Good Morning Speakeasy Readers!
It’s time to start the weekend. I hope everyone has fun plans. Just make sure to grab your sweaters, it's going to be another cool and cloudy week in Los Angeles.
Today’s topic is the 106-year-old tattoo artist Apo Whang-Od. Apo Whang-Od is a legendary tattoo artist known for her mastery of the traditional art of hand-tapped tattoos in the Philippines known as batok. Batok is an ancient tattooing technique that uses a mix of water and charcoal that's tapped into the skin using a thorn end of a pomelo or calamansi tree and a wooden mallet.
Born on February 17, 1917, in Kalinga province, Apo Whang-Od has spent her entire life in the mountain village of Buscalan, where she learned the art of traditional tattoos from her father, She is the first and only female mambabatok of her time and has been tattooing since she was 16 years old.
Whang-Od would travel to far and neighboring villages, summoned by host communities to imprint the sacred symbols of their ancestors on individuals who have crossed or about to cross a threshold in their lives. For men, this meant being an accomplished headhunting warrior. Which was expressed with a chest tattoo with patterns that crawled up the shoulders and down the arms, and could take days to finish. Women were tattooed for different reasons, primarily for fertility and beautification. The tattooed elder women of Kalinga often say that when they die, they can’t take their beads and gold with them to the afterlife. They only have the markings on their body.
Despite the fact that Apo Whang-Od was not the first in her family to practice the art of hand-tapped tattoos, she quickly earned a reputation as a master tattoo artist. Her artistry was passed down from generations and underwent significant changes. She is known for her intricate designs and a blend of ancient and contemporary art.
For many years, Apo Whang-Od lived a quiet life in the mountains, tattooing locals with her traditional and ancient designs. However, in the early 2000s, her fame spread beyond the borders of her village, thanks to documentaries, cultural expos, and tourists who came to visit her.
Nevertheless, Apo Whang-Od's popularity doesn't make her rich, as she has always charged minimal fees for her tattoos, unlike other artists who charge thousands of pesos. She earns a living from the small income she gets from her art, from selling souvenirs such as native bags, and from the food and lodging fees paid by tourists who come to her village.
Whang-Od is one of the last mambabatok of her generation and has been training and inspiring the next generation of artists who will follow in her footsteps, continuing a thousand-year-old practice. Among her proteges are her grand-nieces Grace Palicas and Elyang Wigan.
Mambabatok can only pass on their craft within their bloodlines, and Whang-Od never had any children of her own so she chose her grand-nieces Grace Palicasa and Elyang Wigan. “I was the first child to learn how to tattoo. I just observed what she did," says Grace. “When I left for college in 2015, Elyang was next to learn so that she could help Apo when so many tourists were coming.”
Apo Whang-Od is a national treasure and a living icon of Philippine culture. Today, she is considered a cultural master and a leader in the preservation of Kalinga culture. Her contribution to the preservation and promotion of the traditional art of hand-tapped tattoos is immeasurable.
Until next time my fellow apes,
Peter Hernandez
Good Morning Speakeasy Readers!
Hope everyone had a great week, I myself am feeling very refreshed after coming back from my vacation in the small beach-town Rocky Point in Penasco, Mexico. This week is going to be cool and cloudy in Los Angeles, but looks like there’s lots of fun things to do this weekend. Grab your sweaters and have a great time!
So after spending a little time in Mexico last weekend, I decided to stay on theme for this week's blog post and today I will be talking about Aztec and Mayan tattoos.
The Aztecs and Mayans are two ancient civilizations from Central America that have significantly contributed to the history of tattooing. Both cultures have rich backgrounds, and their unique forms of tattoos were used to symbolize various meanings, such as social status, spiritual beliefs, and cultural identity.
For the Aztec people, art was extremely important and this was no different for the art of tattooing. The Aztecs were known for their intricate designs, often portraying religious icons and mythical creatures. These tattoos were commonly used as marks of distinction among the various social classes. For example, warriors would often adorn their bodies with tattoos of ferocious animals such as jaguars and eagles to show their status as fierce fighters. The nobility would often feature tattoos that represented their lineage and ancestry. The location of the tattoo was also important as they believed the body had energetic centers. It was thought that certain spots had flows of energy that could enhance communication with gods. These spots included the stomach, chest, and hands.
Similarly, the Mayans also used tattoos to indicate social status and religious symbols. Mayan tattoos were believed to have powerful meanings and were often considered sacred. For example, tattoos showcasing the Mayan sun god were reserved for the royalty and nobility, while the general population had to settle for more modest designs. Mayans were known to love all different types of body modifications and were usually encouraged to get tattooed, but many did not as it was a very painful process. People would often get sick from the process and it would take a long time to recover.
The designs of Aztec and Mayan tattoos were unique in that they were highly detailed and intricate, often consisting of a vast array of different shapes, symbols, and patterns. These tattoos were often made using sharp bone or cactus needles and ink made from charcoal.
Despite the significant impact of Aztec and Mayan tattoos on the world of tattooing, the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century led to the decline and eventual disappearance of these traditional tattooing practices. The Spainards saw the tattooing practice as something dark or even a link to the devil. When it comes to Mayan tattoos, most of the historical accounts of their tattoo customs come from Spanish colonists, but through Mayan art, writing, and architecture, we can get a fuller picture to a certain extent.
As for Mayan or Aztec themed tattoos today, it is very important to get a tattoo artist who is highly skilled in these types of tattoos. Aztec tattoos are often done in black and grey and have a 3D effect that takes a special skill to accomplish.
The history of Aztec and Mayan tattoos is a fascinating glimpse into the rich cultural heritage of Central America. These intricate and meaningful tattoos not only served as marks of distinction but also represented a deep connection to tradition and spirituality, highlighting the immense cultural contributions these societies made to ancient tattooing practices. Today modern day interpretations of these tattoos are a great way for some to pay homage to their ancestry and there’s a lot of history and beautiful symbolism to pull from.
Until next time my fellow apes,
Peter Hernandez
Good Morning Speakeasy Readers!
It’s going to be a sunny weekend, if you haven’t done it already, make your weekend plans and soak in some sunshine. As for me, I'm on vacation in Rocky Pointe, Mexico! I highly recommend this nice little vacation spot. Great food, warm weather, beautiful beaches just make sure you bring your water shoes because the beaches actually are rocky.
Today’s topic has created quite the buzz in the tattoo community over the last week.
People are calling it “Tattoo Gate”, and it all started with a TikTok post of someone’s tattoo horror story.
On May 9th, a TikTok user by the name of cmonteith posted a video where she told her story about how she spent thousands of dollars for a tattoo that she didn’t even receive.
Courtney AKA cmonteith explained that it all started when she contacted a tattoo artist who she had admired for awhile about getting a tattoo of a fox on her upper arm. The tattoo artist who we’ll call LJ on this blog post told Courtney they could discuss the tattoo in a consultation for $180. And this was not even an in person consultation, but instead took place over a zoom call.
During the consultation, Courtney showed LJ reference images and at the end of their discussion LJ informed Courtney that she has a design fee. There were three options that Courtney could choose from. The cheapest option cost $1500 + tax and would come with a concept sketch and one minor change to the presented design. The middle option cost $3500 + tax and came with two concept sketches and a few minor changes to the design. The most expensive option cost $6000 + tax and came with multiple sketches and the ability to make multiple changes. Even though these design fees are pretty pricey LJ told Courtney this fee would also not count towards the tattoo at all. Courtney picked option one which came out to $1600. "Obviously, I pick number one because, like, it's super expensive," Courtney says. "And she had these pictures, so I was confident she was gonna make me a beautiful piece." Unfortunately when Courtney received the sketch, she was met with disappointment as it was not what she had expressed that she wanted when the zoom consultation took place.
The sketch pictured above is what Courtney received. It pictures a partial fox with flowers, but during the zoom consultation Courtney explained she wanted a full fox surrounded by flowers and she even showed reference pictures.
When Courtney reached out to LJ about her disappointment and how this was not what they had discussed, she was told by LJ that it was her fault and that she was not clear that she wanted a full fox, even though Courtney shared pictures of what she wanted. LJ then let Coutney know that it would cost an additional $2,260 to redraw the sketch and that a $1,000 down payment was required to make the tattoo appointment. When Courntey was not happy with this answer, LJ also told her the design fees were actually optional and considered a design collab. "I was never told that that fee was optional. She presented me with three options, asked me which one I was most comfortable with. I should’ve walked away at that point, that’s on me," Courtney explained. Courtney did not pay the additional $2,260 to get a new sketch, but she did pay $1,000 to schedule the tattoo appointment. Eventually Courtney ended up deciding to not get the tattoo with LJ, but she had lost $2,600 in the process.
After Courtney told her story over TikTok, millions of people watched the video, and out came more people who said they had bad experiences with the same tattoo artist, one person even expressing that she felt she was scammed out of $4,000.
After hearing these stories, I just had to share it with all of you. This whole situation really doesn’t sit well with me, and it gives tattoo artists a bad look. While a tattoo is definitely something you want to save up for, it shouldn’t cost thousands of dollars to have a consultation, a design, and an appointment. But there are a lot of great people in the tattoo community and there are a lot of genuine artists who want to make tattoos accessible.
After hearing Courtney’s story award-winning tattoo artist Matt Vaught, who is based in Newport Beach, California, has offered to “make things right” by designing a new tattoo and tattooing Monteith. “I want to fix this,” Vaught said “I’ve been working together alongside my sponsors H2Ocean and my manager Jenn Lee and we are going to fly this young woman out to Los Angeles, California, and I am going to tattoo this fox. Because she’s already out multiple thousands of dollars, I’m going to do this for free. That’s right, completely free. I really just want to fix the wrong that has been done, and I also love tattooing foxes”.
Matthew Vaught is not the only person who has shown support for Courtney, since the post, many artists have come forward and have been sending Courtney fox tattoo designs that they have sketched up for her.
It’s really nice to see people doing the right thing. While tattooing is a profession and how some make their living, it’s important that we hold ourselves to a certain standard and not do this just to squeeze out as much money as we can from our customers just as it is important that the artist is properly respected and paid for their work. At the end of the day we all need each other, the person wanting a tattoo needs the artist and the artist needs the canvas.
Until next time my fellow apes,
Peter Hernandez