This artist gained renown as a tattoo artist on a reality television program. Her work garnered significant attention through her appearances on popular shows, establishing her as a prominent figure in the tattoo industry.
Looks at a pivotal year in the author's personal and professional life through an illustrated diary that begins in spring 2008 and ends in summer 2009. This title features the many of her sketches, photographs, images of a variety of finished tattoos and her many unusual personal collections - all shot by herself.
With passion and unflinching honesty, renowned tattoo artist and New York Times bestselling author Kat Von D chronicles her journey to develop personal strength by taking bigger risks in life, love, and art in this stunning illustrated work. In her most intensely personal project, she writes candidly about her desires, fears, successes, and failures, sharing how she has navigated them. Through seven thematic essays, she explores individuality, strength, creativity, independence, presence, wisdom, and altruism, drawing on inspiring stories from her life and her clients. Emphasizing risk-taking and bold moves, Kat commits to creating only large-scale tattoos for this book, each symbolizing a significant event or a manifestation of the client’s evolving inner self. The book is filled with her sketches, handwriting, and specially commissioned photographs of tattoos—both in process and completed—showcasing astounding work on regular citizens and celebrities alike, including Linda Perry, Billie Joe Armstrong, Ewan McGregor, Game, and Bobcat Goldthwait. Ultimately, this special work captures the candor, compassion, and immense talent of an artist beloved by millions worldwide.
Renowned tattoo artist, author of New York Times bestsellers High Voltage Tattoos and The Tattoo Chronicles, and star of LA Ink, Kat Von D raises the bar with her most intimate work yet: Go Big or Go Home: Taking Risks in Life, Love, and Tattooing. Kat has always been a risk-taker in her day-to-day life, her creative work, and in love. In Go Big or Go Home, she writes candidly about her greatest desires, fears, successes and failures, and shares how she has dealt with them. In seven thematic essays, Kat addresses issues close to her heart—such as individuality, independence, and altruism—and draws upon her own experiences and those of her many clients. Filled with Kat's sketches, handwriting, drawings of tattoos, and process photos, as well as specially commissioned photographs of the finished large-scale tattoos by celebrity and fashion photographer Patrick Hoelck, Go Big or Go Home covers a wide range of her astounding work on regular citizens, as well as the many celebrities who seek her out her artistry.
High Voltage Tattoo is a graphic perspective on today's global tattoo culture by Kat Von D, star of The Learning Channel's L.A. Ink and one of the most talented and popular artists working today. Designed in a style that is reminiscent of a handmade Gothic journal with its red padded cover, ornate typography, and parchmentlike pages, it throws the door wide open to tattooing culture in the way only an insider like Kat can. High Voltage Tattoo traces Kat's career as an artist, from early childhood influences to recent work, along with examples of what inspires her, information about the show and her shop, her sketches, and personal tattoos. The book goes deep into tattoo process and culture: readers can see up close the pigments, the tools, and the making of complex, even collaborative, tattoos. With a foreword by MÖtley CrÜe's Nikki Sixx, the book features images and stories about celebrities, rockers, pro skaters, and everyday citizens, including Slayer's Kerry King, Anthrax's Scott Ian, Margaret Cho, Jackass' Bam Margera, David Letterman, and many others. It profiles and showcases the work of artists Kat has selected from all over the world, her interviews with people who have compelling tattoos and stories, and amazing images of extraordinary tattoo work. Numerous portfolios throughout the book showcase a range of relevant subjects, from the black and gray portrait work for which Kat is famous to a popular tattoo theme, such as the rose or biblical images. There is a knockout ten-page full-body spread of Kat—clad in a yellow bikini and seven-inch, rhinestone-studded red stilettos—that catalogs in detail all her personal tattoos on her front, back, left, and right sides—even her hands and head.