This week Skin Candy announced that it will now be sold by Dick Blick art supply. The announcement wasn't highly publicized and wasn't even on the front page of Skin Candy's website, but rather, a brief mention on their Distributors section. They had to know this wouldn't be well received by professional tattooers. For the bums at the bottom, this is great. Now they can walk in somewhere and pay cash for supply and walk out without ever having to show a license, an ID or anything. For the big guys at the top, it's just another travesty and tragedy in their sacred trade. For the guys in the middle, the working guys, the guys grinding every day, this is a major loss.
The art and trade of tattooing has always been kept close to the chest. In ancient times rites of tattoo were administered by tribal leaders and holy people. It was highly ritualized. In some parts of the world even today the practices are guarded with little information available to the outsider. In the U.S., Canada and Europe however, tattooing is everywhere. There are shops in every city. What was once viewed as a practice reserved for sailors, soldiers and criminals has devolved into a medium exploited on every television channel, every major brand label, on the internet and in print. It's everywhere and because it's everywhere it's popular. Because it's popular people want to know about it. People don't take it seriously because it's so easy to access now. A person can get online with a credit card and in three days have an entire "shop" outfit. Now they don't even have to wait.
In addition to Dick Blick carrying Skin Candy, Sears this week began carrying a full range of tattoo supplies from Spirit transfer paper to Kuro Sumi colors all the way to full kits supplied by Element Tattoo Supply and MS Piercing, Inc.
This is a call to boycott these companies. In line with this I'm removing Element from my supply section and any other mention of them from this resource. On behalf of people seriously dedicated to the art and trade, please don't support these companies. Their only goal is to make money by further exploiting the tattoo and art industry.
