Tattoo Artist Bang Bang Critiques Kylie Jenner, The Rock & More Celebrity Tattoos | GQ

Hi, I'm

bang

bang

and I'm a

tattoo

artist

in New York City, today we're going to look at some

celebrity

tattoo

s. Yes, David Beckham's

tattoos

are really iconic, many people have duplicated them or tried to do so, but I mean, I can spot this tattoo. and not see anything else until this is David Beckham this tattoo works because it complements the shape it almost feels like armor placed on his back it is placed in an appropriate place it complements the body well so it's good maybe something people wouldn't do Notice that what I see is the reference used for the person.

I think it's someone jumping off a trampoline every time an

artist

uses it as a body very often unless they're a skilled illustrator we use a body reference so this pose of them looking. down jumping up toes pointing down arms out I think he's a diver I love the tribal

rock

tattoo he has travel

tattoos

that are cooler than that this guy is a hero I hope he applies for president I kinda miss his original tattoo that had bull that was very easily identifiable, which is something that I think makes successful tattoos, it was just iconic when these tattoos are done, they are made body specific, this was drawn on his body, This is not something you come out of a picture on a wall and stick it on this is made specifically for your anatomies.

I think it's great, this Polynesian tattoo probably lasted about 10-15 hours, it really depends on the speed of the artist, how well the skin absorbs the ink. Forget his probably huge arms, it's like getting a tattoo on someone's back, so it might take a little longer. He's a big guy who wears tattoos better than Rihanna. First, the Sanskrit on his hip moves a little as his hip moves, leading your gaze to his next form. a little bit

more

, it almost forces you to look

more

curved and then I think his gun tattoo is cool because it's just iconic Lee, she's badass like, who else should have a little gun tattoo?

It's like Rihanna, that was a weird story, it's like I had her tattooed, you know, a couple of years before she got that gun tattoo and she had a little gun necklace. My name is bang bang. It's like, of course, I'll try to convince her that hey, let's do this. A couple of years later we did it and it was almost on her shoulders, there were almost two of them and one on each side, right above her armpit, and when I put the insoles on her and looked at her, it was the only thing I could see and that's not The goal when you're tattooing, especially when you're tattooing someone iconic, you're tattooing a woman like you know her face and her neck and her shoulders, and that's her image, so I didn't want to do something that would overpower that.

And so when you look at Rihanna's tattoos, a lot of times they're delicate and even though when you look at her closely, she has one on her neck and one on her neck and one on her collarbone and she sees Rihanna, you don't see her. Rihanna's tattoo, you know, is not an overwhelming tattoo, so we took them off her front and put them on her ribs. I liked it a lot more, sometimes the frame makes the artwork so this is the case here. I don't take credit for doing both. these tattoos but she makes them look good yes this is a traditional American tattoo like you would see done in the 20's and it's cool it's very well done this is done to pay homage to that time period and style of tattoo, so this is not like that.

It's not done with the intention of trying to make this girl look like a real mermaid or anything other than trying to stay true to the time period and style this artwork was created in, so it works because it's true to what he tries. be trying to be a traditional American American tattoo when tattoos were introduced to America in the 1920s in New York on the Bowery this is what they were doing and they were tattooing without gloves and you know their stencils were really rudimentary and they did flash. designs, people come to pick them out and that's what you'd get, kid, and these were sailor tattoos, these two, these were made for the sailors in town because they were the ones getting tattoos at the time, so, for Of course, it's a mermaid that makes a lot of common sense.

I love the statue. I don't have any traditional tattoos. I don't do traditional tattoos. But I like it when I see them well done. I like that she has a theme. You know, let it be red. I love that Kylie has an address. and she knows what she wants. I like that her style is small red tattoos. I don't think I've ever met a person who has a bunch of little red tattoos, so I like it. I like that it is unique. We use very small needles to make these tattoos so that when people think of a needle, they think of a needle and that's not really the case with tattoos, it's several needles and they're grouped together like this and they come to a point in that space between each needle. it is what leaves ink so if it is open it will leave more ink in a larger area and if it is quite tight like the area we damaged your skin it is much smaller but it is harder to make it consistent so think about if you are using a pencil and try to draw a straight line, you will see many inconsistencies in that very thin straight line.

Now, if you take a large marker and try to draw a straight line, it will look much smoother, so the thicker and bigger it is. The line is that it's almost safer when we're tattooing because you can't see any of that movement or any of our imperfections, so it's harder to make smaller lines, these take 30 seconds, easy money, all your nerves are in your hands and your feet so you can feel things so you can balance, so yeah, your pain receptors right there, it looks like it hurts. I can relate. I really like the barbed wire knuckles on her and I like the faces she has like a photo album on her knuckles.

It's funny, well, they work because he posts it alone, you know, so if he wasn't posting it alone, you know, someone walked in and I saw these tattoos. We really have some work to do, but I think a lot of times when people have so many tattoos, we fall down. in love with them they become part of us so the portraits are impressively curated because of how small they are you can tell who they all are what everything is which is immediately incredible what catches my attention the bear is a very common photograph of a very famous bear and So when we get tattoos, our job is to try to find something unique.

It is really difficult. When I look at it, I see a very common bear reference and I'm curious if it might actually be the same one that's on Justin Bieber's chest, it's true. They will be twins, they don't even know it. I don't think after Malone or Justin Beiber they'll be mad because they have the same Tank Girl, who is Tank Girl other than Ruby Rose? She's kind of iconic, the tattoos on her are really cool. it's a render dart, so it's someone else's that transforms into skin and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, in this case for this style of design, it worked perfect for a tattoo and it works perfect on her, specifically something that doesn't you would notary About this, that's not completely tattooed, it's actually a mixture of pigment and skin, so often when tattoos are fully colored, every inch of them is a solid color.

When I did this, it's a different technique. I tried to use a lot of her skin. and it mixes with it, so it's more skin than you think. This is great. This is a super cool tattoo. It's super unique. This tattoo makes me happy to see it. I imagine he does the same with her. It's not overwhelming because I just love it. uniqueness, this is a brave tattoo to jump on because it's not something in quotes, you know, traditionally this pastel color palette is done and I like that it's in a circle. I would be friends with Scarlet Johansson if she didn't do it.

I don't have this so as far as first tattoos go this is a good one well done kid he has better tattoos than his dad in fact I think the amount of skin left around him is a good thing . I don't always think tattoos should do it. be dominant on one part of the body, I think they can, you know, just show on one part of the body, so I like that it's not overwhelming, it's well tattooed, it's not a common tattoo, it's a difficult tattoo to do, for which is highly rendered and small. I met him, he's an incredibly humble kid who really loves tattoos and saves money to get them.

I know how much Brooklyn loves her tattoos and it's cool that she has good ones, yeah, I'd love to see some of them. bigger, they're like birthmarks here. I think she got them at my store. I think John-boy made them. I think I was there when he did them when tattoos are not easily identifiable. If I have to take a moment, even just a moment. time to figure out what it is and my brain doesn't automatically do it for me I tend to redesign most people who see your tattoos don't see them as close up as you actually people perceive you a little further away I like it I like it way in the spa, so I like it to be a little circle in that place.

I almost feel like maybe it should be a little circle or a dot. It's great. It does not require enormous skill to make these tattoos. It does require skill. to make them perfectly traditionally this tattoo is too tight for us to say it will age very well those spaces between those letters those skin spaces close over time they won't say look forever they are all well done and I'm sure they all mean a lot, but I wish Steph Curry would get some tattoos there, maybe as a shape for his body. He has an incredible physique and these little model tattoos.

I would love to give Steph Curry a big tattoo. Call me.