Traditional Chinese and Japanese tattooing intimidate me; the sheer amount of historical knowledge required to even play at being more than a casual admirer is a lot to process in a single sitting.

When the opportunity arose to interview Joey Pang, one of the most well-versed artists tackling Chinese calligraphy as it translates in tattooing, I knew I had to seize the chance to risk looking stupid in the hopes she could enlighten me on such a broad topic. Read on to learn more about her approach to translating traditional calligraphy to skin, her continuing schooling in the subject–as well as a nice breakdown on a variety of–and you’ll have to excuse the use of such a non-PC term–’Asian styles’.

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