Ink Trails Tattoo Forum: If I Only Buy One Book On Traditional Japanese Tattoos.... - Ink Trails Tattoo Forum

...which one should it be, and why?

amybird, on Aug 13 2009, 01:30 PM, said:

Jesus Christ! Your posts make me want to overdose on pain killers. You're a good enough artist to know that there's no one way for anything. You develop your own style slowly over a long period of time with a number of different influences. There are many different Japanese Masters, all with distinctly different styles. If you want to emulate just one artist, then do some fucking research pick a master to your liking, and find all his books. Have you begun reading the back threads here? Have you done a search for Japanese in the art section yet? Or do you just post every random question that comes up in your head. You just ranted about how you hate the shortcut way of drawing roses. Don't you think buying just one book on Japanese art is one of the biggest shortcuts?! Stop posting retarded questions and rants. Your own sleeve tattoo rant was a fucking gem. Way to disrespect the man who offered you a free pass into the tattoo world. I'm gonna go rummage through my medicine cabinet for some combination of prescriptions to numb the pain of responding to this.

This post has been edited by BANE: 13 August 2009 - 02:01 PM

Oopsss... silent is Golden, Collect all and select the best which is suit to your style.

Lol! It's more of a budget thing really to begin with. Of course I'd like to get more than just one! I'll have more of a nose around

i recomend "bushido" legacies of the japanese tattoo (takahiro kitamura) LINK TO BOOK

one of many i have but prefer it too most out there

teo, on Aug 14 2009, 12:53 PM, said:

Thanks. That one and this caught my eye the most. I know there's always the internet to turn to, but I'm a sucker for books and would rather have one to flick through to learn a bit from.

amybird, on Aug 14 2009, 12:05 PM, said:

yup, cant beat a good book !......off topic....drawing from the right side of the brain is also an ace book...got it about a month ago and have read it 20 times ! ( betty edwards)

Yeh I remember that book (used to work in a bookshop); never actually flicked through it though. Is it stuff like drawing portraits upside down so you focus on the shapes and forget the pressure of duplicating a face etc?

amybird, on Aug 14 2009, 12:24 PM, said:

in a nutshell yes, and also perceiving shape of a space....edges, contours, etc....

creative artist by nita leland is also quite good , got it last week ..flicked through it...loads of activities to do ( some seem odd but help your eye)

BANE, on Aug 13 2009, 11:59 PM, said:

You know... although your post was fairly amusing, it does leave me wondering one thing. Am I supposed to go from knowing nothing about a subject to knowing everything about it in a single leap? Am I to magically find the money to buy every single relevant book just like that? For even the most knowledgeable person there has to at some point have been a transitional period from knowing little to knowing plenty. At least I'm not planning to just plough my way into a Japanese-style drawing in total ignorance, and stick a whole bunch of unrelated seasons/flora/fauna together into one big finger-wave soup, as I'm sure far too many people are guilty of doing.


Like, duh

teo, on Aug 14 2009, 12:53 PM, said:

Hey, I read a review saying that some of the photos seemed a little blurred... is this the case?

BANE, on Aug 13 2009, 02:59 PM, said:

dude, you really have some issues dont you... maybe a chat with your doctor would be better than spewing your hate here...?

amybird, on Sep 13 2009, 07:12 PM, said:

nope maybe that person got a dud copy, mines pretty clear and the close/ a far pics are crisp

Teo, on Sep 14 2009, 09:50 AM, said:

Cool. And you reckon it's a solid starting point yeh?

amybird, on Sep 14 2009, 08:27 AM, said:

well "solid starting point" is very defined question, depends on what you want from "A" book ........


i bought it for reference material, to better understand what elements go with the "seasons" in japanese tattoos, flow, etc......

also depends on what you consider solid ?!? init bruv

kuniyoshi

teo, on Aug 14 2009, 03:53 AM, said:

yep,i only have the one myself,but picked through many before buying

"Bushido" is definately a killer book. "The Japanese Tattoo" and "Tattoos of the Floating World" Are also great books. Dave Fox has a really cool one called "Haunted" ...not exactly what I'd call traditional Japanese but very cool. There's a few out by Horiyoshi III, like a sketchbook, the "100 demons" and the "108 Heroes" although they may be hard to find... I think the sketchbook may be out of print. Jack Mosher (Horimouja) has some really good books out too. There's a ton of them out there and I know that many of them are quite expensive, but you can never have too much reference and if you think about it... if you do one or two tattoos using one of these books then it's already paid for itself. I always try to buy a book each time I place a supply order, even if it's just a cheap one.

teo, on Aug 14 2009, 06:18 AM, said:

Yeah, I got that one as well! Great exercises!