There’s no arguing with the fact that tattoos are art. People might make bad decisions about the images they want emblazoned on their skin forever, but that doesn’t discount the art form as a whole. Shawn Barber knows a thing or three about what goes into a tattoo from concept to creation and the artist is an integral part of it. Rather than paint through skin (though he does that now, too), Barber paints Tattoo Portraits with oil on canvas and focuses on the things behind the scenes. It’s not all just about hot tatted-up chicks looking pretty (but there are some of those too), it’s about the people and objects that made tattooing what it is today.
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Check out more of Shawn Barber’s work here.