Black & Grey as a style

Black & Grey tattooing has it’s roots in prison and because tattooing in prison is illegal, inmates had to create their own pigment by making carbon and mixing it with the client’s urine. Making their own machines from salvaged parts, this pigment was used to tattoo and diluting it also allowed for different shades of black, this with the tattooing technique of using primitive machines, created astounding black & grey images.  This style of tattooing was influenced heavily by the gang culture on the West Coast of America, using images such as typography, woman, gang signs, cars etc.  This style of tattooing moved into the mainstream where we now see many forms of tattooing interpreted in black & grey, from bio-mechanical to Japanese traditional etc.