The latest addition to the lineup of tattoo shop reality television shows is the brand-new LA INK, produced by The Learning Channel. This is a spin-off from the highly-successful show MIAMI INK. As you can guess from the title, this time the tattoo action is taking place on the West Coast. This should make for a good location as the entire West Coast is very supportive of tattoo culture.
The setting for this show is the LA tattoo shop High Voltage Tattoo. The hook for this series is female tattoo artist Kat Von D. She was originally part of the shop crew on MIAMI INK, starting on that show in 2005, but following a falling out with Miami shop owner Ami James in 2007, she decided to leave the West Palm Beach studio. The Learning Channel producers obviously recognized how popular a "character" she had become and offered her the chance at her own series.This is a very interesting development as tattooing is still often a male-dominated field and this will provide a major glimpse into the life of a woman tattoo artist. Of Argentinean and German descent, Katherine Von Drachtenberg (her full name) was born in Mexico and first came to the US at the age of four, growing up in California. She first took up professional tattooing at the age of 16 and has worked for well-known studios in Los Angeles and Dallas, Texas as well as the West Palm Beach, Florida.
The television show will follow a similar format to its Miami forebearer in that it will document the day-to-day activities of the tattoo parlor and the artists who work there. There will also be features on the tattoo clientele who patronize the shop and the background stories behind the artwork they are choosing and getting tattooed. Working alongside Kat will be tattoo artists Pixie Acia, Hannah Aitchison, Corey Miller and Kim Saigh.
For more information about LA INK:
LA Ink from TLC - new episodes run Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. Eastern/9 p.m. Central time
