A Deep Dive on Early European, British and American Tattooers
From Sutherland MacDonald to Bert Grimm, a history of the early tattooers who helped shape American traditional and Western tattooing.
Reading Room
Tattoo knowledge, history, culture, craft & personal expression. Explore the stories, symbols, traditions & practical knowledge behind tattooing, with deep-dive articles from the community and the Inked Vice team.
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Multi-selectFinding My Way Back to Tattooing
JP Luca on returning to tattooing, learning from Joe Crooked, and falling in love with traditional flash.
WWII Tattoos: From Holocaust Markings to Sailors and Soldiers
How WWII shaped tattoo culture, from the personal symbols of sailors and soldiers to the forced numbering of prisoners at Auschwitz.
Butterfly Tattoo Meaning
What butterfly tattoos can mean: transformation, remembrance, love, cultural symbolism, colour, placement, and how to choose a design that feels like yours.
Tattoo Conventions: How They Started & How to Navigate One Today
A short history of tattoo conventions, plus how to find an artist, book ahead or walk up, and arrive prepared for your session.
Do Canadians Have More Tattoos Than Americans?
A data-driven comparison of tattoo prevalence in Canada and the United States, including gender, age, motivations, and cultural acceptance.
Tattoo Ink Lymph Node Effects: What Happens Inside Your Body?
What current research says about tattoo pigment traveling through the lymphatic system, lymph-node swelling, inflammation, and cancer headlines.
Irezumi vs Horimono
Two names for the same Japanese tattoos, often traded as synonyms yet far from identical: where each word comes from, why one still carries the shadow of punishment, and which to reach for in front of a master.
How to Estimate Tattoo Sizing
How to land on the right size before you book: measuring against your body, what placement and detail do to a design, and why artists ask in centimeters.
Tattoo Aftercare, From Fresh to Fully Healed
A day-by-day healing guide: what's normal, what isn't, and how to look after a new tattoo from the moment the wrap comes off to fully settled skin.
Looking After Your Tattoo in the Summer
Sun, sweat, and swimming are the three fastest ways to wreck a tattoo. How to get a fresh or healed piece through the hot months intact.
The Hidden Language of Wabori
A field guide to the dragons, warriors & blossoms of Japanese tattooing: what the classic motifs stand for, and the quiet logic that binds them into a single design.
The Slow Art of Tebori
Tracing the hand-carving method behind Japan's traditional tattoo canon: what the word means, where it came from, and why a handful of masters still keep it alive.
Yobori: Japan's Western Tattoo Style
A guide to Japan's Western tattoo scene. Where the word comes from, what it looks like, and how it fits alongside wabori in modern studios.