In this issue

ONE TRICK PONY
Recently, we’ve been lusting over the wares from One Trick Pony which is a new t-shirt line from the ever inimitable Jesse Smith. Being long time fans of his work, we figured it might not be a bad idea to catch-up on everything in his world… so we picked up the phone and did just that.

EAST MEETS WEST
It is in our nature as humans to idolise, to look upon someone or something and consider it greater than others. We worship said object or person with a great connectivity, attaching to its many points of significance...

Ask Here Part Two

With the release of Tattooing Ask Here—a collection of original and traditional flash, interview, stories and photographs detailing the tattoo history of Felix Leu—we took the spectacularly well-timed opportunity to speak to Loretta Leu about the book and her life with Felix. The following concludes our time well spent…

9 mins

SAVED BY INK

Carlos ‘Loz’ Oliveros has never had any shortage of passion or drive. Inspired by his father, a pro fighter and DIY tattooer, Oliveros started boxing when he was just six years old, then picked up tattooing at 16. All the while surrounded by the realities of Miami’s Mexican gang culture. Saved by tattooing, Oliveros chose to follow a different path than most of his peers. A path he’s now sharing on a VH1 docu-series called Cartel Crew

5 mins

Why Is That First Tattoo Encounter So Terrifying?

There is something about getting that very first tattoo that will always make you feel a little bit sick when you walk through the door

3 mins

Palm Reader

For centuries we have looked to our palms as a valuable source of information, a complex blueprint of one’s identity, both physical and spiritual. The latter has seen the palm as a bodily map for instigating premonitions, with its many criss-crossing lines foretelling either a joyful life or a foredooming resolution

10+ mins

Rule Breaker

Esther Garcia plays by her own rules — she always has and always will. Even with two decades of experience, the Chicago-based artist still finds ways to push herself and innovate. Whether it’s juxtaposing two unexpected styles (she fuses blackout work with botanical imagery inspired by Dutch Masters beautifully) or offering a unique tattoo curation service in which she doesn’t actually tattoo, Garcia isn’t afraid to take risks. What else is up her sleeve? We tracked her down to find out.

7 mins

Faces Of The Future

With the onslaught of social media these ground-breaking moments have become more frequent, occurring on an almost weekly basis—depending on the quality of your feed—yet, moments that break new ground have also become as ephemeral as a refresh button; just yesterday I was spellbound by Jaya Suartika’s innovative placement of an Indonesian batik keris design on (and it would seem also, in) Paul Stillen’s backside.

4 mins

I'm A Celebrity. Get Me Some Ink.

AS AN ART AND COMMUNITY, WE HAVE COME A VERY LONG WAY IN THE ACCEPTANCE STAKES AND THIS PARTICULAR INSTANCE IS CRUCIAL

4 mins

Warrior Of Light

Master of the craft and self-proclaimed “citizen of the free world”, Guy Le Tatooer has spent a lifetime leading the charge of tattooing with a singular mission behind his ‘intemporal’, world-swallowing work: to carry the wearer through this life and into the next. Here, the globetrotting trail-blazer speaks of his wild formative years as a secondgeneration tattooist, the many layers behind his own boundary-pushing body-suit and what it truly means to live outside of jurisdiction

8 mins

The Real World

There are always some artists out there in the world who don’t need to say a lot because their work speaks volumes for them. You might think this is the vast majority, but it’s not. To be one of those people, you need the weight of history behind you–a legacy that spans at least a decade, leaving in its trail the answers to any questions anybody could ever want to ask. A legacy that doesn’t only include your work but also all of the other things you gave back to the niche you work in: education, assistance, volunteering your expertise. If history really is the one thing that can judge any of us, Andrea Afferni has very little to worry about…

8 mins

The Last Interview With Norm 'Love Letters'

October 11, 2019—Norm dies. “Norm Will Rise” aka “@normloveletters” was an acclaimed tattooist and owner of Love Letters Tattoo studio in Los Angeles. It was surreal, and it’s hard to believe that he is no longer with us. The outpouring of comments came in countless numbers for Norm across the internet from family members, friends, colleagues and people who he deeply inspired…

10 mins

Soul Shaker

TO A LOT OF PEOPLE, IT DOESN’T EVEN COME UNDER THE BANNER OF BLACK MAGIC - IT’S A TOTALLY NORMAL THING TO DO

4 mins

SHOW ME HOW TO LIVE

Cat Alip-Douglas traded her life on the fashion floors of Condé Nast in New York for the wooden floors of a London yoga school. As career changes go, it’s a pretty dramatic one, kicking off the ol’ Manolo Blahniks, as she puts it, for the mostly barefoot life of a yoga teacher. But Cat doesn’t regret it for a second

5 mins

The SERPENTS of BIENVILLE SEAN HERMAN'S TRANSFORMATIVE TATTOO

Years ago I found myself in a small shop in Montclair, New Jersey. Sheets

8 mins

THE CREEKMAN

Kevin Creekman is a prime example of the massive impact tattoos can have on someone’s life. Following a struggle with weight and self acceptance that saw him drop to nearly half his size in just one year, Creekman embarked on an epic tattoo journey that involved getting a full bodysuit. During the process, which was completed two years ago, the ink not only changed him on the outside, but it also helped him find strength and self-love, impacting him at his very core

6 mins

Here Be Dragons

Writing a book is not something you do sitting comfortably on your chair. Well, you can, but if you don’t have enough imagination to create entire worlds and civilisations for your stories, you may find yourself doing what most writers do: observing the world around you and taking inspiration from it. Isn’t reality stranger than fiction anyway? When living in Japan, Nick Hurst definitely got hit by his experience in the far East. But when it comes to exploring the underworld of the yakuza and irezumi, you never know where reality can take you.

5 mins

Weird Science

Beccy Rimmer talks to four talented UK artists, in an attempt to unearth the hidden meaning behind geometric tattoos

10+ mins

Tatoo Freeze 29 January 2017

Our one day family show in the middle of winter continues to throw up some surprises and this year was no exception. Let’s take a look…

4 mins

I Put A Spell On You

Have you ever considered your tattoo session as a form of spiritual guidance?

5 mins

Fierce Vixens And Altered Beasts

Longhaired, furious vixens stare defiantly, ready to meet battle in Isnard Barbosa’s stunning tattoos. With warrior like calmness each woman readies for attack, their perfect resemblance to the human form gives the impression they will rip right from the skin to meet head-on with antagonists drawn from the pages of fantasy

9 mins

Bad Hands

The Circle—that infamous London hangout in Noel Street—has always had quite the reputation when it comes to ‘blink and you could miss it’ guest spots…and this time around, the boss happened to be passing by and who should he stumble upon but Pitta…

4 mins

The Serpents Of Bienville The Transformative Tattoo

As a child I spent many late nights in front of the glow emitted from my television. The midnight movies, full of Universal monsters and favorite was the original Twilight Zone episodes, reruns from the original 1960s broadcast. These stories have stuck with me over the years, but one in particular stands out because of the true fear it caused me

7 mins

Grace Under Pressure

From the illegal underground tattooists of South Korea to Brazilian women challenging social stereotypes, Grace Neutral’s productions with VICE are offering an edifying shift away from the usual fetishising of tattoos by using them as a conduit to highlight the often contentious social and political realms of each wearer.

4 mins

After Hours

What do tattoo artists do when they’re not tattooing? In After Hours, Wayne Simmons talks to some of his favourite artists about the  things they get up to when the studio lights go down. This month, he meets Amy Savage, tattooist and animal rights activist.

5 mins

Snap & Tickle

Claire Seville has worked as an ice dancer, club dancer, DJ and model. But when her daughter was born she picked up a camera to keep a record of the new life and found, well, a new life of her own. Now an acclaimed professional pinup photographer, she's shot some of the biggest alt models in the world—folks like Masuimi Max, Ulorin Vex and Cervena Fox—and her very first solo book is coming out this year. We got her to come out from behind the lens for a chat.

5 mins

Read all stories from Skin Deep

Skin Deep Magazine Description:

Skin Deep has long been the UK’s best selling tattoo magazine - and just because we're having fun for 13 issues a year (that's once every 4 weeks) doesn't mean we're not taking it very seriously indeed.
Each issue we publish profiles, interviews and features with the leading tattooists and tattoo artists working in the world today together with exciting new talent. Alongside of this, we focus on the tattoo lifestyle and all it contains, coverage from the international convention scene, art features from those who embrace the tattoo ethic or find inspiration within it, reader profiles, news, reviews, competitions, letters and every issue also comes with a free supplement.