Illustrator, Fine Artist

Shawn Barber

Fine Art / Personal Works
Tattoo Portfolio

Shawn's signature brushwork has appeared in advertising, music, magazines, children's books, corporate, entertainment and newspapers. Partic...ularly recognized for his portrait work, he has been honored by American Illustration, The Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, RSVP, and The Artist's Magazine among others. Articles and reviews of his work have appeared in ArtNews, Juxtapoz Magazine, The Artist's Magazine, International Tattoo Magazine, Tattoo Artist Magazine, and SF Weekly. His work has been featured in Taschen Books' "Illustration Now" and "1000 Best Web Portfolios", Harper Collins' "The Big Book of Illustration Ideas", Mark Murphy's "Dialogue Book", Schiffer Publishing's "I Love Tattoos", and Outre Gallery Press' "Tattoo Parlour".

Commercial clients include: Nike, Target, Google, Atlantic Records, T.E.D. Conference, Gatorade, Subway, Maxim, Scholastic Books, Elektra Records, American Airlines, Converse, Bulleit,NBC,The Grammy Awards, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone magazine, Psychology Today, Verizon T-Mobile, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, The Progressive, NYU School of Law, GQ, Sports Illustrated, Utne Reader, The Source, The Washington Post, MTV Networks, Saks Fifth Ave, TBWA, Yoga Journal, Woodward West / Woodward East, Tres Records / Johnson and Jonson, Call of Duty, Sarofsky, space150, Creature Skateboards, Nitro Snowboards, Rockstar Energy, Business Week, The Village Voice and the Wall Street Journal.

Shawn Barber's body of work focuses primarily on painting, portraiture, and documenting contemporary tattoo culture. Barber’s intimate renditions of tattooed individuals balance both meticulous brush strokes and loose energy. Figurative in nature, these large paintings take on abstractions with explosive colors, meandering lines and paint dripping down the canvas. In 'The Tattooed Portraits Series', Shawn has created an homage and study of modern tattooing through painting portraits of tattooists and artists, tattooist's at work, their tools and environments.

Shawn earned his B.F.A from Ringling College of Art in 1999 and A.A.S. from Cazenovia College in 1997. His paintings are held in private collections throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, Europe and Australia. His paintings have been exhibited in diverse solo and group venues including: Somerset House Museum, London, UK; Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Halle Saint Pierre Museum, Paris; Pinnacles Gallery, Queensland, Australia; Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Mesa, AZ; Artspace, Shreveport, LA; Joshua Liner Gallery, NYC, NY; Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA; Southern Illinois University Museum, Carbondale, IL; and the University of Houston, Houston, TX.

Among his extensive achievements, he has taught drawing, painting and the business of art for 16 years at various art schools throughout the country. After years of documenting the art of tattoo, it was a logical progression to pick up the tattoo machine and add tattooist to his resume.

In 2009, Shawn and his girlfriend Kim Saigh, opened Memoir Tattoo in Los Angeles, CA. His most recent fine art book, 'Memoir : The Tattooed Portraits Series' a 256 page hardcover visual tome, published by Last Gasp Books, was released in July 2012.
Show more

  • Images
  • Galleries
  • Shawn Barber
    'BKS Iyengar' for Yoga Journal Magazine
    'BKS Iyengar' for Yoga Journal Magazine,2005
    Shawn Barber - 'BKS Iyengar' for Yoga Journal Magazine
  • Shawn Barber
    Cesar Dog Food and Tattoos
    Illustration for Cesar dog food
    Shawn Barber - Cesar Dog Food and Tattoos
  • Shawn Barber
    Artist Series, Ad campaign for Converse
    Artist Series, Ad campaign for Converse 2005
    Shawn Barber - Artist Series, Ad campaign for Converse
  • Shawn Barber
    Carl Perkins for Rolling Stone Magazine
    Shawn Barber - Carl Perkins for Rolling Stone Magazine
  • Shawn Barber
    National Labor Federation Calendar
    National Labor Federation Calendar, 2006
    Shawn Barber - National Labor Federation Calendar
  • Shawn Barber
    President Barack Obama for Wall Street Journal
    'Portrait of President Elect Barack Obama' for Wall Street Journal's Inauguration Issue, 2009
    Shawn Barber - President Barack Obama for Wall Street Journal
  • Shawn Barber
    Louis Jordan for Rolling Stone Magazine
    Shawn Barber - Louis Jordan for Rolling Stone Magazine
  • Shawn Barber
    National Labor Federation Calendar
    Shawn Barber - National Labor Federation Calendar
  • Shawn Barber
    Tupac Shakur for Rolling Stone Magazine
    Shawn Barber - Tupac Shakur for Rolling Stone Magazine
  • Shawn Barber
    Puscifer Band Poster
    Concert poster for the band, Puscifer, 2016
    Shawn Barber - Puscifer Band Poster
  • Shawn Barber
    Stance Socks
    'Tattoo Artist Series', for Stance Socks, 2019
    Shawn Barber - Stance Socks
  • Shawn Barber
    Rockstar Energy Drink Tattoo Campaign
    Shawn Barber - Rockstar Energy Drink Tattoo Campaign
  • Shawn Barber
    American Prospect Cover
    Cover art for The American Prospect magazine, with a re-creation of a Delacroix painting, depicting George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, 2000
    Shawn Barber - American Prospect Cover
  • Shawn Barber
    Scholastic Books Illustrations
    'Diamond Land', Narrative illustrations for Scholastic Books, 2003
    Shawn Barber - Scholastic Books Illustrations
  • Shawn Barber
    Nike / Kevin Durant NBA
    '10 Custom hand painted wooden shoe box tops for a special release of Kevin Durant's Nike KDX 10 year anniversary shoe / Nike and space150, 2017
    Shawn Barber - Nike / Kevin Durant NBA
  • Shawn Barber
    Nike NBA Campaign
    Social Media campaign for Nike NBA and space150 / Overnight portraits of NBA playoff moments / Kevin Durant and Draymond Green meme, 2017
    Shawn Barber - Nike NBA Campaign
  • Shawn Barber
    Nike NBA Campaign
    Social Media campaign for Nike NBA and space150 / Overnight portraits of NBA playoff moments / Lebron James / Isaiah Thomas, 2017
    Shawn Barber - Nike NBA Campaign
  • Shawn Barber
    SRQ Magazine Portraits
    Various industry professional's, painted for a series of roundtable discussions, for SRQ magazine, 2002-2003
    Shawn Barber - SRQ Magazine Portraits
  • Shawn Barber
    Subway / MLB
    'MLB Coaches Willie Randolph and Joe Torre', for Subway, 2006
    Shawn Barber - Subway / MLB
  • Shawn Barber
    TED Conference Portraits
    52 portraits for The T.E.D. Conference, 2003
    Shawn Barber - TED Conference Portraits
  • Shawn Barber
    ACDC's Angus Young for The Grammy Awards
    Shawn Barber - ACDC's Angus Young for The Grammy Awards
  • Shawn Barber
    Psychologist Portraits
    56 Psychologist's Portraits for Psychology College Textbook, W.H. Freeman / Macmillan Publishers, 2013-2016
    Shawn Barber - Psychologist Portraits
  • Shawn Barber
    Corinne Bailey Rae for the Grammy Awards
    Shawn Barber - Corinne Bailey Rae for the Grammy Awards
  • Shawn Barber
    Elvis Costello for Vancouver Magazine
    Shawn Barber - Elvis Costello for Vancouver Magazine
  • Shawn Barber
    Tank Garage Winery
    'Custom Wine Labels', for Tank Garage Winery, Napa Valley, CA, 2015-2017
    Shawn Barber - Tank Garage Winery
  • Shawn Barber
    Peyton Manning for Gatorade
    Shawn Barber - Peyton Manning for Gatorade
  • Shawn Barber
    Margaret Cho, Cho Dependent
    Margaret Cho's 'Cho Dependent', Album art usage, 2010
    Shawn Barber - Margaret Cho, Cho Dependent
  • Shawn Barber
    Paris Tattoo Convention Poster
    'Mondial du Tatouage, Paris', Official Poster for annual Tattoo Convention in Paris, 2018
    Shawn Barber - Paris Tattoo Convention Poster
  • Shawn Barber
    Puscifer Album Art
    Artwork for the band, Puscifer's 'Apocalyptical' Single, 2020
    Shawn Barber - Puscifer Album Art
  • Shawn Barber
    Bulleit Bourbon
    'Tattoo Edition Limited Bottle Artist Series, Los Angeles', for Bulleit Bourbon, 2018
    Shawn Barber - Bulleit Bourbon
  • Shawn Barber
    Call of Duty
    Call of Duty Modern Warfare players, 2019
    Shawn Barber - Call of Duty
  • Shawn Barber
    Call of Duty
    Call of Duty Modern Warfare players, 2019
    Shawn Barber - Call of Duty
  • Shawn Barber
    United Airlines
    Shawn Barber - United Airlines
  • Shawn Barber
    XXL Magazine
    Rapper's playing basketball for XXL Magazine
    Shawn Barber - XXL Magazine
  • Shawn Barber
    'Ralph Johnstone's Flash Study 1'
    'Ralph Johnstone's Flash Study 1', oil on panel, 30” x 40”, 2020, Personal Work This piece was inspired by the hand painted flash of Chicago’s pioneering tattooist Ralph Johnstone.
    Shawn Barber - 'Ralph Johnstone's Flash Study 1'
  • Shawn Barber
    Pharoah's Horses Study
    'Pharoah's Horses Study (after John Frederick Herring and Sailor Jerry), 2020, oil on panel, 24" x 36", Personal Work
    Shawn Barber - Pharoah's Horses Study
  • Shawn Barber
    The Great Omi
    ‘The Great Omi Head Study’, oil on canvas panel, 10” x 8”, 2020, Personal Work Horace Ridler, AKA The Great Omi was a professional freak and sideshow performer from the 1930’s, his iconic ‘zebra’ inspired patterns tattooed by the legendary English tattooist, George Burchett.
    Shawn Barber - The Great Omi
  • Shawn Barber
    'No Mask, No Entry (featuring The Great Omi)'
    'No Mask, No Entry (featuring The Great Omi)', oil on panel, 16" x 12", 2020, Personal Work The world was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. A sign for the times.
    Shawn Barber - 'No Mask, No Entry (featuring The Great Omi)'
  • Shawn Barber
    Johnson & Jonson / Blu & Mainframe
    Album and Merch, Art usage, Tres Records, Johnson & Jonson / Blu & Mainframe, 2008
    Shawn Barber - Johnson & Jonson / Blu & Mainframe
  • Shawn Barber
    Q Drum Co.
    Custom Hand Painted Mahogany Snare Drum for Q Drum Co., 2016
    Shawn Barber - Q Drum Co.
  • Shawn Barber
    Creature Skateboards, Artist signature series
    Creature Skateboards, Artist signature series, 2018
    Shawn Barber - Creature Skateboards, Artist signature series
  • Shawn Barber
    Creature Skateboards, Artist signature series
    Creature Skateboards, Artist signature series, 2018
    Shawn Barber - Creature Skateboards, Artist signature series
  • Shawn Barber
    Legendary Tattoo Pioneer Don Ed Hardy
    Shawn Barber
  • Shawn Barber
    JD Crowe
    Shawn Barber - JD Crowe
  • Main 44 files

In the News

News For Shawn Barber