The Tattoo Temple is a tattoo parlor near Lan Kwai Fong, a district of Hong Kong, China, that is renowned for its party scene. Artists Joey Pang, Wang and Jamie use the Tattoo Temple as their base to create artistic tattoos that are inspired by traditional Asian art and modern art styles. Each tattoo is [...]
Hide Ichibay creates line-perfect tattoos in an Oriental style, drawing inspiration from classical Japanese paintings and illustrations. Like many traditional Oriental art works, Ichibay’s tattoos contain a wide range of textures. Some areas contain bold, flat colors while other areas are textured with intricate patterns.What is impressive about the patterned areas of Ichibay’s tattoos is [...]
Traditional Japanese tattoo art, known as irezumi, is created by repeatedly stabbing a “brush” of needles into the skin, as shown in this video. The artist repeatedly stabs the brush into the client’s skin to create the design, in this case a large koi fish. As you can see in this video, building up a [...]
Yakuza tattoos are a source of fascination for many tattoo lovers. The high level of secrecy surrounding the tattoos, combined with the painful method of “hand-poking” the designs and the association with the Japanese underworld gives yakuza tattoo art a mysterious appeal. The History of Japanese Yakuza Gang Tattoos The history of the yakuza [...]
Goldfish are a form of Asian carp that have been bred for centuries to have specific physical characteristics. Since around 10 AD, fish keepers in China and Japan have coupled spawning goldfish with similar traits to create a wide variety of different goldfish breeds. One of the most popular carp varieties for use in tattoo [...]
Koi fish are decorative ornamental fish that are kept in fresh water ponds in homes and businesses. The koi isn’t just a pretty fish; it has a deeper meaning in tattoo art. Because they achieve greatness in Chinese legend, they are a symbol of success and achievement, and because they are expensive, they are a symbol [...]
Yin Yang tattoos can be simple yin yang symbols or complex design that replace parts of the yin yang with flowers, dragons, koi fish or dolphins. Simple designs consist of just the black and white yin and yang symbol, whereas more complicated designs will include symbolic design elements to create meaningful body art. The Meaning [...]
Dragons are mythical creatures that appear in fairy tales and fantasy novels. Although dragon tattoos have their roots in traditional Asian designs, there has been a recent rise in popularity of dragon tattoo designs, due to books like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson, and the appearance of dragons in film media [...]