Don Ed Hardy was a pupil of Sailor Jerry and was identified for his technical brilliance and mesmerizing imagery, incorporating Japanese tattoo aesthetic and technique to his work. He melds American, Japanese, Cholo, Tattoo, Surf and hot rod iconography.

With 40 years of tattooing and a legendary status among the tattoo world, Don Ed Hardy is known as the "Godfather of modern tattoo", for his sophistication, depth and sense of experimentation.

In 2000 he completed a 500ft long scroll painting of 2000 dragons in honour of the turn of the Millennium and the Dragon year. The scroll has been showed at many celebrated galleries and museums ever since.

Hardy Pioneered the pop culture tattoo-as-art space decades before the worldwide boom in tattoo art.

In 2004, Christian Audigier licensed the rights to produce a high end Ed Hardy clothing line, which is according to Hardy's imagery. The line is currently celebrated amongst celebrities from models to musicians, from film stars to footballers, and now some suppliers have brought this line into the UK in gift form.