“Our Tattoos: The Best Tattoos From the World’s Best Artists” by Bugsy and Adam Lockman

Front Cover by Bugsy

30/12/12 – Our Tattoos by Bugsy and Adam Lockman features at least 47 Skulls

Out of the corner of my eye, I recognised a colourful tattoo book that was placed opposite my boyfriend’s XBOX console. The vibrant and illustrative designs on the front cover convinced me to pick up the book and flick through the pages. This book is titled, “Our Tattoos: The Best from the World’s Best Artist’s” by Bugsy and Adam Lockman. I remember seeing Bugsy in person at a creative arts conference in Melbourne, also known as Semi Permanent. The artist was very engaging and the artworks that he had decided to display were just incredible!

Inside of Front Cover Designed by Bugsy with Watercolours

I remember the artist had mentioned that the skull has become a very tattoo design; for Bugsy the skull is a symbol of life and death. The front cover has been designed by Bugsy and I have noticed that there are skulls on the front page. When I opened the book, there was a small message at the bottom that explains that Bugsy has designed the entire cover with watercolour paints; that is quite amazing if you ask me!

Tattoo Designs by Chad Koeplinger

In the book, Bugsy and Adam Lockman explain that tattoo art has become popular art form; I have noticed that there galleries across Melbourne that are displaying tattoo art within a contemporary setting. I would never even think about getting a tattoo two years ago, but now that I have researched and visited galleries with popular tattoo designs, I now see it as more of an art form more than anything else.

Tattoo Designs by Dredd (Jonathan Kellogg)

The book also mentions that a tattoo provides others with the ability to individuality; the skin has used as a form of “self-expression”. The book does feature some interesting comments and I began to wonder whether the skull has the power to symbolise death, youth and rebellion? To me personally, it all depends on the person’s own interpretation of the design; I would imagine that getting a tattoo is quite personal, the design could reflect something significant in a person’s life or it could mean nothing at.

Tattoo Design by Josh Leahy

Well anyway, I decided to count how many skulls were actually inside the book, in total I had discovered at least 47 different skulls and the book is quite thin. It was interesting to see all the different patterns and designs from different tattoo artists; the most prominent designs were dragons, mermaids, panthers and skulls. Skulls have become very popular in tattoo art, it’s hard to watching a television show or walk into a gallery space without recognising the shape of the human skull. I have also seen an increasing number of people walking around the streets of Melbourne with skull tattoos.

Tattoo Design by Mitch 31

The skull in general is becoming popular in various forms of art, in graphic design, illustration, painting, animation, sculpture, fashion and photography, it’s as if we are bombarding ourselves with the realisation that we are human and one day we will eventually die. Or is this really the case? Has the skull be reproduced to the extent that no one really has one definite answer? I keep asking myself the same question over and over again; I’m hoping I can one day find the answer.

Well anyway if you are interested in Tattoo art, I would recommend having a look through this book. It’s so well designed, I’m even convinced that I need a tattoo.

http://www.wilkinsonpublishing.com.au/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=275

Artists:

http://www.bugsartwork.com/index.cfm

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Done-With-Electricity/289488704534

http://chadkoeplingerslife.wordpress.com/

http://jondredd.com/home.html

http://www.sacredskin.com.au/page/josh-leahy/default.asp