Mike Giant is to body art what Kurt Vonnegut is to counter-cultural literature: an American icon who plays by his own rules. Over the years Giant has inked every surface imaginable; from back alley walls to exclusive track bikes, sunglasses to skin and everything in between. His black line style, along with his reputation on the street, is instantly recognized yet he remains humble and connected to his roots. For Mike Giant, life is filled with simple

My first encounter with Marisa Kakoulas was when she interviewed me for Salon . She was pursuing a writing career, adding journalist to her legal resume, and called herself my “docupest.” Since then she has made yet another transformation, from lawyer and writer to tattoo aficionado and, combining all three vocations, runs the weblog NeedlesandSins.com . In between her transcontinental travels attending tattoo conventions and promoting her latest publishing accomplishment – the weighty three-book tattoo

Jason Levesque, who goes by the moniker ‘StuntKid‘, is a widely-published illustrator whose work has been featured in a variety of media, including German fetish publications, ‘LA Weekly’ and ‘Playstation Magazine’. Although his work is open to many interpretations, Jason draws inspiration from what might be considered unexpected sources, such as Geology and Biology. You could almost miss it while browsing through the material on his official blog , but Jason is also an accomplished photographer,

With a tattoo culture so deep rooted here in New York, we couldn’t help but wonder why New York wasn’t getting any love on the tattoo reality show front. Well, TLC was clearly listening. TLC has announced its plan to launch NY Ink, which is set to hit airwaves this June, and it will feature renowned tattoo artist Ami James. Just as executives of TLC network are no strangers to producing hit tattoo

The exceptionally versatile Brooklynite Jess Versus has established herself securely on the web, raking up numerous photo sessions published online. More importantly, she’s a seasoned tattoo artist , model and burlesque performer. Well known around her way, Jess has a killer personal style that is expressed in her tattoos , graphic design and illustrations. One need only visit one of her numerous online pages (including flickr & tumblr ) to get an idea of what she’s about – but