Tattoo history: tattoo sketches, tattoo history

Tattoos have accompanied man since ancient times, and if before they had a sacred meaning or were signs of distinction, now it is a peculiar way of self-expression. An artistic tattoo will emphasize individuality and become a decoration for its owner. But for it to be of excellent quality, it is important to refer to professionals. In Novosibirsk in the tattoo salon "Revolution" work masters of their craft, turning to whom you will be satisfied. Artistic tattoos of any complexity and style - for masters of the studio nothing is impossible.

Before XVIII century: Europe and overseas impressions

Speaking about the history of American tattooing, we should start with Europe - that's where those who made American tattoo culture as we see it now came from. Anthropological researchers, studying the phenomenon, have concluded that tattoos were common among early Christians wherever followers of that religion were in the minority and persecuted, such as Copts and Syrian Christians. The drawings in the form of crosses, hidden from view, replaced the sacramentals worn by them. Later in Europe, tattooing was forbidden by church authorities because this practice contradicted biblical injunctions, but was still allowed among crusaders who went to die for their faith in distant lands. Religious prohibition put the brakes on tattoo culture in Europe, and it only resurfaced after active seafaring began.
The word "tattoo" itself came into use in the 18th century thanks to the around-the-world expeditions of James Cook, an English navigator, explorer and discoverer. Seafarers who encountered cultures and traditions that were radically new to them as they traveled across the Pacific and to the islands of Oceania sought to bring home evidence of what they had seen, including in the form of drawings on the skin using indigenous methods.

Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS/Getty Images

Mahsette Kuyab, head of the Cree tribe. The author of the drawing is Carl Bodmer.

Before the arrival of Europeans in the New World there, of course, existed their own art of tattooing, but the traditions of the Native Americans did not affect the nascent tattoo culture of European colonizers: learning about the ways of tattooing, sailors developed their own visual tattoo language.

Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova announced the return of the group "Tatu"

On Oct. 2, 2021, while interacting with fans on her Instagram page Lena Katina announced the return of the band "Tatu" (t.A.T.u). With the hashtag #tatucomeback, she said the following.

- "The official "Tatu" tribute is the spring of 2022, where Yulia and I will take part," Lena Katina excited the fans.

Earlier, the former soloists of the band "Tatu" refused to take part in the tribute "200 on the counter", which includes Yelena Kiper, Sergey Galoyan и Valery Polienko - authors of many of the Tatushki hits. Their project is scheduled for November 20, 2021. He was especially criticized by Katina. The response was not long in coming.

Sergey Galoyan: there will be no 2022 tribute

- Guys, there will be no "tribute" 2022, I did not give permission and I am not going to. Lena Katina, be able to negotiate with all parties," Sergey Galoyan wrote in his Storis.

The composer also posted the text of the notice, according to which he bans Elena Katina from performing "I'm crazy", "They won't catch up with us", "Half an hour" and some other "Tattoo" songs, to the writing of which he is related, since October 2, 2022.

According to the text of the document, the ban on the public performance of these songs is associated with the "public statements" of Lena Katina, "defaming his reputation", "not matching the image of the artist to the format of the created music" and "creating obstacles" in the show "200 on the counter".

Sergey Galoyan's Stories

Elena Kiper: Why fight like this?

Elena Kiper also spoke out on the topic.

- Lena Katina posted an appeal to the world about a tribute in 2022. Everyone is waiting for another great concert, it's super! With one correction to her pitch. Our show "200 on the counter" is also official," writes Kiper. - Sergey Galoyan is pissed, and I understand him. Lena Katina and the organizers of the caucus will have to get permission from us to use our songs. Without us neither "They won't catch up with us" nor any other tracks can be performed. Why quarrel so much? Comeback is always cool!

Sergey Galoyan, Elena Kiper, Lena Katina, Leonid Dzyunik (ex-manager of Tatu) and Yulia Volkova, 2013. Photo: instagram.com/sergiogaloyan

- We will, of course, continue to follow this fucking story. But in general, this is the best example of how not to do business and how to be able to negotiate behind the scenes and not to put dirt in private (this applies to all participants in the events). Don't do this," commented Oleg Karmunin, the author of the Telegram channel Russian Shuffle and a music critic. Oleg Karmunin.

A series about "Tatu."

- Also from cool news - a series about "Tatu" with our participation on one of the biggest streaming platforms. About that soon! - Lena Katina promised.

Yulia Volkova confirmed the news about the return of the scandalous duo on October 3, 2021. According to her, there will be a tribute in 2022 and a TV series.

The group "Tatu" appeared with the song "I went crazy" in 2000. During the existence of the group "red-haired" and "black-haired" released three albums and conquered the music world. In 2011, the performers of the hit "They won't get us" stopped collaborating, focusing on solo projects. From 2012 to 2014 Elena Katina and Yulia Volkova performed together several times as "Tatu". The soloists parted with scandal.

"Thanks for Pugacheva and Rotaru": What fans and critics think about the "Tatu" tribute

On Nov. 5, 2021, a tribute to the band t.A.T.u. was released. ("Tatu") - "200 on the counter." It's an album completely made up of covers, so don't look for songs performed by Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova here. But there is a duet of Alla Pugacheva and Sofia Rotaru!

Listen covers

18th Century: Sailor Tattoos - Religion, Superstition, and Bragging

Sailor tattoos were absolutely distinctive. These drawings - a kind of splodge, that is, a type of folk art - were based on easily readable images, such as the name or face of a mother (or beloved woman). Christian symbols such as crosses, rosaries, and the silhouette of the Virgin Mary were a frequent motif: just like crusaders, sailors were forgiven by the church for taking liberties with their bodies and the sacred symbols themselves.

A separate genre was the amulet tattoos (the sea element was unpredictable, and in those days a person could easily perish in a campaign). Sailors often tattooed pictures of pigs and roosters on their feet, usually on the top of the feet, as it was believed the bearer of such tattoos would not drown. Why were such land animals as the rooster and the pig responsible for the rescue at sea? The logic is simple: on ships, cattle were transported in wooden cages, and in the event of shipwreck, the animals in them had a great chance to make it to shore and save themselves.

Images of rooster and pig as amulets against death in the sea waves

Of course, not all of the sailors' drawings on the body had deep meaning - some were just for fun and to brighten up the hardships of a long voyage: here it was rather frivolous pictures or sexualized images of women. Seafarers bragged about these tattoos to their comrades over a mug of hot drink in the port tavern, and admired them during long watches.

It was the unpretentious iconography of the sailor's tattoo that gave rise to the style we now know as old-school. These are drawings of relatively simple shapes, outlined in thick black outlines and done in simple colors. The style was based on the semantic component - that is, simple and clear symbols (religious, patriotic, referring simply to the joys of life and pleasures). The possibilities of the time dictated the technique - machines that could make finer lines and use more complex colors didn't exist back then.

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Nineteenth-century tattoo parlors went from port to nation.

The first tattoo parlors opened in the ports where their main clientele was located. But of course it wasn't limited to sailors returning from sea. These were people from the "lower classes", often marginalized and therefore less constrained by social canons. If sailors planted the tattoo fashion along the maritime borders of the New World, then such phenomenon as traveling circuses and traveling fairs played a role in promoting culture inland - in America they were called "sideshows.

What are they? Since the late seventeenth century, travelers brought tattooed "savages" to Europe and then to America - from the Philippines and other remote archipelagos - and showed them to the public along with other "human curiosities". Such shows were a great success. Soon circus performers realized that it was not necessary to have an overseas guest in their program if they could create their own tattooed people. Artists covered their bodies with drawings and came up with elaborate stories about being kidnapped while traveling and forcibly tattooed - and earned handsomely, performing at fairs and in the so-called dime museums, where it was possible to look at the "curiosities".

Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Poster of The Tattooed Man (author unknown), 19th century

Later, when the public was fed up with stories about abductions and wild islands, circus performers found a new approach: tattooed men became a model of incredible courage as they endured thousands of needle pricks. Colorful posters announced, "Look, an amazing tattooed man who endured 100,000 needle shots!" - and that number of needles interested viewers even more than the drawings themselves.

There, in the fairground tent, anyone could get their own tattoo: the first self-taught artists were the same tattooed people who performed for onlookers during the day and sat down to craft in the evening. For many people who later became famous tattoo artists, the first impetus for such a life's work was the impressions of what they saw at a traveling traveling fair across the country.

Library of Congress

American circus performer Maude Wagner, 1907

Salon Reviews

Modern high-quality materials and equipment, professional salon masters - a guarantee of an excellent result, whether it is art tattoo or permanent makeup. On the official website or city forums you can find positive reviews about the tattoo salon "Revolution" in Novosibirsk, confirming the high quality of the services provided.

If you have decided to decorate yourself with an artistic tattoo or do high-quality permanent makeup, the salon "Revolution" is the most appropriate place for this.

Late 19th - early 20th century: from subculture to culture

In the late XIX century in America began to open the first stationary tattoo parlors that are not associated with ports or military bases - that is designed not only for the original target audience. Masters there, as a rule, were already people with art education, and the phenomenon of tattooing itself ceased to be the fate of marginal segments of the population.

Americans were the inventors of the first electric tattoo machine. In 1891, Samuel O'Reilly filed a patent application for his invention. It was a modified "Edison pen," a device for copying handwritten documents that made many small punctures in the paper and allowed the ink to be injected through them. O'Reilly adapted the device for use on skin, and it changed the tattooing industry dramatically: if before the process of tattooing had been long and laborious, forcing to be limited to small, simple drawings, the new invention allowed to speed up the process and thus work with larger images and finer and more complex lines.

Samuel O'Reilly's patent application

A separate contribution to the history of American tattooing was made by Japan. When Japan opened its borders in the second half of the 19th century, travelers arriving there, including Americans, could not ignore the intricate, elaborate drawings that covered the backs and hands of semi-nude workers in the streets of cities. Americans, already fond of tattoos thanks to sideshows, began to actively ink themselves with Japanese drawings. Perhaps it is thanks to the active interest of newcomers that the Japanese were able to re-evaluate their own art of tattooing, which had for some time been banned in their country and overgrown with near-criminal connotations.

The connection to Japanese tattoo culture has polished off the old-school. Twentieth-century American tattoo artists learned a great deal from their Japanese counterparts. Tattoo artist Norman Collins, who worked under the pseudonym Sailor Jerry and later became the teacher of the famous tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy, in the sixties had a long correspondence with the master from Japan - they exchanged sketches and told each other about the work. Ed Hardy and other old-school stars subsequently honed the style, taking the "rough" folk imagery and characteristic coloring and introducing Japanese precision and ornate elements.

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