Tattoo books descriptions:

Tattoos of the Floating World
This unique book by tattoo artist Takahiro Kitamura (Horitaka, a pupil of Horiyoshi III) discusses the art of the Japanese tattoo in the context of Ukiyo-e, concentrating on the parallel histories of the woodblock print and the tattoo. Through high quality illustrations it shows that the Japanese tattoo is highly reliant on and linked to the woodblock print and that it deserves a position among the other art forms. A range of typical ukiyo-e motifs in the Japanese tattoo are discussed and illustrated by the original Japanese prints, and sketches, drawings and tattoos by tattoo master Horiyoshi III. The book ends with a special essay by Don Ed Hardy.

500 Tattoo Designs
Tattoos are no longer unusual or uncommon; they are now an undeniable element of mainstream style and fashion. But tattoos are expensive and, more importantly, permanent; so choosing an image is a very big decision. Here to help is 500 Tattoo Designs, a vast reference library of popular tattoos. Neatly organized by theme, the clearly executed line drawings cover every conceivable subject area - historical and traditional to modern, from tribal imagery of native American Indians, Japanese and Chinese characters, arcane hieroglyphics to gothic skulls, Celtic amulets, and more. The book also features body positioning hints for specific designs, a discussion of color dynamics, and notes on health and safety. Whether you want to show off your design or conceal it, this book is packed with hundreds of possibilities.

Ink : The Not-Just-Skin-Deep Guide to Getting a Tattoo
For anyone who's ever considered getting permanently pigmented and indelibly – here's the ultimate initiation into the tribe of the tattooed. From Stone Age man to urban hipsters, and from distant shores to the nearest mall, tattoos continue to lay claim to new territory, displaying a dizzying array of personal creativity, choices, and identity. Even the most ardent of onlookers and timid of freaks will be able to start on their own tattoo journey with the help of this fun, fact-filled, and fascinating guide.

Classic Tattoo Designs CD-ROM and Tattoo Book
This unique collection spotlights 230 authentic tattoo designs--each shown in full color and black and white. Based on actual tattoos of the 1920s to the 1960s, the striking images depict pierced hearts, shamrocks, pretty girls, skulls and crossbones, exotic ladies, crossed swords, colorful birds, pirates, butterflies, and other spectacular motifs. High-quality, permission-free designs for commercial artists, inspirational material for collagists and other craftworkers, and a treasure for tattoo buffs.

Tattoo Nation: Portraits of Celebrity Body Art
Popularized by sailors and bikers, tattoos have become indispensable fashion accessories for rockers and rappers, whose professional responsibility it is to embody exotic, outlaw primitivism to the public. Hence this coffee-table collection of photographs of tattooed celebrities culled from the pages of Rolling Stone. The portraits here, by famous celebrity and fashion photographers, are heavily weighted toward sleeveless, scowling male musicians, whose remarkably consistent tattoo tastes run to a comic book aesthetic of gothic lettering, deaths heads, dragons and babes (until they age and begin inscribing wives' and childrens' names into their flesh). Accompanying interviews and captions allow the subjects to pontificate on the personal significance of their tattoos ("Weed was the biggest part of my life at that point," muses Crazytown's Shifty Shellshock of his marijuana-leaf tattoo). While fans of the celebrities pictured here will swoon over the lush photos, the book fails to make the case for tattoos as real works of art capable of signifying something to onlookers as well as to their owners.

The Tribal Tattoo Pack: Learn the Ancient Art of Tribal Body Decoration
The art of decorating the body with tattoos dates back as early as the Ice Age. Although the use of tattoos among indigenous peoples is waning, the practice lives on, as more and more people around the world discover body art. Peoples from Central Asia and America, tribes and nomads from North Africa and the Middle East, and the Australian Aborigines and Maories have a long tradition of practicing this art. Each design in this pack is unique and carries its own special meaning, whether as religious symbol, talisman, charm, indicator of status or position, or simply an adornment. The Tribal Tattoo Pack includes instructions and materials to create spectacular tribal designs, including four paints in vibrant, earthy colors, transfer sheets, brush, and instructions. The meanings and myths behind the patterns are clearly explained in the history of this fascinating art.

Tattoo : Bodies, Art, and Exchange in the Pacific and the West
The history of tattooing is shrouded in controversy. Citing the Polynesian derivation of the word “tattoo,” many scholars and tattoo enthusiasts have believed that the modern practice of tattooing originated in the Pacific, and specifically in the contacts between Captain Cook’s seamen and the Tahitians. Tattoo demonstrates that while the history of tattooing is far more complex than this, Pacific body arts have provided powerful stimuli to the West intermittently from the eighteenth century to the present day. The essays collected here document the extraordinary, intertwined histories of processes of cultural exchange and Pacific tattoo practices. Art historians, anthropologists, and scholars of Oceania provide a transcultural history of tattooing in and beyond the Pacific.