Pre-order your copy today and save 20% off both the hardcover and softcover books. Plus, the first 200 orders will receive an exclusive, limited-edition Mike Austin Flash Sheet. 

Good Guy is proudly giving 100% of all book sales back to Ned and his project, "The Canadian Electric Tattoo Scene"

Pre-Sale books will ship early Fall 2026

Canada has a rich and colourful tattoo history still waiting to be fully told. This three-book series will feature 375 Canadian tattoo artists and the lasting history they helped shape. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us — and of each other.

This project began in 2008, when I started interviewing tattoo artists across Canada. Since then, I’ve travelled coast to coast twice and dedicated thousands of hours to documenting this history. The goal is to publish the complete project by 2028.

What originally began as a single book evolved into a three-volume series due to the incredible number of artists and stories uncovered along the way. Each volume will feature profiles of Canadian tattoo artists from different eras:

• Volume One: 1900 – 1970s
• Volume Two: 1980 – 2000
• Volume Three: 2000 – 2025

About the Author

Ned Burwell is a veteran tattooist from Southern Ontario with over 30 years of professional experience. His interest in tattooing started at an early age. After receiving a tattoo magazine from a friend, he did his first hand-poke tattoo at 10 years old in 1985. He continued to tattoo throughout his teen years and became the bane of his childhood friends' parents. By the time he turned 17, he had acquired professional equipment and received help getting started from a small handful of older tattooists working in Woodstock and Toronto. In 1997, while getting a tattoo with Mike Austin, he called Mack Bregg and asked if he would help Ned by building him some tattoo machines. Mack had Ned come to Kingston to build his machines with him, and soon after, he became his mentor and friend.

Ned’s interest in tattoo history came after hearing Mack tell stories, and it deepened after meeting Jerry Swallow in 1997 and then doing a guest spot at his shop in 1998. In 1999, Ned used to visit his old high school once a year to teach a lesson in Canadian tattoo history. Officially, he started documenting tattoo history nearly 30 years ago, but the book project started in 2008. In Volume Two of the book series, Ned will share his personal history.