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.
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.
If you’re a fan of Paul Booth chances are you’ll like Ryan Gillikin. Gillikin was recently featured on Weird News because of the oddities he collects and displays in his tattoo shop. Gillikin and his wife have owned the shop, Almighty Studios, for ten years and both are fans of body modification. Gillikin has horns and a surgically bifurcated (split) tongue which helps add to the atmosphere he’s going for with his collection.
Some of the items Ryan has on display in his shop include a pickled hand, an original piece of artwork by John Wayne Gacy, and a mummified cat. Creepy, dark stuff.
Part of his collection will be featured on the show “Oddities” which is shown on the Science Channel. It’s about a ventriloquist’s dummy that is thought to be possessed. Dummies, dolls, and clowns – they all freak me out.
With the availability of quality tattoo magazines, we are able to enjoy the talents of artists from around the world. With this accessibility to tattoo work through reality shows, conventions, and publications it is difficult to come up with a technique or look that is unique. With tattoo art becoming more appreciated and easy to attain, we’ve become a bit jaded.
I just want to draw some attention to a tattoo shop by the name of Buena Vista Tattoo Club. I don’t have much information about the artists except for their names but it’s all about the art anyway. The two artists that work out of the shop are Simone Pfaff and Volko Merschky. They are located in Germany – at least that is what I determined from their site – after researching the town. Worth a visit to check out their gallery.
When I think of Halloween and tattoos, the first artist that comes to mind is Paul Booth. His tattoos, his shop, and every aspect of the art of Paul Booth screams Halloween. This year marks the third year that Last Rites Gallery, Booth’s shop, has celebrated it’s 13th Hour Group Exhibit. The exhibit began this weekend and will run until the 21st of November. He brings together artists specializing in the dark, depraved, and gothic style from around the world to exhibit their work. The studio and where you can visit this exhibition is located in New York city. Booth built up a highly respected reputation in the tattoo industry and is now using his fame to help bring these artists together and help establish an appreciation for dark art which gets a bad rap. These talent artists are given a chance to display their work as a serious art form. Gothic art is slowly building up a respectable reputation with the help of artist like Paul Booth. (Last Rites also holds additional exhibits throughout the year.)
It’s so refreshing to discover such a talent along with a man you can respect. Nate Beaver, hailing from Houston Texas, headed down a troubled road before focusing on his art – specifically tattoo art. He doesn’t forget where he came from and has a really good attitude. Due to his previous addictions and troubles, his career was sidelined and delayed for a few years but you would never know it by the quality of his work.
It’s so refreshing to discover such a talent along with a man you can respect. Nate Beaver headed down a troubled road before focusing on his art – specifically tattoo art. He doesn’t forget where he came from and has a really good attitude. Due to his previous addictions and troubles, his career was sidelined and delayed for a few years but you would never know it by the quality of his work. Good interview with a great talent.
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.
