Whale Bone & Human Flesh

Bookmistress recently delivered me a copy of “Skin & Bones, Tattoos in the Life of the American Sailor”, a thin but nonetheless interesting little catalogue for an exhibition hosted at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philly.

The book describes a connection between scrimshaw and tattooing. Scrimshaw is essentially a carving made in whale bone or tooth. The carving is covered in ink, excess wiped away. Ink then remains in the grooves to define and emphasize the line work. It was a pastime for sailors aboard American whaling ships and likely lead to and/or existed side-by-side with hand-poked tattoos. It's easy to imagine someone with a sharp carving tool, a bottle of ink, and enough skill to apply strong, simple imagery on curved surfaces adapting their work from whale bone to a shipmate's arm.

Scrimshaw-inspired tattoo by Duke Riley

Duke Riley, a tattooer, scrimshaw artist, and all-around multi-disciplinary creative does some incredible work. I really like the texture and strength of his tattoos; they don't depend on color or whip-shading (in the traditional sense) for impact and completeness.

I wonder if the work of comic artist (or is that graphic novelist?) Charles Burns (who spent formative years in Seattle, a port city full of sailors) and poster/skate/surf artist Jim Phillips has been inspired by scrimshaw. They seem to have in common an almost-exclusive use of line to create lighting/dimension, an approach that might have evolved from carving-related arts like scrimshaw or woodblock.