Flash From The Past Tattoo Book

Flash from the Past

Life & Death in Tattoo Flash

Created over the last three winters at the tattoo shop California Tattoo in Savannah, Georgia, this tattoo art story represents a period during the off-season that artist Christopher Norrell uses to hone skills and learn new ways of seeing. In this introspective mood, Norrell has engaged in an ongoing challenge with his craft in which he hates his own work enough to do it over and over until it is right. Thematically this is manifested in a struggle between life and death, good and evil, using images of the Angel of Death, predatory animals, skulls, phoenixes, birds, and flowers. Progress in Norrell's struggle is evident throughout the more than 230 pieces of tattoo flash art and looking closely there are distinct changes in style, color theory, and composition, showing things he learned and things he abandoned. All of this exploration is in the name of Norrell's ultimate goal to create tattoos that are sturdy, long lasting, easy to understand, and visually appealing. This is an ideal collection of flash for tattooers, the tattooed, and artists.

Christian Warlich

The original work of Christian Warlich, Europe's preeminent tattoo artist in the first half of the 20th century, is brought back to life in a stunning new volume. Christian Warlich was a world famous German tattooist and his flash book is one of the most coveted objects in the tattoo world. It is now available in this exquisite edition that includes over three hundred hand-drawn designs restored to their original vibrant state. It also includes photographs and other archival material, much of which has never been published before. This book brings Warlich's career into new focus, reflecting the latest research on how his early years at sea may have influenced his work. Intricate renderings of cowboys and indigenous Americans, Chinese dragons and Japanese geishas, daggers, snakes, and skulls reveal not only Warlich's influence in the iconography of tattoos, but also suggest the interplay of ideas with tattooists across Europe, North America, and Asia. The book also explores how the art of tattooing was reframed during the Nazi era and how Warlich's estate helped shape the state of tattoo art today. This elegant book is invaluable in understanding the importance of Warlich to the history of tattooing.