Geek Ink
The World’s Smartest Tattoos for Rebels, Nerds, Scientists and Intellectuals! People don’t think of tattoo artists as ‘true’ artists, but it takes significant technique to do this level of detail on a living target.
It’s very difficult to review a book that is filled with images – you just need to see them for yourself. For example, there is an Escher tattoo and some visual puzzles that if the artist had gotten a tiny bit wrong, it would have been wreaked. There’s a kitten and a dinosaur, and you better believe every hair on that kitten is visible.
Some reviewers complain that not all of the tattoos are geeky, especially the plant and animal ones. Clearly, they have never met a scientist passionate about their work! I used to work with mosquitoes, and I can tell you that some of the people in my lab would KILL to get an ultra-realistic mozzie of this quality.
Speaking of killing, you’d probably have to kill someone if you wanted to get a tattoo by the 25 featured artists in the first half of the book. Some tattoos are weird and wonderful, some are just weird! This book reminds an aspiring tattoo owner to careful pick your artist before committing to an indelible ink.
I have a single tattoo of my own, and I’ve always wanted one or two more. I’m in the position where I’d like to have my old tattoo transformed into a dragon! This book had a couple of dragon designs, and I was particularly impressed by the watercolour designs. Most people see tattoos as black line art, but there is so much more out there to be drooled over!
One of the girls I went to high school with wanted to be a tattoo artist – she was a fantastic artist as it was. I’m not sure she ever got there, but Jaz, if you’re reading this, go get it sorted! Or maybe she can look through this first and read the fascinating stories of the artists that are featured – how they got into tattooing and their favourite works and techniques.
This could be a coffee table book, a Christmas present or just something to choose a tattoo from and pass it on. I promise that you won’t believe your eyes when you look at the talent in this book.
Allen & Unwin | 21st February 2018 | AU$32.99 | hardback
