It’s the most, wonderful time…. Of the year!! Some people hate winter, some people love it. What we can all agree on though, is snow can be beautiful!
Snowflake tattoos are often done in a realistic, dotwork, black and grey, or bright/new school style.
Each snowflake tattoo here is unique, just like the real deal!
Which is your favourite?
Frida Kahlo was a painter born in Mexico in 1907. She mainly painted self portraits, but many were heavily stylized, and some based on current pop culture.
Her art explored questions of gender, identity, class, race, and postcolonialism in Mexican society.
Frida’s art has been called surrealist, and magic realist. Her paintings are praised today by feminists for their depictions of the female experience and form.
Frida became an artist during recovery after she was injured in an accident when she was eighteen.
She became interested in politics in 1927, and joined the Mexican Communist Party where she met her husband. The two divorced in 1939 but did re marry.
Frida traveled Mexico and the United States, and was given a solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York in 1938, which was a massive success. This was quickly followed by another exhibition in Paris the following year.
Frida had her first solo exhibition in Mexico in 1953.
She died the following year at the age of 47 due to bronchopneumonia.
Though she was relatively well known in certain circles during her lifetime, her work wasn’t appreciated the way it is now until the 1990’s, when her paintings became icons for feminists, Chicanos, and the LGBTQ community.
Which is your favourite?
Spirited Away is Hayao Miyazaki’s most popular film to date. It is an Academy Award winner, and Japan’s highest grossing film of all time. It came out in 2001 and is still one of the most popular Japanese films out there.
The film was created without a script. The artwork came first, and it was drawn, directed, and written by Miyazaki himself.
The lead character, Chihiro, was actually based on one of Miyazaki’s friends’ daughters. She was supposed to be a relatable character and as average as possible. This was to show that ordinary people, particularly young women, could be heroes too.
A common occurrence in Miyazaki films are the quiet scenes of inaction. These are often some of the most beautiful scenes in his films. In Spirited Away, these scenes include driving, various nature scenes, and characters staring off into the distance.
Spirited Away has many memorable characters that make for fantastic tattoos. Some of the most popular characters for tattoos are no face, Chihiro, Haku, Yubaba, and the cute little soot sprites!
These tattoos are often done in blackwork, neo traditional, dotwork, and watercolor.
Who is your favourite Spirited Away character?
Stephen McConnell is an artist at Main Street Tattoo Collective in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Stephen’s work ranges from black and grey, to realism, watercolor, American traditional, blackwork, geometric, and neo traditional.
Stephen McConnell is a must visit artist in Winnipeg!
Nissaco is a tattoo artist based in Shinsaibashi Osaka at an unnamed private studio that goes by the name room_23_26 on Instagram.
Nissaco does mainly large scale pieces such as full sleeves, back pieces, and even body suits. His style is black geometrical work and it is extremely detailed.
His work is hard sought after with visitors going to see him from all around the world. Along with having clients from around the world, he also travels, going to various tattoo conventions. Most recent he will be at the 13th London Tattoo convention in September 2017.
Along with being geometrical in design, Nissaco’s work also often features classic Japanese elements such as dragons, waves, flowers, snakes, koi fish, and hannya masks. These pieces are almost entirely black, but occasionally feature a small amount of red to make them really pop.
Nissaco is a must see artist in Osaka, Japan, but book well in advance as his books fill up fast!
Sailor Moon is a popular Japanese Anime show based off the 52 manga chapters entitled Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon. The show premiered in Japan in 1992 and was popular there as well as overseas.
Sailor Moon is the heroine name of the main character, a young woman who fights evil. A cat named Luna gives Sailor Moon, or Usagi (Serena in English), a magical brooch that transforms her into Sailor Moon. Throughout the show Usagi/Serena meets other young women who are also given magical objects able to transform them. Together they form the Sailor Soldiers. Along with being able to transform, they have other items that help them to fight evil.
The show is particularly popular with young woman as it is about strong, powerful women who fight evil and are portrayed as strong and capable, but also human, capable of having human breakdowns as well as strength.The show also has themes of love triumphing over hate.
As a tattoo, many people get Sailor Moon or the other Sailor Soldiers, the cats Luna, Artemis, and Diana, the different magical items, and the crescent moon. These tattoos are often bright and colourful but can also be done in blackwork. Styles range from American traditional, neo traditional, realistic, new school, dotwork, blackwork, black and grey, and watercolour.
Who is your favorite Sailor Moon character?
The Deathly Hallows are three magical objects from the Harry Potter series that together make up a triangular design that when worn shows you are a believer. The three objects are the Elder Wand, a wand made to be unbeatable, The Resurrection Stone, which brings back the dead, and the Cloak of Invisibility which as it says, renders the user completely invisible. The cloak forms a triangle, the stone is a circle within the triangle, and the wand is a straight line within the triangle and circle.
The story of the Deathly Hallows is first told in the seventh book. In the story, Death created each of these three items, and gave them to the three Peverell brothers who had outsmarted Death by crossing a river that usually claimed lives. These items were their rewards for outsmarting him. The two eldest brothers had requested the wand and the stonem but both met grisly deaths due to the nature of their magical items. The wand caused Antioch Peverell to gloat, leading him to be killed in his sleep and have the wand stolen, while the stone caused Cadmus Peverell to take his own life after bringing his late wife back from the dead, as she was unable to be happy in the land of the living again. The youngest brother Ignotus Peverell requested Death’s own cloak, and used it to avoid him until he was ready for Death. Ignotus passed the cloak on to his son and from there greeted Death “like an old friend”. This cloak is the very same on that Harry had passed down to him.
Lovers of the Harry Potter series, whether the books or films, have often gotten the Deathly Hallows as a tattoo to show their love of magic. The Deathly Hallows symbol is often paired with quotes or other images such as flowers, Hogwarts, magical creatures, spells, potions, and people’s patronuses.
“Always” keep the magic alive!
