Reference
HORIMONO
by Dave Regan
As westerners, our access to information on Japanese tattooing is obviously limited. What I like about this book is its competence and different approach to the subject. As many Horishi say, to understand Japanese tattooing is to understand its culture and where it comes from. This book intends to dwell into that kind of understanding.
From the Afterlife website:
“Horimono: A Western Perspective” is the culmination of a multi-year collaboration between Afterlife Press and Denver-based artist Dave Regan. Every contextual and aesthetic detail has been thoughtfully curated and conveyed through extensive explanations of execution and technique, and is further supplemented by original illustrations and an extensive glossary.
This project was meticulously crafted with a near-obsessive attention to detail in regards to design and presentation, and the end result is a book that stands apart from other publications on the subject of Japanese tattooing.
tattoo
CLASSIC TATTOO SPAIN
I met the guys from the Classic Tattoo Spain at the last Old Navy Tattoo Convention in Galicia (one of my new favorites!), I’ve known of their podcast for a while. Solid tattooers, pushing to bring something fresh and definitely valuable to the game.
They came up with a new fanzine, which I bought, and I can say it’s pretty dope 👌
Mindset
A call to your true purpose
I firmly believe mindset and clarity of intention are essential if you want to succeed in any field. As tattooers, you can buy the best equipment and books, have a great network and pit in the hours for practice, but you still might not thrive.
Why? Self limiting beliefs and self image play a crucial role in how we express our potential. Equally, if not more important, is to understand if our efforts are alligned with our nature and passion. If not, we can’t go the extra mile or come up with something original. This happens all the time when we ‘want to be like that tattooer on IG because he/she/they are so good’. We’re simply not them and this approach will just produce copies of copies.
‘Let Life Speak’, a classic for a reason, helps us understand how to sync with our vocation.
Resources
Sources masterpost
Where do I find information and how I do I keep learning on my own? I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to that, the answer is: the rabbit hole.
I search one thing, that sends me to another thing, which mentions another thing.. it takes a little but you can find really good stuff on the internet.
This page here is gold. A blog from a history enthusiast, with an incredible amount of information regarding history, folklore and mythology. It’s the longer route to learn about the origin of Japanese myths but hey, nothing truly valuable comes in the short term 😉
news
TATTOO MENTOR PROGRAM
I will start booking soon the next available spaces for the mentor program, which starts in May. I have also created a new 6 months extended version, the first slot starting in January is fully booked, next available one is the program starting in September.
More info on content, format, price and availability at the link below.