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Haunted
by Dave Fox
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Japanese ghosts and demons have been
floating through my world since I started tattooing.
And even though Japanese art hasn't
always been the focus of my tattoos, I've always
been interested, dabbling here and
there. When I realized that dabbling wasn't
the way people understand and become
versed at Japanese art, I did something unusual
for me: I started reading. But I always
wanted a book of their many different creatures,
ghosts and demons with corresponding
images. And I could never find anything
so direct. So I made this book to try to create
what I sought. In the end, though, what
I came up with was my version of a some
Japanese legends, which have been interpreted
in thousands of different ways since
their invent.
When I started this book, I wasn't sure exactly
where I was going to take it. I just started
researching Japanese creatures, trying
to find cool, different looking ones than the
common hannya or oni images we’re accustomed
to. Then I began painting them. I did
them large (14"x20") and loose. I sketched
them lightly and open, and used fast brushwork,
detailing as I painted, instead of in the
sketch. I colored them with open washes and
lighter colors, in order to give somewhat of a
ghastly effect. This was a deviation from my
norm of drawing a detailed, finished sketch,
and then slowly and anally painting a solid
outline with thick, finished colors and lots of
black shading. Although there ended up being
things I would have changed in the drawings
had I spent more time on the sketches,
in the end I think the loose, fast sketching
and brushwork helped me to get a more natural
style in these paintings and to learn a lot
about my own drawing.
With about 15-20 paintings finished, I started
thinking more about how to present this
compilation. I'd saved photos of the painted
linework, incase I was going to do this as a
photocopied sketchbook-type volume. I also
considered turning it into a set of flash or
prints. My goal in this project was to give
more than just the basic set of flash images
that tattooists have used throughout time. I
wanted to make the guidebook that I always
looked for, and to inform people at least a
little bit about the images we've been seeing.
So I called Brett Bryan at Pulse to ask his
opinion. Luckily and thankfully he was hyped
on the idea of doing a book. He funded the
publishing and did the great layout which
brought it all together in such a complete
and finished volume.
In the end, I wanted to pay tribute to the Japanese
print artists that influenced my work.
In doing so, I was also trying to make it clear
to other tattooers that this kind of artwork is
not based on one or two artists. It’s based
on a tradition of many generations of different
kinds japanese artists and art forms. I
included paintings of the printmakers that
had the greatest influence on me, Kuniyoshi,
Kyosai, and Yoshitoshi (whose style I feel has
been especially overlooked by tattooists).
But I also gave thanks to the many tattooers
who have helped to mold my style of Japanese
art over the years. Horiyoshi isn't the
only source for Japanese art, but nobody can
deny his influence on us, either.
When it was all said and done, and the time
came for the big opening, I came down with
the flu. So the first time I got to see the body
of work as a whole, I was in a feverish haze.
Bring the crowd of onlookers and seekers of
signatures at the book opening, and add several
beers to the mix (to dull the effects of
the cold, but increase the haze even more)-
I'm sure more than one person ended up
with some strange scribble of a monster in
their book. But luckily everyone seemed to
enjoy the opening that was held at my friend
Mike's Jinxed Clothing store in Philadelphia
(better with friends than at some hoity toity
gallery). And I was excited to see it all come
together and have everyone there to view the
walls packed with paintings.
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