Daniel Jonathan Henk (born December 11, 1972) is an American artist and writer, noted for his work in

tattooing A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the Human skin, skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of ...

and painting. He has produced record-album covers,

political cartoons A political cartoon, also known as an editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically co ...

, controversial articles, and a variety of other media. Growing up a disaffected army brat, his early life revolved around a

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

subculture that included bouts of homelessness and societal rejection.

Early life

His beginning career included drawing political cartoons for ''Madcap Magazine'' and Maximum Rock and Roll. In 1997, after a violent car crash and a

knife fight A knife fight is a violent physical confrontation between two or more combatants in which one or more participants are armed with a knife.MacYoung, Marc, ''Winning A Street Knife Fight'', (Digital format, 70 min.), Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, ( ...

with a crackhead that severed the tendon on his left thumb, he attended art school. He received commercial and gallery acclaim and moved to New York City. Immersing himself in the local hardcore scene, he produced artwork for the bands

Shai Hulud Shai Hulud is an American metalcore band formed in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1995, and later based in Poughkeepsie, New York. The band is named after the giant sandworms in Frank Herbert's novel ''Dune''. The two mainstay members of Shai Hulu ...

, Indecision, Coalesce,'' Locked in a Vacancy'', ''Beyond Reason'',

Zombie Apocalypse Zombie apocalypse is a subgenre of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction in which society collapses due to overwhelming swarms of zombies. Usually, only a few individuals or small bands of human survivors are left living. There are many d ...

and various local venues.

Commercial success and tragedy

In 2000, he started tattooing, initially working on many musician friends. A year later, in September 2001, he was stricken with brain cancer and underwent surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. During chemotherapy, he returned to his art projects with renewed fervor. Three months later, he married fellow tattoo artist Monica Castillo. After a brief venture down south, that included owning a short-lived tattoo shop, he returned to Manhattan and applied himself to art full-time. A productive period followed, with his work appearing in several tattoo magazines and more fine art-influenced outlets such as ''Aphrodesia'' and ''The Tarot Project''. Tattoo-related books such as
No Regrets: The Best, Worst, & Most #$%*ing Ridiculous Tattoos Ever
', Tattoo Prodigies 1, Tattoo Prodigies 2, and
Inside the Tattoo Circus: A Journey Through the Modern World of Tattoos
' also took notice and included features on the young artist.Bostonist – Boston Tattoo Convention
Tragedy struck again in 2007, as his wife of 6 years, Monica Henk, was killed by an SUV while driving a motorcycle. Despite extensive coverage in the local media and vigorous campaigns by both the tattoo and motorcycle communities, the culprit was never found. TM 27

A new start

He moved to

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

for three years to re-evaluate his career, and a heavy spate of activity followed. He started doing a regular comic strip entitled "Rollo & Me" for Tattoo Artist Magazine, illustrations for Black Static Magazine, Splatterpunk Zine, and This is Horror. His first novel
The Black Seas of Infinity
was published by Anarchy Books in 2011. A limited edition chapbook entitled " Christmas Is Cancelled" came out courtesy of Splatterpunk in 2013. Relocating yet again, this time to

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and then two years later back to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, he's currently writing, illustrating, and tattooing. He started writing a regular column for Tattoo Revue and Skin Art magazines in 2014. Permuted Press re-released The Black Seas of Infinity in April 2015, and a collection of his short stories
Down Highways in the Dark...by Demons Driven
He continued his work for independent magazines, doing art for Red Door Magazine, The Horror Zine, Litro Magazine, Out Of Step, and the British horror zine Splatterpunk. Books started to feature his artwork on their covers.
The Sopaths
by Piers Anthony,
Splatterpunks Not Dead
,
Splatterpunk Fighting Back
,
Past Indiscretions
,
Bloodstains

Insatiable
,
The Flood

Tales for Dark Hours
and
The Red Death
. His third novel,
The End of the World
debuted in April 2019. 2023 saw the debut of his antholog
The Never Dead
His second antholog
The Joke is on Mankind
debuted in 2025. He currently runs the tattoo shop The Abyss in Long Beach, NY, and host
the Skull Session podcast

References

External links

Official SiteThird Dimension podcastAustin-Arts InterviewTattmag InterviewAwesomegang InterviewThis Is Horror InterviewNF Reads InterviewInterskart FeatureBook Reader MagazineRed Door Magazine InterviewPaul Semel Interview

Tattoo Media Ink Music Influence, Art & MoreTattoo Media Ink Illustrating Books & MagazinesFrequency 99 Podcast

Reality Tonic Podcast1095 podcastDLS InterviewPlayful Human InterviewThe Chris Voss PodcastWhat's Kraken podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henk, Dan 1972 births American tattoo artists Living people Artists from New York (state) American male tattoo artists