A love letter to stick and poke tattoo culture. Not only an artists handbook but a resource book, a history book and a visual feast of everything single colour.

"Any tattoo is the outcome of an intimate, often hidden, process. The people, bodies, and money that make tattooing what it is blend together and form a heady cocktail, something described by Matt, the owner of Oakland's Premium Tattoo, as "Blood and Lightning." Faced with the client's anticipation of pain and excitement, the tattooer must carefully perform calm authority to obscure a world of preparation and vigilance. "Blood and Lightning, my dude,"...

Zura is worried about how her classmates will react to her Ghanaian Nana's tattoos on Grandparents Day, but Nana finds a way to show how special and meaningful they are.

A vast international plot explodes when a mysterious Jane Doe is discovered in Times Square, covered in cryptic tattoos with no memory of who she is. But there's one tattoo that's impossible to miss: the name of FBI agent Kurt Weller, on her back. Soon, Weller and his FBI team realize that each mark on her body is a crime to solve, leading them closer to the truth about her identity.

Dragon Tattoos presents a gallery of stunning images exploring the different myths and reasons dragons are such popular icons, specifically tattoo icons. This book features more than 150 full colour images, ranging from traditional representations - European and Oriental - to modern variations, fantasy dragons, hybrids and chimera, whilst the origins and characteristics of the different dragon types are explored through informative text and captions....

For thousands of years, people have engaged in ritualistic marking of the skin to identify themselves as a member of a tribe, of a lineage, of a mindset, or of a subculture. The ancient art of tattooing is a tradition we carry on to this day. While the past 10 years have seen no shortage of books about tattoos and tattooing, most are best described as "idea books." Until now, none have profiled the world's most renowned artists across a variety of...

The origins of Chinese astrology can be traced to the Han Dynasty (stretching from the second century BC to the AD second century) and evolved in close association to broad Chinese philosophical concepts, most notably Confucianism and Taoism. The system of astrology that developed in the East was consistent with the prevailing religious or spiritual beliefs of the population, which were primarily polytheistic and mythologically based. The Eastern...

Pioneering black-and-gray tattoo artist Freddy Negrete was twelve years old and confined in the holding cell of a Los Angeles juvenile facility when an older teenager entered-covered in tattoos. Freddy was in awe, not just of the art, but of what it symbolized, and he wanted what this kid had: the potent sense of empowerment and belonging that came from joining a gang. The encounter drove Freddy to join the notorious gang La Sangra, and it didn't...

Many tattoos from all Polynesian cultures often share a common trait: they include elements representing protection.It's easy to understand why: protection was often needed from enemies and environment, and tattoos, being a sacred connection to the gods, were the idealway to channel protection upon men and women alike.This book contains 28 flash designs of different protective symbols like tiki, manaia, sun and lizards.