Chicano Tattoo Style

[Huero]

hell yeah.....lets see more ol school shit. thx Hogg.Its funny, my grlfrnd said when she saw this ''wow, nice photorealism'' and I said '' Chicano style is where it came from'',right or wrong?If you work in a shop regularly tattooing chicans and blacks, you will do portraits,like it or not.

I don't think it's a strictly "Chicano" thing, or a "black" thing (actually you didn't see tattooing making much of an inroads in the black community in general until reletively recently, and prior to that the tattoos they'd have we're very basic, and almost never photo realistic portraits. Blacks in general were very conservative anout tattoos until the mid 2000s. Before that You'd see political tattoos, black power, racial themes or tribal, pan african themes, on them, very basic lettering, maybe old English.)

Whites and hispanics in the california prison system got them. It came from the same genre as fantasy themed tattoos, Aztec motifs and Viking imagery (if the wearer was on a white power trip). Stuff inmates had, bikers had, sometimes military, gang members had.

Portraits were a 1970's thing and southern California thing specifically. It came from prison and was disseminated into the public sphere informally through home tattooing, and then formally through various influential tattooers and tattoo magazines.

[Shannon Shirley]

very perceptive and totally true ...homes..hehe. you been readin my 1st wife's books....hehe....this was a lot more understanding than her dribble.yeah you're right but Ive worked in Oakland and Pensacola and I always seem to do portraits on the brothers. but historically I would say you are correct. Charlie always said , him n Jack would say they open up in ELA so you didnt have to go to the joint to get it.

I don't think it's a strictly "black and Chicano" thing, actually you didn't see tattooing making much of an inroads in the black community in general until reletively recently, and prior to that the tattoos they'd have we're very basic, and almost never photo realistic portraits. You'd see political tattoos on them, very basic lettering, old English.

Whites and hispanics in the california prison system got them. It came from the same genre as fantasy themed tattoos, Aztec motifs and Viking imagery (if the wearer was on a white power trip). Stuff inmates had, bikers had, sometimes military, gang members had.

Portrait tattoos were something that comes from 1970's tattooing in general, and southern California specifically. It came from prison and was disseminated into the public sphere informally through home tattooing, and then formally through various influential tattooers and tattoo magazines.

[Huero]

roots of "Chicano tattooing" can be traced back a long way, but what was really influential on the art form was the tradition of public murals, especially in east LA in the mid to late 1960s.

These murals were scattered all over Los Angeles, in nearly every barrio neighborhood, but you had a concentration of them in the projects. Places like Ramona gardens, Estrada courts, aliso village, dogtown (not the venice dogtown, butthe dogtown projects, by the LA river, near chinatown) Sometimes they were political. The themes generally revolved around racial pride, community disenfranchisement, Aztec and mayan mythology, Lowrider culture, pachuco culture etc. Tattoos were and are an extension of that tradition.

That was the era. The end of the viet nam war, a massive increase in the prison population in California and the rise of biker culture. It just happened that Cartwright and negrete and Rudy where there at the right time in the right place. They had credibility in the broader tattoo culture, and exposed that style far beyond califas. It was seen as an underworld, undesirable thing, then it became chic for a time.

[Petri Aspvik]

Informative as fuck man! What are your own "roots"? Do you tattoo etc. If you want to keep it to yourself, cool, no problem :)

[Shannon Shirley]

I grew up in the SF East bay,and would have to agree this art is definetly an extention of the "La Raza" movement, there was great racial tension in the 70's when I grew up there with the forming of some ''alternate'', Im gonna say, gangs that are still around.Your writing style makes me think youre working on a thesis? Seriously.I wasnt kidding about my 1st wives books.So, Tattooer? Non Tattooer? your profile leaves me wondering?QUOTE=Huero;30986]roots of "Chicano tattooing" can be traced back a long way, but what was really influential on the art form was the tradition of public murals, especially in east LA in the mid to late 1960s.

These murals were scattered all over Los Angeles, in nearly every barrio neighborhood, but you had a concentration of them in the projects. Places like Ramona gardens, Estrada courts, aliso village, dogtown (not the venice dogtown, butthe dogtown projects, by the LA river, near chinatown) Sometimes they were political. The themes generally revolved around racial pride, community disenfranchisement, Aztec and mayan mythology, Lowrider culture, pachuco culture etc. Tattoos were and are an extension of that tradition.

That was the era. The end of the viet nam war, a massive increase in the prison population in California and the rise of biker culture. It just happened that Cartwright and negrete and Rudy where there at the right time in the right place. They had credibility in the broader tattoo culture, and exposed that style far beyond califas. It was seen as an underworld, undesirable thing, then it became chic for a time.

[Julio Avila]

Anyone mention Eddy Reyes? Secretsidewalk.com I think that's his site. I think he used to be in Fremont but moved? Still in northern California though. Super nice tattoos and a really cool guy.

[Julio Avila]

Actually eddy's whole crew is dope!

[Huero]

Forgot to mention that fool.

Robert pho too, outta Vegas via the LBC. He comes from the tradition and does some of the baddest portraits in the game.