Tattoo Artist Magazine has created a book of artificial skin for budding tattoo artists to practice on. Many apprentices use fruit, pig skin and their friends to hone their craft before moving onto paying customers.
The book aims to closely mimic real skin, giving artists a diary to document their progression. Although the artificial skin is not a perfect replica for real skin, it still allows artists a vital place to improve.
The Skin Book Project is not available for sale and it is uncertain whether it will be released to the public in the future.
Watch the short video below to see the book and tattooists in action:
Are you a tattoo apprentice or tattooist and would you consider using the book to practice on?
Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, has made her debut on the cover of Vanity Fair.
The first portraits of Caitlyn were photographed by Annie Leibovitz. In the cover image Caitlyn wears a corset by LA shop Trashy Lingerie, with the cover line: “Call Me Caitlyn.”
Jenner came to international attention as a track and field athlete, winning the gold medal in the men’s decathlon event at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and setting a world record not beaten until 1980. Jenner was married to Kris Jenner (formerly Kardashian) for 23 years, and the couple and their children appeared on the TV reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Following their divorce in 2015, Jenner came out as a transwoman in a TV interview, initially preferring male pronouns until her transition was more complete. In June 2015 and with the launch of the Vanity Fair cover, Jenner revealed her new name, Caitlyn, and the change to using female pronouns.
“I was a dyslexic kid, I was suffering from gender dysphoria, I had all these other issues in life, but when I latched onto this thing called sports.I probably latched onto it harder than most kids did,” revealed Caitlyn Jenner in her Vanity Fair interview.
Caitlyn broke also Twitter records, becoming the fastest growing account ever – beating previous record-holder Obama. She reached 1 million followers in just four hours and three minutes. Her bio reads:
I’m so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world Caitlyn. Can’t wait for you to get to know her/me.
We’re so very sad to announce the news that Isobel Varley – the world’s most tattooed senior woman – has passed away. RIP Isobel, such an inspirational woman breaking boundaries, we salute you Isobel.
The following was taken from her official Facebook page:
It is with deep sorrow that we must announce the passing of Isobel.
Shortly before 7 this morning Isobel passed peacefully onto her next adventure.
The Varley family would like to express their thanks to everyone for their support, their friendship and kind words expressed to, and about, Isobel and her numerous achievements during her time.
We would like to invite everyone to share their experiences and photographs with her on here as a tribute.
She did it! Things&Ink editor Alice Snape ran the London Marathon 2015, for Sarcoma UK. You can read about her training journey in past blog posts and on her Instagram page. This is her diary entry about her marathon experience…
“I am writing this post from the comfort of my bed. I am finding it difficult to walk down stairs as my legs are so stiff… God knows how they ran a marathon yesterday…? This weekend has been a huge mix of emotions, from the nerves on pre-marathon Saturday to the high of crossing that elusive finishing line… I don’t know how I can even begin to put into words the experience of my first ever marathon…
“I always knew Saturday was going to be filled with tension. But I didn’t imagine that I would be moved to tears so many times. My mind was plagued with doubt, have I done enough training? What if I can’t do it? What if I need to wee? How will I feel? I just couldn’t relax. But a text from my boyfriend James’s mum, Glenys, flicked everything into perspective and moved me to tears of sadness, as she spoke of a very special person who I never had the honour of meeting – and who I know I would have been great friends with… James’s sister, Glenys’s daughter: Katherine – who very tragically lost her life to Sarcoma just before James and I met. The months of training and fundraising were to pay tribute to Katherine, and to raise awareness about this rare form of cancer.
“Aside from the emotion and nerves, there’s also the practicalities! I had to sort my running kit out – the vest, the leggings, the really unsexy pink running bum bag to store gels and jelly babies in, the trainers and the Vaseline (you have to lube up to avoid chaffage on long distances). And I needed to make sure I ate lots of nice healthy carbs, also known as carb loading. I also wanted to make sure I had a nice early night – even though I knew I probably wouldn’t get much sleep… I only dozed in and out of sleep all night, thinking about what epic journey I was going to embark on…
“Race day morning, it was a weird one… I was so tired when my alarm went off. I had a night of broken sleep and did not feel refreshed at all. For half an hour at 6.30am I did lots of stretches, and also made sure my hamstring was taped up, as unfortunately I picked up an injury during my training. Breakfast was porridge, berries, a coconut water and a coffee. Then I set off on the most nerve-wracking train journey of my life… although I was very relieved to see lots of other marathon runners on the platform, who all looked equally as apprehensive…
“I don’t know how I imagined race day would feel, but I don’t think any training really prepares you for it. Time means nothing. It goes so quick and so slow all at once… and the run feels so very different to a training run. I wanted to try and take in all the sights I saw on the way, but everything is a blur as you’re trying to concentrate on how fast you’re running, all the people around you, the crowd, the runners, the atmosphere… I saw a woman running in stilettos, Jesus Christ, and a rhino (luckily I overtook all these people). There are roadside parties the whole way round… people cheering and drinking. I just kept thinking I am jealous of the people drinking or just smug that I am running a marathon? There are old people, young people, those who are thin and those who are fat, some in costume, some running, some walking… so many walks of life all united on this marathon journey.
“But there were low points too. My parents and friends were going to be at the Sarcoma UK cheering point at mile 12, and I had been spurred on by that thought from around mile 8… I just kept thinking it would be four miles until I saw their faces. But mile 12 went past and I didn’t spot them. I don’t know how I missed them (especially as my parents had a banner with my face on it!), I must have been in a weird marathon daze. That put me on a bit of a downer and then I was worried I wouldn’t see them again. It was such a pity as mile 13 was running across Tower Bridge, and I had been so excited about this point in the marathon… There were other dark moments along the route too, women cowering on the kerbs, head in hand, men being carried on stretchers, bleeding nipples… signs that the marathon really is a true test of human endurance…
“But I plodded on… I kept on running focussing on how I might feel at the end, and trying to ignore the pain and the heaviness of my legs, counting down the miles… Until mile 25, and I spotted the second Sarcoma UK cheer point and the faces of my boyfriend, friends and family… I had no idea what a boost that would give me and I managed to pick up my pace as I embarked on the final the mile and a bit… That was a huge high – probably my marathon highlight – and I smiled and waved. I knew now I could run until the end… Trough The Mall and past Buckingham Palace, then as I crossed the finish line, I lifted my arms in the air and burst into uncontrollable tears, I was literally sobbing. So much so that one of the marshals took me in her arms and gave me a huge embrace. I have never experienced anything like this feeling before.
“I managed to complete my first ever marathon in a time of 4 hours, 30 minutes and 21 seconds – almost exactly the time I had wanted to achieve and never thought I could… but my immediate thought was, oh maybe I could do it next year and maybe I could do it in 4 hours… Then I thought back to myself at exactly this point last year, I was so impressed when one of my friends ran the marathon, I thought it was something that I would never be able to do myself. At the time, I drank a lot, smoked and I was around a stone and a half heavier and I couldn’t run for more than a mile without needing to walk. But running really has made me feel happier in my own skin, and I have a new found respect for my body and what I can do when I really focus on a goal. It has also made me feel much closer to James and his mum, and really made me think about Katherine, who I so wish I could have met.
“And to top it all off, as I met everyone at the meeting point, my mum told me that I had more than hit my £3,000 fundraising target as I was running. How incredible that people were following my progress and donating as I was actually running…
“It has been an amazing journey over the past few months, one that I am almost sad is over. Training for the marathon has been such a huge part of my life since November last year. And now I have been advised by a physio to take a month off and let my hamstring heal. I guess once it has, I can start chasing my next running dream. Bring it on. Let a life-long love affair with running really begin…”
You can read more about Sarcoma UK and donate to Alice’s fundraising on her justgiving page.
Anyone who thought that drag wasn’t worthy of being called ‘art’ have been proved very wrong… The UK has become the first country ever to offer a module in the art of drag queens and kings as part of the performing arts, dance and drama degree at Edge Hill University in Lancashire. The module will include how to perfect a lip sync, the use of makeup and costume, comedy and general stage performance. Theories surrounding gay, lesbian and transgender activism will also be included.
The senior lecturer of the course, Mark Edwards was in charge of pushing the module forward.
“This module not only explores drag as a highly camp performance art, it also engages with complex gender, feminist and queer theory to explore the social and political implication of ‘doing gender’ in performance. Drag as a performance art form has seen a relative decline in the past decade, yet there are new and exciting emerging forms coming through which makes this module all the more relevant to performance contexts.There’s a lot more to drag studies than wigs, make-up and high heels!”
This groundbreaking step forward for the LGBT community comes in the same month as the closure of infamous pub, The Black Cap which used to host The Meth Lab – one of the most popular drag nights in London. Last week saw a large protest outside the venue with many famous faces of the drag community rallying together to prove their undying love for this iconic venue. Paul McGill, owner of Camden securities which agreed terms on the pub in December stated, “It’s a site of historical value, we understand that. We feel we are saving it as a venue, not destroying it.” Only time will tell if McGill holds any truth in what he says!
Female drag star, Tete Bang who was a long running performer at The Black Cap.
