Awesome Tattoos

Inspired by Smarter Every Day’s slow-motion tattoo video, The Slow Mo Guys wanted to get an even more detailed view of what’s going on when a tattoo gun lays down its ink. With the help of their Laowa probe lenses, they captured some incredible macro footage of ink being injected into a sliver of ballistic gel, which they used as an analog for human flesh.

Artist Mimi Kirchner makes one-of-a-kind fabric toys that are way too nice to let your kids play with. Among her works is this jolly old-timey fellow with a handlebar mustache and chinoiserie tattoos. Dressed in striped pants with a red belt, the 22-1/2″ tall figure would look great standing watch in your living room.

Montréal tattoo artist Phil Berge creates animated tattoos by inking individual frames then photographing them in sequence. His most incredible work so far is this 76 tattoo scene based on Max and Dave Fleischer’s 1933 classic Betty Boop: Snow White, featuring Cab Calloway. His Simpsons sequence is awesome too.

French knifemaker Deejo offers a line of folding knives with blade designs inspired by tattoo art. They offer a variety of customization options, including blade image, weight, finish, handle material, and personalization. They also sell a version that lets you engrave your own design.

Tattoo Stories is a party game that gives players three minutes to doodle a design for a tattoo based on a selection of attributes. Each artist pitches their tattoo to the customer, who gets to judge and choose the winner of the round. For 4 to 6 players ages 12 and up.

Min Zumi, guest artist at Sydney, Australia’s Authentink Tattoo Studio creates incredible 3-dimensional designs that look as if they were embroidered onto a patch, then slapped onto the skin. The intricate stitching details are amazing, as is the perfect drop shadow effect.

Tattoo artist Andres Vrontis creates amazing images by generating ASCII computer art, then meticulously inking each and every tiny character in black to create the illusion of a greyscale image. We’re getting a hand cramp just watching him work.

You’d like to think that the person who’s about to permanently ink your body would have double-checked their drawing, Inked’s interview reel with 14 tattooers talking about their worst mistakes is proof positive you should check the stencil 10 times before they start.

Korean startup SketchOn’s gadget can print skin-safe temporary tattoos just by running it over a body part. Images can be selected from a library or uploaded from a smartphone app. At this point the device is only available for rental usage at events.

Artist Lise Grossmann of Lily Mandrill offers hand drawn portrait temporary tattoos. You submit a photo and she’ll turn it into a tattoo. They makes for a perfect gift or party favor for special occasions. Bulk orders are accepted.

Tattoo artist Georgie Williams specializes in making all black tattoos inspired by circuit boards and technology in general. From single lines to thick blocks of ink, her surprisingly versatile style looks like the mark of a society from the far future.

Fans of American traditional tattoos and pop culture will love these awesomely illustrated prints inspired by everything from Taxi Driver to Totoro. LA artist Quyen Dinh of Parlor Tattoo Prints also offers designs on t-shirts and a limited-edition wall calendar.

(PG-13: Language) We sat down with artist Josh Herman from Chicago’s Mayday Tattoo Co. to learn what makes him tick, from his fun, spontaneous approach to new school designs, to his sources of inspiration, and his philosophy on pursuing your creative dreams.

We love tattoos. They can truly be personal works of art that we carry with us every day. An artist from animation studio Open the Portal recently collaborated with a tattoo studio to create a cool design which creates the illusion of movement as he twists his torso.

Engineers from MIT Media Lab and Microsoft Research have developed a method to produce temporary tattoos using thin layers of gold leaf to transform the wearer’s skin into touch-based input devices for controlling devices, a color-changing display, or as an NFC tag.

A new series of watches inspired by tattoo art. Each watch features an original design on both its face and leather strap, which is embossed with a technique that produces a look and feel that’s virtually identical to the coloring and linework of an actual tattoo.

UK illustrator Megamunden’s 112-page coloring book is loaded with 120 of the artist’s unique and intricate designs in outline form so you can color them in yourself. If you dig this, be sure to check out his color-in postcards.

If you want to try out a tattoo design before committing to get inked, you can get a temporary tattoo, or you can use Ink Hunter. It’s an augmented reality app for iOS that lets you upload designs, project them on your body and edit and share the photo.

Try out tattoo designs before getting real ink done. Send Momentary Ink an image of your design and they’ll send back a temporary tattoo kit that looks just like a real tattoo when applied. It lasts up to a week and can also be rubbed off with oil.

Oskar & Gaspar show us the least painful way to get a full body tattoo, by projection mapping intricate designs onto the bodies of models who already had some real ink. The animations truly bring the tattoos to life, though some of them kind of creeped us out.

Footballer Zlatan Ibrahimović had the names of 50 people he never met tattooed on his body – each of whom are suffering from hunger. He hopes it will help raise awareness and support for the millions who are starving around the world.

Over the past seven years Keith Anderson has been getting tattoos based on his son’s drawings: a daisy, a house, his son’s handwriting and more. Props to the tattoo artists for preserving the spirit of the sketches. Photos by Chance Faulkner.

The Recidivist is a modded Harley Davidson Softail adorned with tattooed leather on its tires, tanks, seat, rear fender and more. Polish tattoo artists Tomasz Lech and Krzysztof Krolak spent a total of 250 hours inking the bike.