Lal Hardy – författare

A fantastic, all-new, third volume of tattoo art – both tattoos and original artworks – showcasing the best recent work of the world’s most outstanding tattoo artists. The format is compact, but contains over 600 full-colour photographs of the work of international tattoo art stars, including Frank Carter, Camila Rocha, Dan Smith and Horikazu (see full list of contributing artists below), representing outstanding value-for-money. Over the past 20 years, tattoos have emphatically entered the mainstream, perhaps most notably on the person of UK prime minister David Cameron’s wife Samantha. Whether celebratory tattoos, local landmarks, weddings, gravestones, timepieces, song lyrics, club colours, the Olympic rings, something World Cup-related or even a flight of plaster ducks, more and more people are sporting tattoos. There are also ever more artists who have turned their hands to tattooing, and vice versa. Tattoo styles are changing, too, under the influence of other art forms as traditional methods of designing tattoos – using pencil, marker, ink and pain – are joined by computer-generated art and Photoshop creations. Practically unheard of a few decades ago, women with tattoos are on the rise, and there is also an ever-increasing number of female tattoo artists, a number of whose work is showcased in this book. Full list of contributing artists: Adam Machin, Amy Savage, Anthony Flemming, Camila Rocha, Chris Jones, Davee Blows, Eddie Stacey, Greg Orie, Ian Parkin, Jemma Jones, Kate Shaw, Leigh Oldcorn, Mauro Tampieri, MxM, Oddboy, PriZeMaN, Roxx, Yohann Bonvoisin, Adam Sargent, Andrea Furci, BJ Betts, Chase Tafoya, Claire Reid, David Corden, Emily Wood, Guen Douglas, Ian Saunders, John Anderton, Ken Patten, Luca Ortis, Michael Rose, Nick Skunx, Paul Johnson, Ren Shorney, Stefano C, Aimee Cornwell, Andrew McNally, Bong, Chelsea Shoneck, Crispy Lennox, Dean Taylor, Frank Carter, Hannah Wolf, Johnny Domus, KJT, Mat Lapping, Niki Norberg, Pete Oz, Richard Barclay, Steve Richardson, Akuma Shugi, Andy Engel, Cally Jo, Chris Crooks, Dan Smith, Dris Donnelly, Gari Henderson, Horikazu, Jammes, Jorge Becerra, Lauren Winzer, Matt Adamson, Miss Arianna, Pete the Thief, Rory Pickersgill, Tom Flanagan.

It is now estimated that about 35 per cent of 16-44 year-olds in the UK (40 per cent in the USA) carry a tattoo. This book focuses on a hugely popular subject which is a compendium of tattoo memorabilia, paraphernalia, ephemera, historical images, equipment and art.

Gemma Angel, who looks after the preserved skins at the Welcome Collection and the Science Museum, shares her grisly but intriguing specimens. The British Museum open up their archives to let us view intricately carved Polynesian tattoo needles and Greek vases of tattooed female warriors.