There are so many amazing traditional Asian-style tattoo artists in South Korea, so I will have to break up this topic into multiple posts! I say “Asian-style” vaguely because some of these styles are not specific to just Korea, but I will clarify if an element is unique to Korean culture or tradition.
Some may think that traditional Asian tattoos are all brush strokes and Hanja characters (한자, the traditional writing system consisting of Chinese characters), however, these ten artists show many sides to this charming style in their own ways.
You may notice that quite a few of these are from Seoul. As I was researching, I found an overwhelming number of traditional tattoo artists located here likely because of the sheer size and population of the city. Taking that into consideration, I did my best to include some sort of variety of locations.
This time, I asked some artists how they chose their names, as many Korean tattoo artists go by an alias rather than their real names!
Nevertheless, here are ten traditional tattoo artists from across the country, part one.
1. Yusoo (Seoul)
2. Guilt (Daegu)
Guilt’s highly detailed black and gray tattooing style isn’t necessarily a traditional Asian style itself, but his subjects are. Recently, he has been doing a series of tattoo designs based on the twelve animal zodiacs: the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. He depicts them in armor and standing as if they’re ready for battle, meticulous shading each scale.
When asked about his alias, he said that he feels that his nickname means to take responsibility and open new roads.
3. Pitta (Seoul)
This next tattooing style is particular to Korean culture because of its color scheme, called “Dancheong” (단청). Dancheong refers to a Korean traditional coloring style often found on important wooden buildings, such as temples and palaces.
Pitta’s Dancheong tattoos decorate their clients’ bodies in many forms – including clouds, flowers, animals, and characters. Their work sometimes looks as though they had cut cloth from traditionally-patterned textiles as well. Furthermore, they often create larger tattoo designs, which are very complex and have detailed linework and coloring.
4. Bum A (Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do)
Bum A adds a twist to the classic character tattoo by stylizing them in a way that is more ornamental. Many of these tattoos are actually mirrored images of stylistic hangul. His bracelet and anklet tattoos are not mirrored images, but they are written in his own unique cursive-like handwriting. People often request birthdays, family names, desires, and sayings.
Regarding his alias, Bum A is a nickname that his friends call him by!
5. Dam (Seoul)
Dam (short for Jeong-dam) does two main kinds of traditional Asian tattoos: Hanja tattoos and watercolor paintings.
Dam often stylizes these character tattoos as stamps/seals, which are still commonly used today in Korea for many official documents – especially public documents. These stamps/seals are called dojang (도장), which most Koreans have today, but they’re more often written in Hangul, the Korean alphabet.
6. Hongryeon (Daegu)
7. Minhwa (Seoul)
8. Gooka (Gwangju)
Gooka combines strong brushstrokes with nature, forming them into branches with blossoming flowers. He also pairs not-so-abstract brushstrokes with animals that look like they came out of a realistic watercolor painting. Other times, he adds ink splatters, which make his tattoos look even more dynamic.
His alias originates from when he was a Korean art major (한국화, hanguk-hwa) and he felt that the pronunciation of the last two characters guk-hwa (국화) sounded like gooka (구카).
9. Pot G (Seoul)
This is another style that is less traditional stylistically. Pot G’s tattooing style is more reminiscent of new school tattoo designs, but their subjects are heavily inspired by traditional Korean fashion. They do many portraits of Korean women wearing a hanbok (한복), which is traditional Korean attire, with matching traditional makeup and hairstyles.
Pot G’s alias is the reason why I started thinking about tattoo artists’ nicknames in the first place – as even the Korean spelling seemed to be a rather unusual name (팥쥐). I recognized it from a Korean fairy tale that is kind of similar to Cinderella. Turns out, it is a reference to that! When asking their coworkers to give them ideas for a nickname that fits their vibe, Pot G was one of the suggestions.
This character is not the kind and persecuted protagonist, but the mischievous stepsister that harassed the main character. Pot G said they wanted a mildly “villainous” name because they want to be strong. Plus, they prefer drawing bad girls over nice ones.
10. Suryo (Busan)
So, these were the first ten unique traditional Asian tattoo artists across South Korea that I wanted to talk about. In the future, I would like to make more posts about this particular art style many of these artists utilize. If you’re looking for inspiration or want to contact an artist, click on the links and look at their bios for their contact information!
