Mike DeVries is one of my favorite artists. He’s most well known for his realistic color tattoos. He doesn’t seem to be on any type of ego trip even though he’s tattooed some celebrities and has won over 100 awards over the years.
Macaw by Mike DeVries
He also has a good head on his shoulders for related businesses. He sells his art work, videos, and books. He has tutorial books as well as art books he’s put together. He collects and publishes tattoos done by many talented tattoo artists for you to drool over. One of the books explores tattoos of skulls. This latest book of his focuses on the topic of wildlife. Wild animals are a popular tattoo choice so there is no shortage of outstanding body art in this category. DeVries has put it all together in this attractive full color book.
The tattoo artists who are featured in this wildlife tattoo book are very impressive. The list include: Bob Tyrrell, Roman Abrego, Sweet Laraine, Larry Brogan, Brandon Bond, Eva Huber, and Myke Chambers.
:animals, mike devries, realism, Tattoo Artists, wildlife book
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One woman from New Zealand has been an inspiration for other individuals now offering auctions for picking out – what will be inked on their rears. Tina Beznec, the 23-year old woman, came up with a unique method to raise money. Utilizing a New Zealand auction site, she’s taking bids to auction off a space of 9cm by 9cm on her butt for the tattoo of the winner’s choosing!
Her ad suggests –“advertise your business”, propose to your loved one (I doubt this would be a great idea), “destroy her love life” ( chuckle), get creative! The winner of the auction will receive a framed photograph of the final piece of art. If they’re lucky enough to live in the area, she said it’s OK to observe her getting the tattoo. The auction ends in February and as of today – the highest bid is $12,200!!
Now this idea is catching on and men and women are auctioning off space in the same area. In some cases, these people are strapped for cash and are planning to keep the money, while others are using it as a tool to raise money for a charity they believe in.
For example – Hannah Wesley, a nursing student, is offering the same options as Tina but she’s handing over half of the cash raised to her favorite animal welfare organization, the SPCA.
It’s an easy way to raise money for a good cause and shows that tattooing can be used for good causes.
:auction, body art, butt, charity, fund raiser, raise money, space, tattoo, tattoos
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Julian Murray has a quirky and unique artistic view. He specializes in fashion, music and the advertising business. He does everything from website design to creative concept photography. His client list includes Inked Magazine, Rebel Ink and Warner Brothers.
A while back I did a post about a project he was working on called Tattoos & Tentacles. The project is now completed!! and he’s selling posters as well as a coffee table book full of images of beautiful women posing with “clinging” octopi. It’s gross and yet beautiful at the same time. The sliminess just creeps me out. It would make a nice XMAS present for any tattoo fans on your list. The artwork and book are for sale on his site.
Ugliest tattoos
:Art, book, coffee table book, models with tattoos, octopus, photography, tattoos, tentacles
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I’m not a fan of reality television but a new series called Best Ink, may have potential. It sounds like they’ve finally come up with a tattoo show that focuses on the art rather than the drama going on in the shop or in the lives of the artists.
It’ll be premiering on Oxygen and begin on January 30th of 2012. It takes talented tattoo artists from across the country and has them compete for the title “Best Ink” – the best tattoo artist of that group. The grand prize is $100,000 and a cover story in Tattoo magazine. Not too shabby. The artwork is judged by a panel consisting of Joe Capobianco and other people in the industry. A guest judge will be rotated on the panel.
Each episode consists of two challenges for the artists. The first will challenge their creative as well as their artistic skills. They’ll be given challenges like coming up with a tattoo design to commemorate a life or based on a personal inspirational story. The second is to determine the most talented artist with the most artistic ability.
Artists will be eliminated as the competition progresses. As times goes on, the challenges get more difficult and eventually only one artist will remain at the end. It’ll be interesting to see if they can keep the show focused on the talent and steer clear of the pumped up drama you see on most of these shows. I think there are more than enough fans of tattoo art that would be interested in a show focusing on the artist’s skills only.
:competition, oxygen, reality, show, Tattoo Artists, television, tv
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Snake Yates (he legally changed his in the ‘80s) is well known amongst tattoo artists. He was born and raised in Colorado Springs and was one of the first artists in the state. He still owns Snake’s Tattoo shop in Colorado Springs. He’s now 62 years old and has been tattooing for over 40 years. And now Yates is becoming well known for his talent for restoring old dental chairs to be used in tattoo shops!
Dental chairs are the perfect choice for tattoo work because of their various adjustment choices and their 
maneuverability. Yates said using one of these was a real back saver and although he tried to properly care for his chairs, they eventually wore out. The upholstery would get ruined because of the chemicals needed to clean it.
After spending big money getting his chairs repaired again and again, Yates bought an upholstery machine and so began a second career. After years of repairing his own chairs, he now collects and repairs them. He buys chairs from local dentists, old dental offices in Mexico, or scavenges them from dental suppliers. Other artists have gotten wind of his talent and will hire him to repair their tattoo chairs.
Yates has now expanded his skills to include wheelchair repairs. Nice to see someone is restoring a useful piece when we’re so used to chucking anything and everything that wears out or breaks.
Lotto online
:artist, dental chair, refurbish, snake yates, tattoo, tattoo shop
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I wrote a post about this artist almost 2 years ago. Since then she’s expanded her gothic selection and her current inventory looks completely new to me – so I just wanted to throw her some traffic for her latest creations. I really think hand crafted goth dolls are not appreciated as they should be. Each one is unique and one of a kind. A collector’s item for people that have an affection for vampires and scary movies.
Internationally known artist, D.L. Marian, creates one of a kind dead dolls, mannequins and other works of art. I like that she offers to add fangs on request. She also offers tours of her studio which would be so interesting. She’s located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. I love a cool site like this.
This is a cover on 13th Hour Magazine with one of D.L. Marian’s creations. Visit her site to see all of her work.
:artist, dead, doll, Goth, gothic
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