Untitled ["tattoo" book] 1971

James McCracken Jr. made this page from a book of tattoo designs, probably sometime in the late twentieth century, with ink on paper. What's so interesting about the dancing skeleton in black, accented with those green skulls? Is it a bit playful or eerie? I imagine McCracken, inking each line with care, thinking about the bodies these designs would adorn. The stark contrast and the clean lines – there’s such a graphic quality to it. These skeletons are really alive and full of movement, aren’t they? I can imagine him considering not only how the image looks but how it feels on the skin. I bet McCracken felt like he was a part of a long tradition of artists who have used the body as a canvas, each adding their own voice and vision. Painting and tattooing - it’s all connected, a kind of exchange. Each one, in their own way, shows us how we keep talking to each other across time.