(NOTE: I ‘borrowed, parodied, and remixed’ the above panel from Kobayashi Yoshinori. It is ironic!)

UPDATE: The North American distributor of the knockoffs has responded to my publishers C&D, promising to… C&D. Which is nice of them.

So it turns out the karmic cycle has come around like some bewitched boomerang, fueled by the restless souls of 1000s of unapologetic torrents. Besides being available on several trackers for months, my flash collection Hanamichi is now also available as an amazingly washed out pixelated paperback version courtesy of the PRC.

So this is my blog – my womb-cum-soapbox and since I can’t fit a rant into a 140 character tweet, I feel inclined to share my thoughts on this development here for your giggles and despair.

See, if my stuff is torrented I guess I don’t give a shit because the downloader was not likely to buy it anyway.

But when the mainland Chinese are churning out knockoffs of abysmal quality and distributing them via their opportunistic contacts in the west, it bums me out a little. My publisher spent an exorbitant amount of time ensuring detail and accuracy, ensuring that the finished books were more than the sum of their pages. Anyone who appreciates aesthetics knows the pain of witnessing the bastardization of your babies.

Sadly, this is happening to the books of several tattoo artists (most of whom have been in the game much longer than yours truly) and many of whom have been discouraged from producing further print collections.

Why I feel the PRC is especially worthy of ire is twofold:

1. Their Incessant excuse mongering: “Copying is part of our glonous cultural!” Pff! Only since Deng Xiaoping decided that he liked coke and strippers just like the rest of us. Ancient China was a treasure trove of art and culture. Your roots are amazing! Start crackin’ those books you haven’t burned yet!
2. Their self-victimization and blame gaming: “The US, Japan, and (insert your country) don’t share art/technology/culture with us! You hate the idea of us succeeding.” You have taikonauts now, so… no.

Well… that’s what I get for tryin’ to be a kooky kapitulist! What a pity that the only manji characters you’re likely to see on a tattoo artist’s web site is: 严禁复制 (DO NOT COPY) (…not counting their tattoos of course)

But hey, on the bright side the whole thing gives me a good excuse to play around with Google image search and Photoshop for a few minutes. (My publisher was good enough to send me a knockoff for my records. Even the ISBN is accurate!)

ところで、８／２０のギャラリーは最高だった！ダウンタウンビルはわけわからん状態になって、めっちゃ楽しかった！次回、撮影万歳！！

Photos are back from the Hanamichi reception party! (at least the work-safe ones) Sorry if you missed it, we all had a blast! PS – anyone in search of signed additions, there are still a few left – let me know!

PS Again, the 8/20 Graf event was insane. The Downtown Building was taken over on all six floors (5 plus the roof!) with Artists, Booze, and BBQ. Pictures next time!

INTRODUCTION

この度、私の初の画集『花道』が発売される事になりました！

The hanamichi (literally translated, “the flower road”) is a term used in Japanese Kabuki theatre for the long wooden catwalk-like bridge used by the wild colorful actors to ascend to the main stage. Though distinct from center stage, the flower road runs directly through the audience and thus the actor is uniquely positioned for a dramatic entrance. It would be three long years before I finally ascended to the stage of the Japanese tattooing world. In that final year when my apprenticeship finally began in earnest, I produced the tattoo flash presented in this book. It is a mix of varying designs of eastern and western influence spanning several genres. Though portions are rough and raw, they are the humble result of my efforts in a time of learning, education, and growth.

This flash collection was my brief performance along the road of flowers.

ABOUT THE WORK

Most folks know that I’m an ex-pat from America and that I came to Japan 5 years ago to enter into a traditional Japanese tattoo apprenticeship at Chopstick Tattoo in Osaka. What a lot of people don’t know is that before my professional debut in 2007 I produced literally hundreds of hand colored tattoo flash designs as a sort of spartan training exercise.

This artwork has been collected into a beautiful hardcover volume titled, Hanamichi, and is my first foray into the world of publishing. This collection of tattoo flash chronicles the first leg of my journey through a traditional Japanese tattoo apprenticeship. In under 12 months I produced over 250 sheets of flash, covering a number of mediums, genres and styles. Several of these sheets have been reproduced here to inspire and stimulate creativity.

Text is both English and Japanese.

Hanamichi is available through Pulse Flash or amazon.com (but not through amazon.co.jp) and is published by Presto Art.

GET IT HERE!

I currently work at Chopstick Tattoo in Osaka. You can find samples of my artwork and tattoos on the gallery page.

彫師、画家 – 大日本帝国、大阪、堀江
昭和５３年米国生まれた。ミネソタ大学日本語学科卒。２００２来日した。２００４来坂、彫渉氏に弟子入り。２００７年デビュー。

現在、チョップスティックタトゥーの堀江店で働いてます。カウンセリングは予約なしでもかまいません。オリジナルデザインは一押しです。タトゥーや絵のサンプルはこちらです。

Tattoo Conventions and Events タトゥーコンベンション・イベント:
２０１２年１１月 New Zealand Tattoo & Arts Festival, New Zealand
２０１２年５月 Hell City 2012 (Killumbus, Ohio), OH U.S.A.
２０１２年１月 Feel Closer Tattoo@Rocker’s Diner & GB’s Cafe , Osaka JAPAN
２０１１年１０月 King of Tattoo@The Room Daikanyama, Tokyo JAPAN
２０１１年１０月 STRAIGHT LIFE@Black Chamber, Osaka JAPAN
２０１１年９月 Yellow Lightening@Big Cat, Osaka JAPAN
２０１１年６月 STRAIGHT LIFE@Black Chamber, Osaka JAPAN
２０１１年５月 Sound Market@Diamond Hall, Nagoya JAPAN
２０１０年１０月 King of Tattoo@The Room Daikanyama, Tokyo JAPAN
２０１０年９月 Bakuto Osaka@Black Chamber, Osaka JAPAN
２０１０年７月 2010 Taiwan Tattoo Convention, Taipei TAIWAN
２０１０年６月 STRAIGHT LIFE@Black Chamber, Osaka JAPAN
２０１０年５月 Hell City 9 (Killumbus, Ohio), OH U.S.A.
２００８年１１月 King of Tattoo, Tokyo JAPAN
２００７年１１月 King of Tattoo, Tokyo JAPAN

Solo Exhibitions ソロ展示:
２００９年３月 The Boards of Osaka@Elixir, Osaka JAPAN
２００８年６月 花道リリースパーティ@The Green Room, Osaka JAPAN
２００８年４月 Solo@Banco Art Cafe, Osaka JAPAN
２００７年１０月 My Japanese Education@Slices, Osaka JAPAN

Group Exhibitions コラボ展示:
２０１２年５月 Synchronicity Exhibition 2012@Absinthe, Osaka JAPAN
２０１１年１２月 RESURRECTION Exhibition@PineBrooklyn, Osaka JAPAN
２０１１年６月 Visions in Print@Allegra LaViola Gallery, NY USA
２０１１年６月 We are 138: A Tribute to the Misfits@Hope Gallery, CT USA
２０１１年６月 Headspace2011@Absinthe, Osaka JAPAN
２０１１年６月 Synchronicity Exhibition 2011@Absinthe, Osaka JAPAN
２０１１年１月 Transnational 2011@The Osaka Contemporary Art Center, Osaka JAPAN
２０１０年１０月 Peep Show Pin-Ups@Hope Gallery, CT USA
２０１０年１０月 Tsuchigumo Collaboration Exhibition, Tokyo
２０１０年８月 Art Blitz Vol. 1@CASO, Osaka JAPAN
２０１０年７月 Dark Visions in Print@Sacred Gallery, NY USA
２０１０年６月 Knuckle Energy Exhibition 2010@Absinthe, Osaka JAPAN
２０１０年４月 TATTOOERS Vol. 1
２００９年８月 Graphite@Elixir Osaka JAPAN
２００８年２月 Dirty Show – 10th Anniversary International Erotic Art Exhibition, MI USA
２００８年９月 Elixer Grand Opening
２００８年７月Scratch Art@Canvas LA, CA USA
２００８年３月 Developing Ink@Absinthe
２００７年６月 Robot Invasion@Pale Horse Designs

Publications 出版物:
Tattoo Design Book – 富士美出版 (2011/11/16)
Japanese Mythical Creatures – ゴミネコ
Pint Size Paintings
Scratch Art – Hyperspace Studios
Mokuyoubi Sketchbook
Hanamichi Flash Collection – Presto Publishing

CONTACT:

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