West Village Tattoo Shop Maintains Counter-Culture Tradition

Moon Sheen, a tattoo shop in New York City's Greenwich Village, opened up about four months ago. In that short amount of time, Chang, the owner says he feels like their shop stands out among the rest even in a city crowded with tattoo shops.

Any success the shop sees will, of course,  be due in part to the artists working at Moon Sheen.  Jonny Boy, a tattooist working at the shop, told us that when it came to the art of tattooing that it was most important to keep the style simple, clean and bold. This, he said, is what gives a tattoo longevity.

Jon Boy also had some criticisms for the tattoo industry. He said that nowadays it's too easy for anybody to get a tattoo kit off the internet, set up shop and call themselves a tattoo artist. He feels they should have to apprentice under a respected artist, spend time learning the history of the art, and learn it from the ground up. That, he said, is happening too infrequently.

When asked for advice for would-be tattoo artists Chang told IBTimesTV, "When you love it, people realize how much you love it, how much you have a passion, so I'll always try to do a good job and they're always coming back."