Ed Hardy

Tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy was born in Costa Mesa, California in 1945. He was the first Western tattoo artist to incorporate Japanese tattoo aesthetic and technique into his work and is an accomplished fine artist, as well.

Don Ed Hardy spent his youth in the Southern California community of Corona Del Mar. His interest in art, and more specifically tattooing began at an early age. As a child, he and his friends would take the 25 mile bus trip up to The Pike in Long Beach to hang out at tattoo shops where he would do copy flash and do fake tattoos on other kids with colored pencil. After several years of hanging around tattoo shops his interest in tattooing became secondary to his interest in the Kustom Kulture scene, which he was involved in until he graduated high school.

After high school Hardy attended and graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute, receiving his B.F.A. in Printmaking in 1967. While he was in school his interest in tattooing re-emerged and he started learning to tattoo, studying with artist Phil Sparrow of Oakland. It was during this time that he was married for the first time, as well.