Mark's Dueling Sugar Skulls

On a Sunday back in July, I met Mark on the subway. He chose to share these tattoos among the many he has:





Full disclosure: it was this encounter that taught me an important lesson - my voice recorder doesn't do well on the subway.

I was able to ascertain that these companion pieces were inked with specific meanings. The blue tattoo on the right arm has the subtext of a break-up. Juxtaposed with that is the red piece which represents the rise of artistic expression.

These nearly-mirror image tattoos were credited to Shaun Carroll at Hod Rod Tattoo in Blackburg, Virginia.




Thanks to Mark for sharing these tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Mark's Dueling Sugar Skulls

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-sunday-back-in-july-i-met-mark-on.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Gabby and Carter, Forever in eBaum's World

At the end of August, I spotted a couple near the entrance to Penn Station on Seventh Avenue. The woman had a bunch of tattoos, the man did not appear to have any. When I interviewed them, it turned out that the guy did have a tattoo on his arm - one that corresponded to a piece in the center of his companion's chest. Here's a peek:




Our chat was a little bit rambling, but here are the highlights:


Me: What are your guys' names?

Woman: Gabby. Carter.

Me: Gabby and Carter?

Carter: Yes.

Gabby: Forever.

Me: Forever? How long you guys been together?

Gabby: Like, two years.

Me: So, what is that, it's a heart and a...

Gabby and Carter: It's eBaum's World.

Gabby: It's a website.


Carter: It's been around forever ... like YouTube.




Me: So that's just like the logo? The heart?

Carter: And the little globe, I got that.

Gabby: I did that tattoo on him.

Me: You tattooed that on him? Then who did yours?

Gabby: My friend, Nick. We're not friends anymore...

Me: Well, the two of them go together, that's cool.

Carter works for eBaum's world, which can best be described as a site for videos, like YouTube, but with more of a CollegeHumor.com slant. It's not just videos, but jokes, blogs, photos and games.

Thanks to Gabby and Carter for sharing these companion tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Gabby and Carter, Forever in eBaum's World

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/11/at-end-of-august-i-spotted-couple-near.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Al Shares Two for Tattoosday, Including a Rare Sole Tattoo

Back in August I received an email from Al, one of the thousands of people that commutes in and out of Penn Station on a daily basis.

As a reader of Tattoosday, Al recognized that a lot of my inkspotting occurred in this major transit hub and he had recently thought he saw me there. Of course, this was quite feasible, as I generally pass through Penn during my lunch hour, as well as before and after work.

He also sent me some photos and, as occasionally happens, the e-mail from Al got buried in the deluge known as my inbox.

But we are excavating it here to share some of Al's ink. I'll let him do the heavy lifting....


"... I often read your blog and I especially love the stories you include about how you ran in to each person or convinced them to show you their tattoos or whatever it was.  Also the fact that you include the artist info (when you can) is amazing!  So thanks, and keep up the good work!

... [Included are] pictures of two of my tattoos that are especially fun for me, and in their own ways, unique.  The first at the top of my back, and it's an image of a jaw harp done as if it were an old-school traditional piece.




If you haven't heard of a jaw harp (also called Jew's harp, trump, mouth harp, etc...) check it out!  It's a very simple instrument that has a place in indigenous cultures all around the world...and it's one of the most ridiculous and fun instruments I've ever played.  I especially love that it's considered something of a "low class" instrument in most cultures.  Sort of the underdog of the musical world!  This piece was done by Michael Hastings at the Boston Tattoo Company in Somerville, MA.

The second one is less of a serious tattoo and more of a product of "hey, you know what would be funny?"  A tattoo artist friend of mine and I were joking around, and I convinced him to tattoo the bottom of my foot, more or less to see what would happen.




Anyone will tell you that getting a tattoo down there is a bad idea, but how exactly would it work out?  Well, the first picture you see is on it's second or third day of life -- already blown out in areas and starting to fade. One month later, and you can see it's already nearly half gone.




It was a fun tattoo experiment, and it earns me major badass points everywhere I go :-)"
Thanks to Al for sharing these tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Al Shares Two for Tattoosday, Including a Rare Sole Tattoo

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/11/back-in-august-i-received-email-from-al.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Petra's Tattoo with Teeth

A couple weeks back, I was coming out of my office at 7 Penn Plaza when a woman named Petra walked by with this tattoo on her foot:






When I stopped her and introduced myself, she was happy to share it with us here on Tattoosday.

Petra explained that this is the skull of a Velociraptor. When I asked why this particular design for a tattoo, she elaborated:

"Velociraptor is my spirit dinosaur. They're small and quick and very vicious and I identify with that as a person ... I really like dinosaurs. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a rock-climbing paleontologist, so I knew it was something that I'd like, you know, for the rest of the time I have my skin on."
This is Petra's first tattoo, and she got it inked by Cheyenne Sawyer at Atlas Tattoo in Portland, Oregon.

Thanks to Petra for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Post Title

→

Petra's Tattoo with Teeth

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/11/couple-weeks-back-i-was-coming-out-of.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Brian's Literary Chest Tattoo

The weather here in New York has been turning autumnal and visible tattoos have been disappearing from the streets, but fear not, Readers, we still have material to get us through the end of the year, thanks to a backlog of photos from the summer!

Case in  point is this tattoo from Brian:






I met Brian at a drugstore in Bay Ridge, back in the beginning of August. He told me he had just started working as an apprentice at A-List Industry Tattoos, a few blocks away.

At the time, Brian had seven tattoos, including this chest piece, which is comprised of two parts.

The top section reads "Incomplete - Imperfect" and is an allusion to lines from Chuck Palahniuk's novel Fight Club:

"May I never be complete.  May I never be content.  May I never be perfect.  Deliver me, Tyler, from being perfect and complete."
Brian credited this piece to Paul Ilardi, the owner at Monster Tattoos on Staten Island.

The bottom section of the tattoo features a banner that reads "Death steals everything but out stories."

Brian explained that he took this to mean that "what outlives us is the memories we have, the stories we have".

It's actually the final line in a short poem by Jim Harrison:


Larson's Holstein Bull

Death waits inside us for a door to open.
Death is patient as a dead cat.
Death is a doorknob made of flesh.
Death is that angelic farm girl
gored by the bull on her way home
from school, crossing the pasture
for a shortcut. In the seventh grade
she couldn't read or write. She wasn't a virgin.
She was "simpleminded," we all said.
It was May, a time of lilacs and shooting stars.
She's lived in my memory for sixty years.
Death steals everything except our stories..
Brian credited this part of the tattoo to Cesar at Bullseye Tattoos, also on Staten Island.

Thanks to Brian for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!








This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday, with the exception of  "Larson's Holstein Bull" by Jim Harrison from In Search of Small Gods. © Copper Canyon Press, 2009.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Brian's Literary Chest Tattoo

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/11/weather-here-in-new-york-has-been.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

The Tattoosday Book Review - London Tattoos

 


Let's eliminate the suspense - London Tattoos is a lovely book, and one of the best tattoo titles I have seen in recent years. I recommend it highly and strongly encourage Tattoosday readers to check it out.

The book is beautifully photographed by Alex MacNaughton. The concept is simple: each subject stands in a full shot at the beginning of their section. There is a paragraph or two composed by the host, describing, in various degrees of detail, their tattoo journeys. A list of tattooist credits follow as footnotes, and then we are treated to several more (at the very least) more detailed shots of the body sections featuring the person's ink.




There is a fine distinction here, that between a close-up of a tattoo, and a close-up of the tapestry on which the tattoo is marked. Its a fine line of art that McNaughton executes brillianty. We catch glimpses of work, we see sections in great detail, but we are rarely confronted by an image that is a sterile full-frame of tattoo.




I just love the way that this photo narrative unfolds. Especially remarkable are the subjects who appear mostly, if not fully, covered. A turn of the page strips layers off of the individuals and we are treated to the artistic treasures that lie beneath. It dazzles the imagination, the unveiling of a person who appears uninked, only to reveal a breath-taking display of coverage that illuminates that this person spent hours upon hours under the needle.

It is brilliantly executed and I recommend it fully, all 304 pages with 700 color illustrations. Alex MacNaughton is also the author of London Street Art, London Street Art 2 and London Street Art Anthology. I encourage Tattoosday readers to buy London Tattoos - the holidays are just around the corner - and, at the very least, visit MacNaughton's website here to get a bigger taste of the work inside this wonderful book.







This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. Photographs are ©2011 Alex MacNaughton.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

The Tattoosday Book Review - London Tattoos

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/11/lets-eliminate-suspense-london-tattoos.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Lauren and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Tattoo

Today's tattoo is perfect for a Monday.

Last month in Penn Station, I met Lauren, who had a familiar-looking face on her upper right arm:




I couldn't quite put my finger on why I recognized the art, until she clarified for me that it was based on an illustration from a wonderful children's book by Judith Viorst called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.


 


The phrase in the banner, "Some days are like that," is a line from the story.


When I asked Lauren why she got this tattoo, she elaborated:
"I have a very good friend who has If You're Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow on his arm and I was like, 'Ah, children's book! Great idea!' So I went to my mom and said, 'What was my favorite children's book?' and she's like, 'Well, Alexander or The Lupine Lady [from Miss Rumphius].' And I thought 'I don't want pastel colors. I want black and grey and I liked the artwork much better.' So I went with this."
This was Lauren's first tattoo and it was inked by Christian Beckman at Saints and Sinners in Baltimore. He modified Alexander's shirt, adding the skull, but it's still certifiably Alexander.

Thanks to Lauren for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!







This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Lauren and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Tattoo

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/11/todays-tattoo-is-perfect-for-monday.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Ryan's Religious Verse

I met Ryan at the end of September outside of Madison Square Garden, approaching him to ask about this tattoo on his upper right arm:


 


He explained that Philippians 4:13 was his confirmation verse. He added, "I went with the hands and everything because I already have a cross on my back."


Philippians 4:13 reads "I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me." (American Standard Version)


The chain in the hands connects to this part of the tattoo on the bicep:




Ryan commented that "I put only God can judge me because I've been going through some legal difficulties." It's a reminder that, when all is said and done, the ultimate judge is, in the belief of many, above and beyond the world in which we live.

Ryan credits Joe Bawden from Skin Alternative in Hillside, New Jersey, with this tattoo.

Thanks to Ryan for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Post Title

→

Ryan's Religious Verse

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-met-ryan-at-end-of-september-outside.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

An Epipleptic Bicycle

Being as it is still Halloween week, perhaps a little Edward Gorey is appropriate?

This tattoo was shared by Megan, when I spotted her in Penn Station at the beginning of October:




Clicking on the Gorey tag at the bottom of the post will confirm what you may have already expected - the work of Edward Gorey is quite popular as body art.

This piece is one of six tattoos Megan has, and is based on Gorey's book The Epipleptic Bicycle. That's Embley and Yewbert, hitting each other with mallets. She told me she got this because "I love Edward Gorey and it's one of my favorite books and this is the opening sequence."

This was inked by Fatty at Fatty's Custom Tattooz in Washington, D.C.

In researching I stumbled upon this story, of a woman with a similar tattoo.

Thanks to Megan for sharing her Gorey tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!




This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

An Epipleptic Bicycle

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/11/being-as-it-is-still-halloween-week.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Repost: Michael's Mariachis

Well, it has been a repost sort of week, and as it is All Soul's Day, a.k.a. The Day of the Dead, this only seemed fitting. It's from my college friend, Michael, and it appeared here originally on December 30, 2008. Enjoy!


In reconnecting with old college friends through Facebook, my old friend Michael who I haven't seen in almost twenty years sent me an amazing tattoo he has on his right arm.

He sent me before and after shots so we can see the transformation from outline to spectacularly colorful body art. First, the before shots.....



The detail and the line work is exemplary and breath-taking. As someone with a guitar inked on my arm, I can appreciate the intricacies of a finely-drawn instrument. The detail on the mariachi's jacket cuff is incredible.



And now, for some color:




Michael explains the basic premise of this tattoo:

In a sense, this piece is a "memorial" tattoo, although I hate to call it that. Since I grew up in the Southwest, Day of the Dead was a regular thing, so I've always been drawn to that type of imagery, plus I like the meaning -- honoring the dead, and reminding us to live life to the fullest. I picked the mariachis partly because I am so into music, and partly because of the celebratory aspect of mariachis.
Like many intricate tattoos with multiple elements, every part has significance. The tulips, for example, that are growing at the mariachi's feet, "are an actual heirloom varietal that I have in the garden" [and] are for my wife -- tulips are her favorite flower".



And the angel at the top of the piece (and the top of the post)?


Michael informs us that "the angel is for my mother, who is no longer with us. The angel holds a purple iris (my mother's favorite flower), and looks down over the whole scene."

This amazing piece was inked by Susan Behney-Doyle who works out of Jinx Proof Tattoo in Washington, D.C. Mexican folk art is one of her specialties (see a gallery of her work here) and Michael says he "gave her a few reference pieces to look at, but she basically drew it after a consultation". He continues, "we made just a couple tweaks after I saw the drawing, but it's a one-of-a-kind custom piece".

The whole tattoo was crafted back in 2006 over a five-month, seven-session period. Michael notes that one of those sessions was devoted solely to shading the guitar. A closer look at the instrument reveals an incredible complexity of brown variations that truly makes the guitar jump off the skin.

Thanks again to Michael for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday - twice!



This entry is ©2008, 2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Repost: Michael's Mariachis

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/11/well-it-has-been-repost-sort-of-week.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Repost: Eddie Graces Egghead's Shoulder

For Halloween, I felt like re-posting a piece that appeared here back in November 2009. To date, this tattoo is in my Top 10 that has appeared on Tattoosday. Enjoy! And have a safe, happy Halloween!

I recently met a gentleman from England, along with his wife, as they were milling about outside of Madison Square Garden.

He referred to himself as "Egghead," I'm guessing due to his bald head. I first noticed the logo for the band Slayer on the back of his calf, along with several other interesting looking tattoos. He estimated he has about a dozen tattoos.

But, like the best Tattoosday stories, he shared this amazing tattoo on his right shoulder, hidden under a sweatshirt, which he pulled off so I could see it properly:




That's a phenomenal piece, courtesy of his artist Ben Boston at The Tattoo Studio in Bristol, England.



The tattoo is a likeness of Eddie, mascot for the band Iron Maiden, one of the premiere metal bands that came out of England in the late 1970's/early 1980's. I won't bore the reader with the catalog of my Iron Maiden fandom, but it certainly made the tattoo even that more wonderful for me.

I even had a nice chat with Egghead and his wife about concerts we had attended.

I thank Egghead for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2009, 2011 Tattoosday.






If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Repost: Eddie Graces Egghead's Shoulder

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/for-halloween-i-felt-like-re-posting.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Mary's Call of the Wild

I met Mary outside of Penn Station on Seventh Avenue a couple weeks ago. She shared this tattoo on her right calf:




Mary explained:


"I got my wolf tattoo at some place on St. Mark's Place, I don't remember, I was drunk, after I read [The] Call of the Wild. I had broken my foot and they let me leave work early, so I went to a bar with my best friend and started drinking. And then, I was like, 'We should get tattoos' and she was like 'I'm gonna go home' and then ... she was like 'I'm not gettin' tattooed'. So we went to some shady tattoo shop where they let me run around without shoes on and drink beer like a crazy girl. And all I remember is him asking me if I like lavender and I said, 'yeah, I like lavender' and that was that."
Not your ideal tattoo story but, all things considered, this came out well.

Thanks to Mary for sharing her cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.






If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Mary's Call of the Wild

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-met-mary-outside-of-penn-station-on.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

A Girl in a Cape and a Book

I met David last month at the Bay Ridge green market at 95th and 3rd. He shared this tattoo on his calf:




David credited this, his first tattoo, to Tony at Citizen Ink on Avenue U in Brooklyn. "I just gave him the concept, and he drew it up," David told me, "A girl in a cape and a book."

Thanks to David for sharing his first tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

A Girl in a Cape and a Book

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-met-david-last-month-at-bay-ridge.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Collin's Gypsy Snake and Time

I met Collin back in August in the middle of Broadway, between 35th and 35th Streets, sitting at one of those tables that New York City had installed in the middle of the street.

He had a lot of ink, and chose to share this section of his upper left arm:




This piece, a snake with a gypsy head, circling an alarm clock, was done by Grez at Kings Avenue Tattoo in Manhattan on the Bowery. We promoted the shop opening back in May here.

Collin explained the elements of this piece that curves around the arm:

"The clock represents when I was born ... the candle's my life, burning, it's the time I have left ... gypsies are usually known to be good luck ...  the snake is for the fucked up parts of my life and the gypsy head is for the good parts of my life, you know, the future."
Collin explained that Grez initially was concerned about all of these elements combined into one piece. "At first he [Grez] thought it was going to be too much," Collin told me, "but it worked out and I'm happy with it."

The clock is particularly remarkable:




Grez's work has appeared on Tattoosday before, here and here. He's a great talent, and I'm always happy to stumble upon his work.

Thanks to Colin for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Collin's Gypsy Snake and Time

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-met-collin-back-in-august-in-middle.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Sue Shares a Werewolf by Deno

A couple months back, I ran into a woman during the afternoon rush hour in Penn Station who had this amazing tattoo on her right thigh:




Turns out her name was Sue Jeiven, and she is a tattoo artist at East River Tattoo in Brooklyn. More of Sue's work can be seen in East River's Flickr stream here.

This was her most recent tattoo (at the time) and was done by Deno, a visiting artist from Spain, who's Circus Tattoo in Madrid is a top-notch shop. The quality of this piece is phenomenal.




Work from Deno appeared earlier this year on the site here.

Thanks to Sue for sharing her amazing werewolf with us here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Sue Shares a Werewolf by Deno

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/couple-months-back-i-ran-into-woman.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Amy and Her Colorful Hot Air Balloon

Today's tattoos are from Amy, who I met a couple weeks ago in Penn Station. First is this stunning hot air balloon on her upper right arm:




This was done by Brian Marsman at Powerhouse Tattoo Company in Montclair, New Jersey. "I just wanted a hot air balloon and I didn't have a picture for him or anything," Amy told me, "he just drew it up for me."

She also had this tattoo, on her inner right forearm,




This is an interpretation of a watercolor by Angelique Houtkamp entitled "Edith Piaf":



©Angelique Houtkamp
This was done by an artist named Giordano who was visiting from Brazil, set up shop in Amy's dining room, and tattooed a handful of friends and family, including Amy's husband and father.

Thanks to Amy for chatting with me and sharing these tattoos here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Amy and Her Colorful Hot Air Balloon

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/todays-tattoos-are-from-amy-who-i-met.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Stu's Sleeve in Progress

One of the drawbacks of approaching folks in Penn Station as I pass through after work is that, if they're waiting for a train, and their platform is called, they're off to the races. Sometimes people reach out to me after I've met them, but other times I don't hear from them again.

Such was the case with Stu, who shared the top part of his sleeve-in-progress:




Stu was able to tell me that his artist is Richie Calascibett at Starlight Tattoo in Rochelle Park, New Jersey.


I particularly love the blue flower and the way that Richie tattooed the wind into the design.






Thanks to Stu for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!




This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Stu's Sleeve in Progress

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/one-of-drawbacks-of-approaching-folks.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Ed Hardy - Tattoo the World: Contest Winner!

Congratulations to reader Adam, who won the Ed Hardy DVD!



I know this is a flyer for an event last February, but it's cool and worth sharing.

Entrants were input into Randomized.com and Adam got the nod.

Lacking a review here (it will be forthcoming, I promise), check out this blurb over on the L.A.Times.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and congrats again to Adam!

Post Title

→

Ed Hardy - Tattoo the World: Contest Winner!

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/congratulations-to-reader-adam-who-won.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

John's Ink Gives Him Inner Strength

Check out this interesting tattoo on the inside of John's upper left arm:




This piece was inked at Top Hat Tattoo in Rocky Point on Long Island.


John says that the placement on his inner left arm means it's close to his heart and represents inner strength.

Thanks to John for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

John's Ink Gives Him Inner Strength

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/check-out-this-interesting-tattoo-on.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Ysabel's Devil Girl

I met Ysabel last month on 34th Street across from Macy*s, and she shared this tattoo from her upper left arm:




Ysabel got this devilish girl purely as a decorative piece (no hidden meanings here!) and this is one of her thirteen tattoos.

This was inked at New York Hardcore Tattoos by Ronda Biondi. Ysabel told me that Rhonda is no longer there, and I was unable to find her on the web, so if anyone knows where she can be reached, please let us know so we can link her properly in this post. Xanthos.

After this post went live, I did receive a confirmation from the artist, Ronda Xanthos, who clarified, "I did do that pin-up (not the back-round)," when she was at New York Hardcore. You can check out some of Ronda's work here on Facebook.


Thanks to Ysabel for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!




This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Ysabel's Devil Girl

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-met-ysabel-last-month-on-34th-street.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Kim's Floral Arm

I caught Kim in Penn Station one day after work last month, just as she was getting ready to board her train. She shared this floral tattoo that graces her upper right arm:




This bouquet of daisies, sunflowers, and lotus, with a hummingbird thrown in, to boot, was tattooed by Junior Ibanez, who tattoos independently on Long Island.

Thanks to Kim for sharing her ink with us here on Tattoosday!



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Kim's Floral Arm

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-caught-kim-in-penn-station-one-day.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Two for Tattoosday: Elise Remembers Paris and Shares a Cardinal

These next tattoos would not be here on Tattoosday were it not for signal problems at the Jay Street subway station in Brooklyn.


For it was an e-mail alert about those problems disrupting train service which sent me away from my normal routine and directed me last week to the Herald Square subway station to catch a D train.


It was there on the southbound platform that I met Elise who displayed some cool ink on her arms. We chatted a bit and, because her top partially obscured sections of her tattoos, she told me she'd email me photos. Not everybody who says that means it, or follows up, but Elise did not disappoint and sent me the following photos later that evening.


First, is this interesting tattoo on her upper right arm:





Elise calls this “Paris in a Woman,” which is inspired by the fact that she was born and raised in France. The idea of including the Parisian cityscape came from Charmaine Olivia, an artist based out of San Francisco. Elise included the Eiffel Tower in it. The tattoo was done by John Poverty, who tattoos out of Goose Tattoo in Brooklyn.


Lower on her right arm is this amazing bird tattoo:





Elise explained:
“The cardinal by Mike Adams [of True Sight Tattoo Company in Detroit] was inspired by family. Once all my siblings and I ‘flew the coop,’ my parents took up bird watching, and are now avid cardinal lovers.  Mike inked this out of Thicker Than Water in Manhattan, [where he] will have a short residency in the beginning of December.”
Work by Mike appeared over the summer on Tattoosday here.

Thanks again to Elise for sharing these wonderful tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!


This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.






If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Two for Tattoosday: Elise Remembers Paris and Shares a Cardinal

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/these-next-tattoos-would-not-be-here-on.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Tattoosday Giveaway! Ed Hardy - Tattoo the World

[This Contest is Now Closed]




We here at Tattoosday have in our hot little hands, a brand-spanking new DVD copy of Ed Hardy: Tattoo the World.

It's yours for the taking. All you need to do to win is leave a comment on this post, or on the post on the Tattoosday Facebook page, sometime this week and a winner will be selected from among those entries.



The winner will be announced Saturday along with my review of the movie.

More information about the film, including additional clips, can be found on its website here.

Negative comments will disqualify entries. You are certainly entitled to your opinions, but we want to keep things positive, folks!



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. Video clip ©2011 Wabi Sabi Productions, LLC.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Tattoosday Giveaway! Ed Hardy - Tattoo the World

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/this-contest-is-now-closed-we-here-at.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Lourdes on Lourdes

Back at the end of August, I met a woman in Borders Penn Plaza who shared this tattoo:




This tattoo depicts Lourdes (officially, Our Lady Of Lourdes) and the woman who shared it, also named Lourdes.

She was in a hurry, so I couldn't get much more information. She credited the artist as "Sugarbear".

Lourdes promised to contact me with additional information, but I haven't heard back from her.

Thanks to Lourdes for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!




This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

Lourdes on Lourdes

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/back-at-end-of-august-i-met-woman-in.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

The Tattoosday Book Review - Tattoo Sketchbook: Since 1966

We like to review books occasionally here on Tattoosday and wanted to say a little bit about Jim Watson's Tattoo Sketchbook, published earlier this year by ArtKultre, an imprint of Wolfgang Publications.




There's nothing fancy here, just 95 pages of solid tattoo flash by Jim Watson, who came up in the tattoo business long before it was a "respectable" multi-billion dollar industry.

Having cut his teeth in the legendary Cliff Raven's shop in Chicago in the late 1960s, Watson moved to his first shop in Denver, eventually landing in Phoenix, Arizona, where he owns Artistic Skin Designs and where, in 1991, he co-founded Superior Tattoo Equipment.




If you picked this up in a bookstore, it might not be on the top of your list as the tattoo book to buy, as it has a limited appeal to the general reader. But it seems like it would be an invaluable reference to the developing artist who is studying the art of tattoo. The flash is all crisply classic in its execution, and would fit right in with any tattoo artist's reference library.

Wolfgang Publications has a whole series of books that fit this category geared more to the mechanical side of tattooing. This volume fits in nicely to that genre and is a excellent snapshot of the sketch portfolio of the "classic" tattoo artist.



This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.


If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Post Title

→

The Tattoosday Book Review - Tattoo Sketchbook: Since 1966

Post URL

→

http://mysteryw8loss.blogspot.com/2011/10/we-like-to-review-books-occasionally.html

Visit mysteryw8loss for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection