The tattoo industry, like much of society, has a long history of being male dominated, often it’s been called an old boys club. Today the field has grown so much, with lots of respectful men and women creating an ever diversifying landscape to uphold a new kind of tattoo scene. Though women have always been […]
Author: Gatekeeper
Hi there! I'm Taylor, you may know me as Sterling Skull reception, or gatekeeper, or most recently Tater (thanks Chris). I love writing, creating and I love tattoos; so what better way to use my passions than to bring you a personal experience of our studio via a blog! Welcome, please stay a while!
Dotwork
Dotwork, sometimes known as stippling, is a technique that uses a lot of really small dots to create shading within an image or even the image itself. This is a very specific aesthetic and it creates beautiful, delicate artwork. At our studio Roxie and Loren both really enjoy utilizing this technique. The more concentrated the […]
Is It Going To Hurt?
As tattooists and people who work in the industry one question we hear a lot is, is it going to hurt? Usually from people who are getting their first tattoo. There’s nothing wrong with this question. It’s totally valid to want to know what you’re getting yourself into and you want to make sure you […]
Ukrainian Folk Art
In honor of the crisis in Ukraine right now and our upcoming flash day to support them next week I’m going to take this opportunity to dive into Ukrainian folk art and symbolism. This is kind of a unique article in that it is not tattoo specific, however could be applied to tattoos if anyone […]
American Traditional Part 5: Doc Forbes Hendry
The story of Canadian tattooer Doc Forbes is very much intertwined with the height of the American Traditional tattoo scene in the 1950’s across America. American Traditional is just the name of the style, it was extremely present in early Canadian tattooing at the same time. Forbes apprenticed under Frederick Baldwin, the first Canadian tattooer […]
Flash Tattoos
How it works today Flash tattoos are a staple in the tattoo industry. They can be used in various ways and are the gift that keeps on giving. Flash tattoos, or flash, as it’s more commonly known are pre drawn designs that are available to be sold as tattoos. Different shops have different flash policies […]
Function Of Tattoos
Discussion post For my one year blog anniversary I wanted to do a post that encompasses a lot of the topics I’ve covered in the last year. Thank you to everyone who has read and shared so far, I hope to keep growing in following and as a writer. There are truly endless things to […]
The Problem With Micro Tattoos
As I’ve mentioned in a few past articles we define the success of a tattoo on how it looks in 5 years, not when it’s first done. Making sure it is still clear and defined 5 years down the road is really the end goal. One way or another the ink will last a lifetime, […]
What is Archeology of Tattoos
In a lot of my past articles, and coming up in future articles, I talk about the tattoo history of ancient peoples and their tattooing that has been uncovered. This week I’m going to tell you a bit about how archeologists find this out and how they are able to draw conclusions from what they […]
Surrealism
Surrealism is tough to define but often is described as having a sort of dream-like quality. In tattoos surrealism is getting more popular, these tattoos are weird and trippy, it’s easy to see why they’re gaining traction. There is a huge range of subject matter in surrealism, a really common one is a play on […]