Kat Von D, 1982

                                                                                                                                            Quynhnhu Cao

   Kat Von D is an American tattoo artist and television artist. She specializes in incredibly fine line black and gray portraits, and has designed portraits of many celebrities. Kat was born in Nuevo Leon, Mexico.  She moved to Colton, California at age 4 with her parents. She speaks fluent Spanish. Her last name is a part of her father's German heritage.

   Her talent for tattooing first became evident when she performed her very first design. Kat dropped out of school to pursue her tattoo career at age 14. In an interview, she said that she was “hanging out with a bunch of punk rock kids from around town, and one of the guys had a homemade setup, and he would tattoo all of us.” On one day she did a Misfits tattoo on him and she loved it. She was hooked.

   She managed to get a job at a seedy studio in San Bernardino at age 16. She spent 2 years putting her designs on her friends and her neighbors. She got her first full time job at "Sin City Tattoo" in Colton, California, in 1998. After she had a falling out with Ami James, her boss, which led to her being asked to leave the shop, she returned to Hollywood and came to star in LA Ink. LA Ink is a show which has now overtaken its competitor in popularity and ratings. Kat is best known for her work as a tattoo artist on the TLC reality television show LA Ink. LA Ink has helped bring the tattoo culture to much wider audiences. She is the only female artist to begin her television career on an original show. The show is called “Miami Ink”.

   In an interview here is what Kat said about Miami Ink: “Monotonous and repetitive. The guys weren’t willing to involve their real life in the show, whereas I promised myself, aside from my divorce, I would talk about anything. People can relate to you more when you’re real and show your imperfections. I’m an open book. Our show is more rock ‘n’ roll and honest. I don’t have any control over what is edited or what the final outcome is, so in the end they can use whatever they want. There is definitely some footage out there where I’m wasted out of my mind, crying and really talking about gnarly shit. Thank God they didn’t use it. The first time I was on Miami Ink I said I dropped out of high school at 14, after two weeks. Then I get 12-year-olds telling me they want to drop out of school and be a tattooer too. I was like, ‘Fuck!’ That is not something I promote at all. For me, it was an exception.”

    Despite her success, Kat has faced many criticisms from fellow artists and tattoo enthusiasts who claim she has glamorized the business in order to promote her works. However, I think she is a talented tattoo artist, and she doesn't glamorize business to promote her works. In fact, she isn’t driven for status or money because she was successful before the show. She supports much of her family and wants to bring her mom from Mexico to United States. She likes to open peoples' minds on the show.

   People may criticize her because she is very successful. She is one young lady who has realized more in her short career than many have in an entire life-time.  Still only 28 years old, she became the owner of a successful Hollywood Studio. She created her own clothing and accessories line and designed a make-up for Sephora and the creator of the MusInk Tattoo Convention and Music Festival. She also published a best-selling book featuring a collection of her artwork and her personal photographs.  Her book named, "High Voltage Tattoo," was released in January 2009 and reached number 6 on the New York Times best seller list. When she tattooed a host of celebrities on Miami Ink, she even broke a Guinness world record by tattooing 400 people in 24 hours. She tattooed on herself the logos of many bands such as Misfits, HIM, Turbonegro, ZZ Top, Gun N' Rosesx, AC/DC, Slayer, Mike Got Spiked and "Slutallica", a modified Metallica logo.

   Kat is known for her down to earth character and incredibly perceptive nature when it comes to tattooing. Her bedside manner is legendary among her customers and many turn to her for emotional pictures of friends and their dear ones. Kat Von D has lifted tattoo into the American mainstream.  Many people accept tattoos now but not everyone such as my parents and me.

   She does very realistic art for her tattoos. Her tattoo pictures look impressive. For example, when I saw her cat tattoo, I didn't realize the difference between her tattooing and the real picture.  When I saw the girl picture, I felt the eyes of the girl displaying an innocence and tragedy that hits the hearts of onlookers through  delicate shading around her hair. Kat is really known for doing tattoos of famous people. The patience and dedication required to create an impressive portrait is one of the main reasons that she is at the top of her game.         

   I think Kat is important in American culture because her tattoos of people are a way others can show their individuality. When I visited her tattoo galleries, I saw everything from gnomes to religious figures to the little boy dressed like a sailor. I think she is very talented because her works look realistic and I admired seeing beautiful tattoos even though I would not get a tattoo myself. I am afraid of the pain, and also my parents believe people who get tattoos are gangsters. However, many Vietnamese in Vietnam and the United States cultures have tattoos. For example, I have seen 30-40 year old Vietnamese Americans with tattoos of words that mean hero or strong on their arms, ankles, lower legs, the lower part of the neck, and the lower part of the back.

  Here are some celebrities protraits: