Skin & Bone is a combination gallery and tattoo studio. The gallery will exhibit art and ethnographic handicrafts related to tattooing, while the studio will have Colin Dale tattooing alongside various guest artists throughout the year. Through his years of travelling and tattooing around the world Colin has had the pleasure to meet and work alongside a wide range of tattoo artists and experts working in ethnographic and other specialized styles. Amongst these friends, we have hand-tattooists from Borneo, Polynesia and Japan as well as some of the world's leading artists in Blackwork and Dotwork coming to visit. Check the homepage http://www.skinandbone.dk/ to see some of the work



Wednesday 25 February 2015

Guest Artist: Mike Amanita from St. Petersburg, Russia


Mike Amanita is one of the top dotwork artists in the world. Based in St Petersburg, Russia he combines geometric designs and mandalas along with more representational Asian art.
Mike will once again be joining us at Skin&Bone for a short visit from the 3-7th of March.
It has been two years since this man has been in Scandinavia, so if you want a chance at some work contact him immediately.
Amanita-tattoo.com
mike@amanita-tattoo.com
Here is an interview from a Russian tattoo magazine we were both featured in just before his last visit... and he's only gotten better since then :-)

Enjoy!











Sunday 8 February 2015

Queequeg: Handpoking since 1851

Just the last few days at work before heading on holidays
All hand work :-)

Enjoy!


Thar she blows!

 Allan drpped by so we could take some healed photos of his handpoked dragon and serpent that I call "Sibling Rivalry" The dragon and sepent for his children frame in a Celtic Trinity Heart placed over his own heart as a symbol of love for his family.

 Finished up a Double Dragon calf wrap on Iwan from Greenland. Iwan was refered to me by fellow tattooist Dia who works on Greenland as well as the Faroe Islands. The reason for the referal was that Dia knows of my facination with Native art and cultuire as well as my past as a medical illustrator. I normally never trade for tattoos... as I'm the sole owner and artist of a small business which has to survive. However sometimes you can't say no to working a week of Sundays :-)

Narwhale tusk... 2 meters 12cm
From the great white whale

An anchor added to Malte's growing collection of personal iconography.
His grandfather was a sailor who recently passed and had an anchor tattoo from his time at sea.

Healed photo of a Haida Thunderbird project

Continuation of Sisiutl... the Haida double headed serpent.

And start of a forearm piece with Tyr binding the Fenris Wolf... at the cost of his own hand
We will be continuing the theme with the second part of the story on the other forearm.

Saturday 7 February 2015

Artistic Progress: Some new projects

Recent Nordic work
Something old... something new

Enjoy!


Finished up a Swedish Runestone Dragon sleeve with a prayer to Thor and Odin we fit into the three dragons. On a client who flew in from Sweden... barely got the photos taken before his taxi to the aeroport arrived.

Bends nicely at the elbow


A shitty photo montage
Hope you get the idea :-)

 A "Blood Gods Mask" depicting Loki... mouth sewn shut with a poisonous serpent placed between his eyes.


 Start of a project with Loki's Children... The Fenris Wolf, Midgaards Serpent and Hel placed under the bicep holding both of their tails. A client from France who drove 1000 km each direction the same day

 A continuation of a sleeve around some older tattoos on a Danish soldier incorporating a couple historical designs of his choosing. Here Sigurd is doing battle with the dragon Fafnir

 and St George and the dragon above
(forgive the red marker... but I didn't want to rub him down in alcohol at this point :-)

 A Swiss client who wanted a tattoo for her son representing a wolf. There is a saying in Swiss about giving your children roots to ground them but wings that they may fly... so came the raven wings and the three roots of Yggdrasil below. The wings circle each side of the elbow symetrically and bend with it.


Sunday 1 February 2015

Artistic Process: Odds & Ends


Although I specialize in Neo-Nordic tattooing, sometimes people will come to me with requests which fall outside of the normal range of things that I do. This could be due to a good reputation, a referal, a person looking for an original look to an old design, or sometimes merely by chance. If the idea interests me I will try to grant their wish as best I can... although I specify that it will be, "in my own style". As I don't specialize in these styles it could require more research and drawing and therefore take a longer time... however I think the results speak for themselves. Here are some examples of things that I have done... which I don't normally do. If you have any ideas for a design, please feel free to come in with them so that we can discuss it.

Enjoy!


An Ethiopian Cross
A symbol of Christianity in Ethiopia. These crosses are almost invariably made from elaborate lattice work similar to Celtic knotwork but with much more angular points and turns reminisant of African art

Logo for "Gonzo Journalism" by Hunter S Thompson
A dagger and clenched fist with 2 thumbs holding a peyote flower.
Gonzo journalism involves an approach to accuracy through the reporting of personal experiences and emotions, as compared to traditional journalism, which favors a detached style and relies on facts or quotations that can be verified by third parties

ᛅᚢᚴ ()ᚾᛁ ( ᚴᛅᚱᚦᛁ ) ᚴᚱᛁᛋᛏᚾᚭ

Both sides of the Jelling Stone

 Camino de Santiago pilgrimage tattoo.
Camino de Santiago is the name of any of the pilgrimage routes (most commonly the Camino Francés or French route) to the shrine of the apostle St. James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the saint are buried
Although I've done several versions of these during the years this was a little special as it was on one of the other shop owners on Jægersborggade just after we opened Skin&Bone

The Inuit people have a long tradition of tattooing which has died out in the last few generations. Living in Denmark I come in contact with many clients from Greenland who are interested in tattoos and having something "traditional". Unfortunately the traditional tattoo designs formerly sewn into the skin have lost all meaning, so many opt for a more modern rendition of Inuit life. 
Here is a traditional Tupilak figure with runes for her grandmother

 Polar Bears are a strong symbol of the Inuit people... they are both feared and revered. It is also one of the only animals with fur under its paws... to keep a grip on the ice

 A personal Heraldry symbol of a Flying Fish
I love doing these types of designs but always think that they look best without shields, banners and floral patterns. These simply designs hold much better as Old School tattoos

Hugin & Munin, Odin's two Ravens bordering a heart containing Thor's Hammer, Mjølner.
Although I usually work with the dotwork technique it's nice to go back to my tribal roots on occasion... Blackwork with lots of negative space.