High Voltage Tattoo is a graphic perspective on today's global tattoo
culture by Kat Von D, star of The Learning Channel's L.A. Ink and one
of the most talented and popular artists working today. Designed in a
style that is reminiscent of a handmade Gothic journal with its red
padded cover, ornate typography, and parchmentlike pages, it throws the
door wide open to tattooing culture in the way only an insider like Kat
can.
High Voltage Tattoo traces Kat's career as an artist, from early
childhood influences to recent work, along with examples of what
inspires her, information about the show and her shop, her sketches, and
personal tattoos. The book goes deep into tattoo process and culture:
readers can see up close the pigments, the tools, and the making of
complex, even collaborative, tattoos.
With a foreword by Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx, the book features images
and stories about celebrities, rockers, pro skaters, and everyday
citizens, including Slayer's Kerry King, Anthrax's Scott Ian, Margaret
Cho, Jackass' Bam Margera, David Letterman, and many others. It
profiles and showcases the work of artists Kat has selected from all
over the world, her interviews with people who have compelling tattoos
and stories, and amazing images of extraordinary tattoo work. Numerous
portfolios throughout the book showcase a range of relevant subjects,
from the black and gray portrait work for which Kat is famous to a
popular tattoo theme, such as the rose or biblical images. There is a
knockout ten-page full-body spread of Kat--clad in a yellow bikini and
seven-inch, rhinestone-studded red stilettos--that catalogs in detail
all her personal tattoos on her front, back, left, and right sides--even
her hands and head.
