Tattoo Insider
Zulu Tattoo - Los Angeles, CA/Austin, TX
zulutattoo.com
It's a challenge to find somebody who knows tattoos who isn't familiar with Zulu's work, as it's agreed he is one of the greatest talents in the tattoo industry today. His portfolio is filled with celebrity clients and a rich variety of work in color as well as black and gray, ranging from art nouveau to classic tattoo styles, but most people seem to call on him for tribal work. To hear his clients speak about his art, as an investment, a gift or a centerpiece, you may not realize they are discussing a tattoo artist. He has a way of bringing true artistry to tribal pieces, making them come to life in a way you may have never realized possible. His talents don't stop there -- turns out he's a killer musician, and even played bass with Stanley Clarke back in the day. laweekly.com/publicspectacle/2012/03/30/10-awesome-tattoo-artists-in-la?page=2 |
Kat Von D - Los Angeles, CA
katvond.net
Von D was asked to work at 305 Ink in Miami when Darren Brass broke his elbow, preventing him from tattooing. She appeared in two seasons of Miami Ink, the reality TV show taped there for the cable network TLC. She had a falling out with Ami James which led to her being asked to leave the shop. She subsequently acquired her own TLC series, LA Ink, which chronicled her work at her tattoo shop, High Voltage Tattoo, in Hollywood, California. On the show, she gained the Guinness World Record of most tattoos given by a single person in 24 hours, with a total of 400. Accomplished in December 2007, it involved a Von D-designed logo for the city of Los Angeles, with proceeds going to the children's-blindness charity Vitamin Angels. Her record was subsequently broken by her ex-husband, Oliver Peck (415) on June 13, 2008, followed by others; as of November 2008 the record is held by Hollis Cantrell from Artistic Tattoo in Phoenix, Arizona, with 801. LA Ink ran four seasons, ending September 15, 2011; TLC announced the cancellation on August 18, 2011. Von D maintained on her Twitter page that it was she who chose "to not continue doing LA Ink". Her first book, High Voltage Tattoo, compiling her artworks and tattoos, with a foreword by Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx, was released in January 2009 and reached #6 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Von D described the book as "not an autobiography, you know, 'cause I'm too young to do that. But this is just kind of like a picture-driven outline of my career as an artist. So, you see everything from my drawings when I was six to tattoos that have never before been seen." Her second book, The Tattoo Chronicles, an illustrated diary following a year in her life, was released October 26, 2010, and reached #3 on The New York Times "Hardcover Advice & Misc." best-seller list. She is the creator of the MusInk Tattoo Convention and Music Festival, which began in 2008. Musink is an all ages Tattoo, Music, and Art festival located in Southern California. On September 2, 2010, Von D opened the art gallery and boutique Wonderland Gallery in the space next door to High Voltage Tattoo. She launched the clothing lines KVD Los Angeles and Kat Von D Los Angeles in the US and Canada in fall 2011, with the latter expanding internationally the following year. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kat_Von_D |