Horitoshi suit! Pic is not mine, pulled from flickr

I spent most of the convention sitting at the bar, people watching.  Pretty damn entertain stuff.  Till next time!