Shawn Barber - Portrait of artist Tara McPherson oil on canvas - 2005

Shawn Barber has been chronicling tattoo culture by way of his paintbrush for nearly ten years. Barbers’ second book, the 250 page “Forever & Ever” came out in March. Like his first book, Tattooed Portraits, Forever and Ever showcases Barber’s impressive impressions of tattoo culture while going deep into the history and mechanics of getting inked. Barber, who credits Spanish painter Diego Velazquez as an early inspiration, started drawing art on real people himself in 2006.

Shawn Barber. Ink on skin (unfinished) 2008.

As you can see, Barbers’ gotten pretty good at that too.

Shawn Barber - Portrait of artist Paul Booth oil on canvas - 2006

The Velazquez influence is evident in his portrait of hardcore tattoo artist, Paul Booth (above). Barber’s group stint at Paul Booth’s Last Rites Gallery in New York ended in April but you can catch Barber solo this Summer in California with shows at Billy Shire Fine Arts in Culver City in July and San Fransisco’s The Shooting Gallery in August.

Shawn Barber - Portrait of then Sixx-less artist Kat von D oil on canvas - 2006

Original works by Barber can fetch in upwards of $5000. Check out Barber’s official site for more. Some of it’s NSFW but that’s only bad news if you have a job.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 3:45 pm and is filed under Cherrybombed, Culture, Los Angeles, New York, Real Art, See This, Tattoo You, Very Metal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.