Planning to get some Russian style work done in the somewhat near future...Makes a great deal of western traditional and Japanese style work pale in comparison. There's some great books available with drawings & photos by Danzig Baldaev, a prison guard who documented the work he saw...
Apparently, when the work is done in prison, ink is made from melted rubber (from the soles of boots or tyres) and the tattoo guns are made from toothbrushes,guitar strings & motors from cassette players.
The film 'Eastern Promises' shed some light on this kind of work, but I think they should have gone into greater detail about it....
http://vimeo.com/14960241
