Monmon Cats!

[Gaven Kent]

Being a fan of all things cat related les me to find a book called Monmon Cats by Kazuaki Horitomo Kitamura. His work combines classic Japanese art with cats as the centrepiece. His artwork translates perfectly into tattooing and particularly the traditional Japanese method. I got my first tattoo rather late in life when I was 39 purely because it took me that long to create a design I was happy with and that was unique. Also finding an artist who's work I liked took time. When I found this book it made me realise that I dearly wanted images of my two cats done as tattoos but I wasn't sure how I wanted it. My artist has the ability to create a photo realistic image of my cats but I wanted something a little different. I'm going to have Carter and Hugo immortalised in ink on my right arm but done in the style of a pair of Monmon Cats with the additional designs that have a story behind them. Using this book as a reference and images of my cats I'm hopefully going to have the beginnings of a design that my artist can work on. Check out Monmon Cats and Kitamuras work and ideas online as the man is amazing and his work with cats so beautiful.