Lily Allen Shhh… Tattoo

I’m not really one for taking interest in celebrity tattoos (or celebrity anything) really, but this one caught my attention for the most obvious reason – what if she had ‘…ittt’ on the other finger? I know it’s not that funny but it made me laugh.

 

Kev Grey

Take a look at Kev Grey’s website for a load of great illustration, influenced mostly by tattoos but with a hefty dose of graffiti and old school lowbrow thrown in. The clean, highly contrasting and slightly sinister prison tattoo look reminds me of Mike Giant’s work, but with a more flowing and irreverent feel. Very inspirational!

 

Sunny Buick

There’s some ace traditional tattoos and tattoo themed paintings by the well established artist Sunny Buick over on her website. They’re nice and simple but all the better for it – the cartoon like shading and colours give the designs a really retro and graphic feel.

Shawn Barber Tattoo Portraits

Check out Shawn Barber’s site for, among other things, a series of portraits of tattooed subjects. The paintings are incredibly well made and really capture the colours and patterns of the tattoos with a lot of energy and vibrancy. Notable subjects include the artists Mike Giant, Shige and Kat Von D among many others. There’s hours worth of jaw-dropping artwork to feast your eyes on!

Freehand Robot from London Ink

If you find the idea of having a freehand design tattooed a little too scary, then take a look at this amazing video from London Ink. It’s hard to believe that what at the start looks like a pretty rough scribble ends up as such a tight and accurate image. The blank areas that make the arrows are a great touch, too. All in all with the unusual subject matter and the quality of execution, this is a great piece.

Von Glitschka Tattoo Design Process

This is a great post by one of my favourite artists. Although he’s not a tattoo artist, a lot of his designs are very tattoo inspired in their symmetry and iconic feel. This blog post shows the whole process from client brief through acquiring references to design and completion of the tattoo, which was a private commission. Very interesting post and a great design at the end of it!