Kat Von D



Katherine von Drachenberg (born March 8, 1982),[1] [2]  best known as Kat Von D,[3]  is a Mexican-born, American tattoo artist, model, musician and television personality. She is best known for her work as a tattoo artist on the TLC reality television show LA Ink, which premiered August 7, 2007, in the United States and ran for four seasons.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Early life  ==Early life[edit] == Kat Von D was born in Monterrey,[4]  Nuevo León, in Mexico.[1]  Her missionary[5]  parents, father René and mother Sylvia[1]  or Silvia[6]  Galeano, were born in Argentina,[1] [7] of German, Italian and Spanish descent, respectively.[1]  Von D has a sister, Karoline<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-chronicles22_8-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8]  and a brother, Michael.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-chronicles22_8-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8]  She moved with her family to the Los Angeles area at age 4 and grew up in Colton, California.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-officialsite_1-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[1]  Von D was classically trained in piano beginning at age 6.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-geist_9-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  She particularly appreciates Ludwig van Beethoven.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-geist_9-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]
 * 2 Career
 * 3 Personal life
 * 4 Media
 * 5 Television
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Kat Von D credits her grandmother, Clara von Drachenberg, as an inspiration for her in music and art,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10]  and the Latino culture of Los Angeles as a major influence on her tattoo art and style.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]  She began listening to the Ramones, Misfits and other punk rock bands at the age of 12. She got her first tattoo at 14 and quit school at 16 to become a tattoo artist.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-cooper_5-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12] ==Career<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;">[edit] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Von D was asked to work at 305 Ink in Miami<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  when Darren Brass broke his elbow,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14]  preventing him from tattooing. She appeared in two seasons of Miami Ink, thereality TV show taped there for the cable network TLC. She had a falling out with Ami James which led to her being asked to leave the shop.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-cnint_15-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">She subsequently acquired her own TLC series, LA Ink, which chronicled her work at her tattoo shop, High Voltage Tattoo, in Hollywood, California. On the show, she gained the Guinness World Record of most tattoos given by a single person in 24 hours, with a total of 400.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[16]  Accomplished in December 2007, it involved a Von D-designed logo for the city of Los Angeles, with proceeds going to the children's-blindness charity Vitamin Angels.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-tattoocom_17-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[17]  Her record was subsequently broken by her ex-husband, Oliver Peck (415) on June 13, 2008,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-tattoocom_17-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[17]  followed by others; as of November 2008 the record is held by Hollis Cantrell from Artistic Tattoo in Phoenix, Arizona, with 801.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[18]  LA Ink ran four seasons, ending September 15, 2011; TLC announced the cancellation on August 18, 2011.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[19]  Von D maintained on her Twitter page that it was she who chose "to not continue doing LA Ink".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Her first book, High Voltage Tattoo, compiling her artworks and tattoos, with a foreword by Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx, was released in January 2009 and reached #6 on The New York Times Best Seller list.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[21]  Von D described the book as "not an autobiography, you know, 'cause I'm too young to do that. But this is just kind of like a picture-driven outline of my career as an artist. So, you see everything from my drawings when I was six to tattoos that have never before been seen."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[22]  Her second book, The Tattoo Chronicles, an illustrated diary following a year in her life, was released October 26, 2010, and reached #3 on The New York Times "Hardcover Advice & Misc." best-seller list.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[23]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2008, Von D created and launched a make-up line for Sephora.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-officialsite_1-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[1]  She has released new collections every year and has expanded her line to include fragrances. In 2012, through Sephora, her New American Beauty Art Tour benefitted the Art of Elysium charitable organization.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[24]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">She is the creator of the MusInk Tattoo Convention and Music Festival,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[25] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[26]  which began in 2008.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[27]  Musink is an all ages Tattoo, Music, and Art festival located in Southern California.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">On September 2, 2010, Von D opened the art gallery and boutique Wonderland Gallery in the space next door to High Voltage Tattoo.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[28]  She launched the clothing lines KVD Los Angeles and Kat Von D Los Angeles in the US and Canada in fall 2011, with the latter expanding internationally the following year.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[29]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Kat Von D provided the female vocals to the song "Rosary Blue" on X, a 2012 studio album by the Finnish Gothic Rock band The 69 Eyes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Blistering_30-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[30]  In August 2013, she tweeted that Dave Grohl and producer Danny Lohner had finished two tracks of an album she had talked about recording as early as 2011.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[31] ==Personal life<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;">[edit] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Von D married fellow tattoo artist Oliver Peck in 2003.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[32]  They separated in August 2007,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-steve-o_33-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[33]  and finalized their divorce later that year.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-34" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[34]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In July 2007 Von D decided to quit drinking after it started to threaten her work.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-35" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[35]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">From February 2008 until January 2010, Von D dated Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-36" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[36] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-37" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[37]  She subsequently began dating motorcycle customizer, West Coast Choppers CEO and reality TV personality Jesse James.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-steve-o_33-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[33]  On August 19, 2010, Von D confirmed media reports that she and James were dating, tweeting, "I think it's pretty obvious that we're dating."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-38" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[38]  Von D and James became engaged in January 2011.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-engagement_39-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[39]  Von D announced that they had split in July 2011.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-split_40-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[40] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-41" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[41]  However, in August 2011, Von D and James announced that their engagement was back on.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-42" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[42]  In September 2011, Von D announced that she and James had broken up again.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-43" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[43]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In September 2012, Von D began dating Canadian music producer Joel Zimmerman, known professionally as Deadmau5,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-44" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[44]  and gave him a star tattoo below his eye to match her own.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Deadmau5_and_Kat_von_D_break_up_45-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[45]  They broke up in November 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Deadmau5_and_Kat_von_D_break_up_45-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[45]  However, on December 15, 2012, Zimmerman proposed to Von D over Twitter, and she accepted, becoming engaged to him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-46" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[46]  In June 2013, Von D announced that she and Zimmerman had ended their engagement. Von D cited Zimmerman's alleged infidelity as the reason.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-47" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[47]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Von D has tattooed herself with the emblems of the bands HIM, Misfits, Turbonegro, ZZ Top, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Slayer, Mike Got Spiked and "Slutallica", a modified Metallica logo.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-geist_9-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  She appeared in the music video of HIM's "Killing Loneliness", as well as Alkaline Trio's "Help Me". Other musical artists that Von D lists among her favorites include The Mars Volta and Selena.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-48" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[48] ==Media<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;">[edit] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Von D was referred to in the Eagles of Death Metal song "High Voltage", which was named after her shop and is featured on their third album, Heart On. In an interview, Eagles of Death Metal's Jesse Hughes said, "I wrote that for Kat Von D, because that girl's bad ass."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Powers2008-11-05_49-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[49] ==Television<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;">[edit] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">As well as cameos and various chat show appearances, TV, film, and video game appearances include:


 * Pimp My Ride, 2004
 * Miami Ink, 2005–2006
 * LA Ink, 2007–2011
 * MADtv, April 5, 2008
 * Bam Margera Presents: Where the ♯[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bam_Margera_Presents:_Where_the_%E2%99%AF$%26%25_Is_Santa%3F Bam Margera Presents: Where the ♯$&% Is Santa?]% Is Santa?, 2008
 * The Bleeding as Vanya<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-five_50-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[50]