Dan Henk
Daniel Jonathan Henk is an American artist and writer, noted for his work in tattooing and painting. He has produced record-album covers, political cartoons, controversial articles, and a variety of other media.
Growing up a disaffected army brat, his early life revolved around a punk rock 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 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, Indecision, Coalesce, Locked in a Vacancy, Beyond Reason, Zombie Apocalypse 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 ', Tattoo Prodigies 1, Tattoo Prodigies 2, and ' also took notice and included features on the young artist. 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.A new start
He moved to Austin, Texas 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,, 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, and then two years later back to Brooklyn, New York, 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, . 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. "" by Piers Anthony, "", "", "", ", "", ""."" and "".
His third novel, "" debuted in April 2019. 2023 saw the debut of his anthology
His second anthology debuted in 2025.
He currently runs the tattoo shop The Abyss in Long Beach, NY, and hosts