There are a ton of amazing new artists. It used to be that, when you went to a tattoo convention, besides the acknowledged headliners, you'd see one, maybe two, promising new talents. Everyone else was trying to be Paul Booth or Sailor Jerry Collins. And so it was, an enormous hall with less than glittering stars.

Today, that's changed. Instead of one photo-realistic specialist per show, there are three or four per aisle. And when it comes to the more intuitive Japanese-themed artwork, newcomers by the score have brought a new level of excellence to the tattoo scene.

Part of that, of course, is due to travel. Young artists that rarely left their home studios now log thousands of air miles to visit Inkrat, Three Tides and Scratch Addiction. This universality, this brother- and sisterhood of artists has taken tattooing to a new level. But it's not only contact with inspirational mentors that has improved the standard, it's also the competition.

Tattoo artists, as well as their customers, have been exposed to a lot of world-class tattoos. The general public is starting to learn the difference between good art and bad. It's no longer acceptable to pay some poser several hundred dollars for a portrait of your girlfriend that makes her look like a bull terrier, especially when you've seen the work of a Bob Tyrrell—or Shane O'Neill or Robert Pho. Local scratchers just aren't going to do a koi fish like Robert Atkinson or Chris Treviño or Jesse Tuesday.

But don't get me wrong. There are a lot of pretenders out there. People who plain can't draw. Guys and gals that work at tattoo shops and turn out—how can I phrase it?—weird art. Superheroes with the muscles in the wrong places. Pinups with legs like pencils. Three-legged dogs. Images in search of a light source. Crooked lettering. Images covered in scar tissue. Colors that bleed. Permanent disasters.

I guess there's always a cover-up. But, sometimes, that's impossible. So, it's off to the laser technician at two thousand bucks a crack. No thank you.

Yup, with all these great artists arriving on the scene, the business is changing again. It's way more competitive out there and, since the economy is in the dumpster, folks have less and less discretionary income. Fewer and fewer have money for ink. There are simply other priorities.

Hey, the big, strong oaks of the industry will remain standing, and the willows will bend in the wind. But for those artists operating by the seat of their pants, without training, without apprenticing, without studying their craft, without a knowledge of running a business, without a track record; for these misguided, bandwagon-jumping, self-congratulating ink jockeys, there's a major weeding-out coming down.

Bob Baxter
Editor in Chief

baxter@skin&ink.com
www.skinandink.com