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The "sketchbooks or "sketchbook" as the name suggests, is a type of sketchbook. notebook used by artists for doodling or sketch drawings.
But in the tattooists' guild when talking about sketchbooks, the concept described above that refers to a block of sketches for personal use is not the only one that is worth.
In the old days, tattoo artists did what they could to train as professionals and there was no formal education of any kind. One of the resources who was already known in tattoo stores was the purchase and sale of tattoo flash (copies of series of tattoo artists' drawings) and is still in use today.
In the 1980s and 1990sThe Internet as we know it today did not yet exist. But photocopiers did, and they were becoming increasingly popular and affordable. So tattooists have started to organize their artistic production for tattoos in the form of folders of drawings almost always linear and then make black and white copies to give them a spiral binding. The cheapest and most practical type available at the time.
add photo of a xerox photocopier
At that time, mainly in the 1990s, the commercialization of these products became widespread. sketchbooks and in the 2000s it was even more common. Some more famous tattooists went so far as to formally edit and publish their sketchbooks. But almost all production and trade was underground.
There was no Google, Pinterest or Instagram and few tattoo magazines back then. Depending on the country or city you were in, there were hardly any magazines or they would all be imported, scarce and very expensive. E just as it happened with the tattoo flashtattoo artists have started to exchange or give sketchbooks to each other to learn from each other..
At present, there is still trade in sketchbooks and is becoming more formal, but there is still a long way to go. In many countries there are no specialized tattoo publishers and there is no choice but to self-publish.This requires time and money that not everyone has.
At the end almost all tattoo artists who print sketchbooks or other books of his authorship continue to do so in a more informal manner, without registration of intellectual property, legal deposit and ISBN..
As we are in the digital age, I am not sure if someday there will be more publishers dedicated to tattooing and supporting the artistic production of tattoo artists.. It's a pity, because illustrated tattoo books are sold and few of them have tattoo artists as authors or contributors..
I leave here a link to some of the few shops in Spain that sell tattoo books produced by tattoo artists.
https://www.intattooveritas.com/es/
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