Remember the "Ed Hardy" trendy fashion craze from around 14 years ago?

[GReedDiamond]

Back in 2007 I was loaned original art by (Don) Ed Hardy, the legendary tattoo artist, in order to scan the art to produce limited edition digital (giclée) prints on paper.

Last night I opened a flat file drawer that I hadn't been in since around that time, and I found a forgotten trove of art prints by DEH, my friend the painter "Germs" and some other artists.

The Hardy editions were limited to 100 signed/numbered prints, with some printer's proofs and "BATs" (Bon A Tirer, which means good to print). Here are five Don Ed Hardy prints that I made back then:











I'll probably post the Germs stuff later, in case anyone's interested.

And, for the record, I don't have any tattoos.

NOTE: Edited again to remove the unintended annoying smilie faces that show up when a right parentheses is used.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

1. Very Cool.

[LuvNewcastle]

2. Those are wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

I don't have any tattoos either, but I might get one one day. If I do get one, it will be something really special, like one of those prints. I like the first and third ones especially.

[GReedDiamond]

3. You are welcome, LN...my attitude about getting ink is...

...if I could get DEH to do the tattoo, maybe I'd do it. But Don quit tattooing people before I met him, as I understand it, so that ain't gonna happen.

[femmedem]

4. Thank you for sharing these with us.

What a fun job that must have been for you!

[GReedDiamond]

5. You are welcome, femmedem...

...it wasn't all fun all the time, but it was not a bad job at all.

And Don Ed was a great guy. He's a trained "real" printmaker (as opposed to digital prints), so his approval/signing of the prints was very appreciated. The trick was getting the colors to match exactly to the original art.

[lunatica]

6. Original art tattoos are fascinating

I really don’t know much about the history or some of the stars of that world. I became interested in the meaning of certain cultural tattoos when I saw a movie of the New Zealand Maori tattoos, specifically meant to terrify the enemy during battle. It is still a tradition from what I gather. I realized that tattoos have historically been of great importance in certain cultures, and that they were used to depict royalty or persons of importance.

I have a friend who studied animation and has worked in movies and has also created cartoons who recently trained herself to apply tattoos. She has also created a portfolio of original artwork to use as tattoos. Unfortunately just as she was ready to start the pandemic came along. So her inking career is on hold.

I like your samples. They’re quite energetic and wild and bold considering they seem to be made in the 1980s which was more than 30 years ago. It’s interesting to try to follow the tangle of swirling snake figures through the scenes and the chimera like combination of human and animal features. Your friend may have moved tattoo art into more of art form than it was, though, of course, I don’t know much about it.

[GReedDiamond]

7. Hi lunatica! DEH is widely considered to be the "father of the modern tattoo"...

He was a student of early 20th Century tattoo styles, but also studied and absorbed the traditional tattoo art of Japan, and melded that style with modern, "western" themes, going back to the 1970s if I recall correctly.

One of his tattoo mentors was Sailor Jerry Collins - for which Don made the 4th image I posted - upon Sailor Jerry's death.

Also, Don's tattoo art was widely circulated in tattoo magazines 40+ years ago, and probably still is.

The prints I posted are not really tattoo art, although they contain Don's tattoo imagery.

Don stopped tattooing maybe 20+ years ago to pursue a fine art career, for which he does fairly unique works of art.

Here's a link to a DEH gallery show from all the way back in 2000, called "2000 Dragons":

https://www.archive.track16.com/exhibitions/dragon/2000dragons_hardy.html

[lunatica]

8. That's exciting!

His fine art artwork is very good, and different. The Japanese style and subjects is quite evident as is the wrap-around canvas, or what is probably scroll style. I admire his style very much. It would have been amazing to see in person. I like the swirling movement of the water in contrast to the similar movement of the long snake body of the dragon.

Thanks!

[bif]

9. Interesting stuff!

I'm not a fan of tattoos, but I appreciate the cool artwork. Thanks for sharing!