Traditional Japanese Tattoo Archives - Carl Hallowell (Horisho)

What is an Irezumi (Japanese) Tattoo?

Posted by CHallowell
On December 1, 2021

Irezumi is a traditional style of Japanese tattoo art that has a rich history and cultural significance. The term “irezumi” translates to “inserting ink” and it refers to the traditional Japanese tattooing style that has been practiced for centuries. The Japanese have many names such as Horimono and Wabori. When Did Irezumi Start? The practice […]

Traditional Tattooing is the Rock of Ages

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On March 11, 2019

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is nice to have the opportunity to speak with you again! I have been away from the typewriter as I have been quite busy behind the tattoo machine. The Japanese Tattoo Work, or Irezumi, has been in heavy focus this week in my studio. I had the honor of starting a […]

Japanese Tattoo is an Art for All Seasons of Life

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On December 29, 2017

Brad wears the tattoo of the month this time around; a Japanese half sleeve tattoo that depicts a single Peony and its bud blowing in the wind and being tossed about by a wave. The Peony is one of the main flowers used in the Japanese tattoo, also known as Irezumi, or Horimono. The Peony […]

Dallas Tattoo Artist with a Japanese Edge

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On September 13, 2017

Japanese tattooing; it is hard to imagine a more balanced artwork than this. Japanese tattoos are overflowing with brute strength, while also exemplifying subtle beauty. The art is straightforward in it’s approach and also speaks to the human experience itself. Saturated in black and grey, Japanese tattoos also pop with color. When approaching the thought […]

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On July 21, 2017

There is a triangle of interaction happening with Traditional American or Traditional Japanese tattooing, an alchemy that is greater than the sum of it’s parts, a music that dances with call and response, until a tattoo is born, like a reptile from an egg. Using the triangle and being part of it, we answer the […]

Japan, Land of A Thousand Mysteries

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On November 24, 2015

Japan is the jewel center of the arts. Stretching backwards into time, nothing has been undone, or taken away. The rich tapestry of symbols, of images, of virtues, has only been added to. Modern glass buildings spring up around Shinto shrines that are hundreds of years old. Uniformed schoolchildren bounce past monks under large, pointy […]

The Flower Priest

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On October 16, 2015

What to say of this, a piece I worked on for years, on a great friend and a great artist, who’s strength is equal to his talent… Over and over what impresses me is the ability of my customers to stand up to the intense physical pain of tattooing… This pain is especially excruciating when […]

Peacock works for a cover up

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On October 8, 2015

Sitting up late working, maybe its not tattooing, not painting… Strangely, its writing, one of the first art forms I ran to, after I had read the lyric sheets for everyone from 7 Seconds to The Smiths, even as I recoiled from the reading assignments in english class… school sucked. I had my friend draw […]

Autumn Mix Irezumi

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On September 21, 2015

Every customer is just as important as the next one. “You are only as good as your last tattoo.” And yet, there is an added pressure when you know the tattoo will be seen more than others, or, when you know that you will see the tattoo more than others. But it is a pressure […]

Tenka Gomen; Kabuki Kumadori

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On August 10, 2015

Rememberin’ back when i knew every tattoo shop in town… Next came the era when I actually knew most of the tattooers… Of course i started tattooing in Amarillo, and spent the bulk of my career tattooing in Ft. Worth, and am now tattooing in Dallas, the big city, the Big D… But then again […]

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