UNDEFINEDINK

A Visual Guide to Good Tattoos var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-19207792-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

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Highly imaginative and visually nonsensical, Gifford Kasen’s diabolical creations ooze horror film nostalgia. His petri dish of biomech will leave you simultaneously disturbed and curious.

Upon first glance, one may think “What the fuck am I looking at?” But with further inspection you’ll find his works display the frivolities of Grime and the mechanical exuberance of Guy Aitchison. Kasen often uses bright tones sparingly to create abstract focal points amidst the chaos of his renderings. Every line is scrutinized despite its spontaneous appearance. 

Owner of Logan Square Tattoo in Chi-city, this daily obsession is up for anything and open for business. http://logansquaretattoo.com/

https://instagram.com/futureteller/?hl=en

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Black work. Everyone and their sweet mothers are attempting “purposeful” and “deliberate” configurations in this relatively new and emerging style. Unfortunately, most of today’s simplistic symbols are vapid and meaningless to everyone but the wearer.

Through the clout has risen a pair of storytellers that create a visual language of legends in this otherwise feral style. I speak only of the duo known as Thieves of Tower. When they’re not playing sorcerers to the black-work realm, Houston and Dagney are building a brand that’s changing the medium. With a style that ranges from an amalgamation of basic lines and negative space to wood block style illustrations, these two are creating a multifaceted passion play.

This daily obsession is somewhat allusive. Thieves of Tower could be based in Greensboro, NC one day and gone the next. They might be concocting new skin art or mind-melding with other brands on illustrative endeavors. Who the fuck knows, but don’t let it stop you from immersing yourself in their visual lexicon. http://www.thievesoftower.com/gallery/ 

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Kelly McGrath lives in an alternate universe that makes Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory feel like the DMV and Lisa Frank look like Martha Stewart.

Her aura of colors makes my inner child jump for joy and lick the ink right off her canvases. And although her compositions may seems simple and amusing, each one is crafted with passion and loaded with meaning to both wearer and artist. The bejeweled adornments she has begun to focus on in the last year appear viscerally three dimensional. Ol’ girl is without a doubt finding her niche in the industry and taking names.

You can find this daily obsession tucked away at Art Alive Tattoo Studio in the sleepy hollows of North Carolina. Get a chuckle out of more of her beloved musings at http://www.artalivetattoo.com/#!kelly-mcgrath/c22sl and catch her before her wait list goes vamoose.

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If you’re a tattooer you want to be him. If you’re the average joe blow, you envy the fuck out of him. That’s right, the man in question is the one and only Jes Strickler.

I’ve yet to meet an artist more humble and more versatile. His line work is so exquisite that the detail makes most artists squeamish. And although his portfolio is filled with a variation of styles, my heart melts when his executions lean into the dot & line genre. He crafts each composition with attitude and dynamism, leaving no minutia unturned.

One of two boss men at Madison’s heavy hitting Iron Quill, Strickler brings together an arsenal of artists including Joe Anderson and Nhia Eastmead. Homeboy holds down the fort with tough love and challenges his crew to evolve their game while maintaining a personal/professional balance.

You can find more of this daily obsession’s whimsical wonders at http://ironquilltattoo.com/ and

 https://instagram.com/tattoosbyjes/

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Mr. Mark Blanchard has me at a straight "what the fuck?"

His imagination is crawling with fleshy beasts riddled with eyes and hair. His neo-traditional abstractions are done in such a pronounced high gloss style, that despite the subject matter, you just can't help but loose yourself in their abhorrent nature. There's no doubt that this master of the absurd is one of Paul Booth's disciples. But homeboy's grown up and now has a shop/gallery all his own called Eridanos in Cambridge, Mas.

I dare you to feast your eyes on more of this daily obsession's sideshow contrivances at http://www.markblanchardtattoo.com/ without feeling at least a bit green in the gills.

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Since the birth of Undefinedink, no artist has evolved and pushed their limits quite like Mr. Fabian De Gaillande.

This ink slinging storm trooper has been upping his hit list exponentially with an expansive repertoire of full color depictions. It's extraordinary how homeboy switch hits between photo realism and neo-traditional. And every visual concoction reflects an unparalleled energy. If you dig back into his archives of four years past, you won't remotely find the same level of finish and detail as in the works of today.

There's no doubt that this daily tattooligan from down under is becoming a well sought after gent, so let his rabid Instagram bite your eyeballs and suck you in. https://www.facebook.com/Fabztattoo?fref=ts

http://websta.me/n/fabz_lab

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This girl...oh holy Moses, has cut my tongue out and served it back to me on a golden platter.

The raw talent of Nomi Chi simply escapes me. Her skeletal process of exposing sketch lines within a final composition is simply other worldly. The newest member of Gastown Tattoo Parlour, this Canadian mistress of story book figures is molding her own category at an exponential rate.

Although this daily obsession is currently not taking any new clients, keep her on your radar for when she opens the floodgates of submission. And in the mean time check out her enigmatic musings at http://nomi-chi.com/home.html and http://nomi-chi.blogspot.com/

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Losing yourself in the faceted concoctions of Mátyás Csiga Halász is futile.  His prismatic techniques bring drama to his work and force the viewer to spend time with the subject. Halász unleashes an unapologetically bold palette that brings Neo Traditional to the next level, with an intense emphasis on "negative" space.

This daily obsession can be found expanding his repertoire out of Dark Art Tattoo studio in the profound city of Budapest, but rumor has it he likes to worm his way around the globe doing guest spots from the far east to the red west and blue. http://www.whoismatyashalasz.com

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Curiouser and curiouser I find myself as I slide down the visual rabbit hole that Mr. Azivaras Ly has crafted. A mixture of abstraction and patterning, his work is a virtual bomb of enigmatic color.

Raining magic out of Totemas Tattoo in the heart of Siauliai, this fine gent surely views the world through an original lens. His lines aren't perfect and it appears that his ink sits a little deep, but each creative revelation takes on a life of its own when inked to fruition.

To get more of this daily obsession's WTF-experience, take a gander here http://instagram.com/aivaras_ly

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If anyone has come close to immortalizing Lisa Frank in ink, its definitely Ms. Anna Belozerova. With a palette that's whimsically extravegant, this Russian master takes femininity to the next level. Influenced by fantasy realist Konstantin Vorobjev out of Barnaul, her natural versatility has evolved this category of tattooing and quite possibly superceded her predecessors.

I long to see more of this daily obsession's convergence of style with line work and abstract paint-like rendering. Belozerova has quite the glimmering future ahead of her, so stay connected to this virtuoso at https://www.facebook.com/people/Anna-Belozerova/100007073078493

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The details in Cat's Sacred Geometry whisper otherworldly refrains into my ear, as I find myself fixated on the intricacy of each dot. Within the petals, swirls and lines of every mandala there is a story to be told in a way I haven't seen many capable of executing. The work transcends tattooing and crosses over into the world of fine body adornment.

Cat's is an upper echelon crew member of the one and only 2Spririt Tattoo in San Francisco. Her style is a good contrast to that of Roxx's Black Work, adding breath the shop's repertoire.

This daily obsession has mastered the fine art of fine-ass-art and has me waiting for my October appointment with baited breath. Check out more of her divine meditations at http://2spirittattoo.com/.

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Beyond greatness there lies a place where you can hear the melancholy melody of a classical violin and the pages of a Sylvia Plath novel flutter in the breeze of an oncoming storm. And you can't quite put your finger on it, but in the stillness of that moment, you find beauty. Perhaps that moment is God making art. Crafted with passion and as meticulous as the work of Silvano Fiato.

Fiato is a man who's capable of creating characters and compositions that breath. He choses his subjects carefully. When working with him, there's a certain assurance that what will manifests itself will hold an emotional depth that only the wearer can understand.

This daily obsession is no stranger the industry, so cop a feel of his extensive creations at http://www.silvanofiato.com

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The owl, the girl and the orchid. The image of this tattoo has haunted me for three years now and to my own disbelief, I was unable to pinpoint the artist at large. This illusive genius goes by the name of Michael Moses.

Ohio per capita seems to have the largest population of tattoo artists in the US and Mr. Moses is amongst their finest. With a demure color palette and  intricate line foundation for his pieces, he always finds a way to integrate human nuances in his mythical beasts.

This daily obsession has a shit ton more then these lovelies in his attaché, so journey through his shiznitz at http://thedrowntown.com/home.html

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I couldn't fucking choose. Petra Hlavackova has a myriad of hash line spot color illustrations whose whimsey tickle my soul.

Dynamic, expressive and surprising, she covers space like Christo and challenges the perception of the medium for both fine artists and tattooers alike.

This Czech based daily obsession is surely growing a mass following as she bends the lines and explores uncharted canvas.

http://www.behance.net/petattoo

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Every Halloweenie, Mr. Paul Acker floats into my periphery and reminds me why he's the king of horror.

Apparently nothing's stopping the man from pumping fistfuls of bloody ink into the membrane of new and willing victims.

His high contrast color variances are reminiscent of Cecil Porters, but his subject matter has always been rooted in the bloodcurdling.

Spook this daily obsession at his usual subterranean hideout, Deep Six in Philly and get a smattering of the good stuff.

http://deepsixlab.com/

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I would sell my right tit to be in Los Angeles this weekend to see the first solo show of Nikko Hurtado, ground breaking tattooer turned fine artist.

He will be sharing the Copro Gallery space with non other then Chet Zar. An honorable opportunity. Over the past five years Nikko has devoted a monumental amount time studying under the watchful eye of Michael Hussar to hone an old and divine craft in which his realism could take roots. Inklings of his brilliance above, but I highly recommend flocking to Copro on the 26th to basic in the glow of the originals.

Congrats Nikko!

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My eyes have been impaled. Mr. Jp Wikman, the european enigma of finely crafted black and gray has caused me to have such a visceral reaction to his work, that it's left me completely immobile.

The man composites like Carlos Torres, but adds illusions of graphic fragmentation to his works. The details are immaculate and use of negative space dramatic.

His pieces have an etherial quality that push the medium and weave stories for the viewer.

I'm dying to search out this daily obsession and travel to the ends of the earth, no matter where he may be, to add one of these bad boys to my personal collection. https://www.facebook.com/jp.wikman