Body Tattoo

Scott Sylvia started working in a tattoo shop as a teenager, after his good friend Aaron Cain got him a job. Aaron showed some of Scott’s drawings to the owner of the tattoo studio where he worked and that was that. From then on, Scott Sylvia has worked his ass off, following his own personal mantra of “work fucking hard at everything you do and stay inspired.” I can’t think of much better advice for anyone, anywhere. That just sums it all up.

After much hard work and planning, Sylvia opened up his first tattoo shop, American Graffiti, with fellow tattoo artist and friend Eric Hogan. Sylvia was in his early 20’s at the time and working like a madman when the offer to work for Marcus Pacheco at Primal Urge came along. During this time, Scott worked on perfecting his own style while also gaining a new and fresh outlook on tattooing by being immersed in the creative environment in which he found himself in.

As of 2004, Sylvia works in San Francisco at Blackheart Tattoo, which he owns and runs with fellow artists Jeff Rassier and Tim Lehi. Scott is apparently one of the innovators of the “American Power” style that is a modern play on the Classic American tattoo style. The buoyant and deeply colourful pop that make up Sylvia’s work can be seen all over the American Power style, giving an otherwise classical look a completely lush and original beauty. I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that fans of tattoos and tattoo artists alike have a lot to thank Scott Sylvia for.

Take a look at some of his stuff, here.

Tags: aaron cain, american graffiti, american power, blackheart tattoo, classic american, Inspired, jeff rassier, marcus pacheco, Pictures, primal urge, scott sylvia, Tattoo Artists, Tattoo Pictures, tim lehi, Workforce

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After searching unsuccessfully for quite some time online for even a little bit of information on tattoo artist Ben Corn, I came to this conclusion: Ben Corn seems to be a man of few words. Which is okay, I guess, considering that he makes his living tattooing and not giving speeches about himself. So while there may not be a lot of biographical information about Ben out there, there are a lot of photos of his work to be found, which is pretty much the most important thing.

Therefore, I’m not going to be able to tell you much about Ben Corn. I don’t know what his favourite food is or if he has any pets or what music he likes to listen to. I’m sorry if you’re upset by this news. What I can tell you is that Ben Corn’s hometown is Norco, California, he’s 33-years-old, he works full time at Big Bear Tattoo in Big Bear Lake, California and he has been known to tattoo over at Mark Mahoney’s Shamrock Social Club in West Hollywood, California. Oh yeah, he’s also a phenomenal tattoo artist.

Big is the first word that comes to mind when I look at Corn’s work. Everything feels larger than life - the sort of work I would expect to have seen on a viking or a pirate way back in the day. Skulls, ships, huge black and grey scenes of chaos and beauty. Corn’s work does it all with a smooth and detailed depth that explains why he doesn’t say much about himself - he’s too busy kicking ass with his monster works.

Go Ben, Go.

Tags: ben corn, big bear lake, big bear tattoo, Inspired, mark mahoney, Pictures, pirates, Shamrock social club, Tattoo Artists, Tattoo Pictures, vikings, west hollywood, Workforce