Kristen's Trilogy of Knots

The 34th Street Platform for the A Train has been very kind to us here at Tattoosday, even more so this summer than in years' past.

Take Kristen, for example. She generously offered up this small portion of her corporeal canvas:

Estimating that she is at least a quarter covered by ink, this "trilogy of knots" was the artist's response to Kristen's request to attach the cobwebs on her elbow to the end of her wrist.

The artist, identified only as "Batman" near Canal and Broadway, was also asked to incorporate a Celtic pattern, as well.

The final result was to Kristen's liking and we here at Tattoosday thank her for sharing the tattoo with all of our readers!

Happy Bloggiversary to Me!

Three years ago today, Tattoosday was born.

On July 31, 2007, I put up a post on BillyBlog, featuring a tattoo on a co-worker named Sephora.

The idea was to post a weekly tattoo on Tuesday, and use this is a vehicle to expand my horizons a bit; meet interesting people and learn about tattoos.

There was one problem. I enjoyed it too much. There weren't enough Tuesdays in the week. I was impatient and wanted to post right away, not wait until Tuesday. And so, as Kurt Vonnegut would say, it goes....

So a month later I threw the previous months post up on the stand-alone blog, Tattoosday. And BillyBlog faded.

It's still there, but Tattoosday is my passion and I couldn't have even imagined, back in 2007, how easy it would become for me to talk to strangers about their ink.

The once-a-week project produced forty-five separate interactions in July, we have a 30-day backlog of material, and this past week we registered our 650,000th hit. Not too shabby.

Go see the original post here to see how far we've come.

And a hearty thanks to all our contributors, all our fans, and all the tattooists out there creating wonderful, interesting, portable art. Without all of you, Tattoosday would have been a blip of an idea, and nothing more.

Nick Remembers Billy, I Remember Siki

My first tattoo was modified from a piece of flash at Body Art Studios by an artist who goes by the moniker "Siki". Shortly thereafter, Siki left the shop and went on his way.

My friend Pete knows who he is but, until recently, I hadn't met anyone with ink from Siki, other than myself.

Then, I met Nick on the R train one day after work and, while discussing his many tattoos (he "lost count after 45," they've all connected) , I heard him talking about Siki.

So today's tattoo is by Siki and was, like my lynx, modified from an old piece of flash. Although he adapted it a lot more fully and developed a more unique tattoo.

Siki and Nick had a mutual friend named Billy, who Nick would often go with to get tattooed. When he passed away, they added Billy's name to the bottom of the tattoo as a tribute to their departed friend.

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

Jessica's Feather for her Mother

I met Jessica on the express platform at 34th Street earlier this month.

She shared this gorgeous peacock feather tattooed on the upper right section of her back:

The piece is an homage to her mother, who loves everything peacock, and has countless items, like bracelets and other jewelery, that emulate the vivid colors of these beautiful birds.

She credits this tattoo to an artist known only as Allison.

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

Michelle's Tattoo Takes Your Breath Away

Michelle has a lot of ink, twenty-one tattoos, all told, but when I stopped her in Penn Station, she chose to share this one with us:

Boldly planted on her upper right arm, Michelle explained that she paraphrased and pared down a longer quotation to read, more simply, "Live for the moments that take your breath away". I believe she was referring to the saying, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

The flowers in the photo are cherry blossoms that were done in blue, rather than the traditional pink because, as Michelle tells it, she's "not really a pink kind of girl".

This tattoo was inked by Fat Tony at Hobo's Tattoo Shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

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

Timmy's Sophisticated Owl

Earlier this month, Melanie and I took advantage of having my sister's car while she was out of the country and we made an unusual shopping trip to the Fairway Market in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.

There was a gentleman in the produce section with a lot of tattoos, and Melanie pointed out one to me that she thought was cool, this owl on his calf:

Turns out that the guy was Timmy from Timmy Tattoo, an artist whose name rang a distant bell. Work by Timmy appeared in one of Tattoosday's earliest posts, when I met Jackie,an FIT student whose tattoos appeared here.

Timmy's owl was inked by Garrett Ostrowski of Garrett's Tattoos.

Thanks to Timmy for sharing one of his many tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Niki's Memorial for Elizabeth

Last week I was down in Chelsea when I spotted Niki from a distance. She appeared to have a colorful Madonna-like tattoo on her right shoulder, so I changed course and caught up to her only to discover this lovely tattoo instead:

This lovely photo was supplied to me by Niki, as my own camera's battery had run out of power and my BlackBerry photo seemed inadequate:

Niki explained that, after her beloved cat Elizabeth passed away, she wanted a memorial tattoo to honor the friend she had for fourteen years.

She went to artist John Reardon, then at Saved Tattoo, and told him she wanted a memorial in the style of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the look of Mexican shrines and altars.

One can see Reardon hit the ball out of the park, as proven by my mistaking the piece from a distance as a religious icon.

John Reardon is no stranger to Tattoosday. His work has appeared previously here and here.He now works out of his private studio in Brooklyn.

Thanks to Niki for sharing her beautiful tattoo with us on Tattoosday!

Jim Commemorates a Trip To Greece with His Brothers

I mentioned yesterday that I had gone up to Woodstock on the 4th of July weekend, where I spotted some upstate ink.

At a flea market, I met Jim, who had this amazing tattoo on the back of his calf:

And a wider, three-paneled view:

Jim had gone on vacation to Greece for thirty days with his brothers and he wanted to commemorate the experience.

They had stayed on the island of Ios, and Jim took several photos he had into Jake Parrington at Lowell Ink in Lowell, Massachusetts.

The end result was this amazing tattoo that captures the scene of their vacation. One of Jim's other brothers got the same tattoo. Note the three figures hiking are meant to represent Jim and his two brothers.

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

Larry's Tattoo Burns at Both Ends

Occasionally, but not too often, I do venture out of the city to places far, and not so far, away.

Fourth of July weekend, I was up visiting friends in Woodstock, New York.

On July 3, we found ourselves at an outdoor flea market and I met a couple of inked folk, including Larry who has "a lot" of tattoos.

When asked to choose one, he offered up this piece on his forearm:

The image, of a candle burning at both ends, reminds him that life goes by quickly. The "No Tomorrow" is a spin on the carpe diem, or "seize the day" philosophy.

The tattoo was done by JR Maloney at Vanguard Tattoo in Nyack, New York.

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

Lil' Miss Sunshine

I spotted Christina on a subway platform and she let me take a photo of this tattoo above her outer right ankle once we got on the train:

Our time to chat was limited, so all I learned from Christina was that this was a self-drawn self-portrait that a friend tattooed on her four years ago.

"Lil' Miss Sunshine" is her nickname.And yes, the sun refers to her as "That Crazy Ass Bitch".

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

Pete's Tribute to a Magical Grandfather

Last month, as I wandered despondently down my street, mourning the loss of my camera, I saw Pete standing on his stoop in the afternoon heat, without a shirt. He had a really cool tattoo and I talked to him about it, taking a picture with my BlackBerry.

Alas, the image quality wasn't good enough, I thought, to post here, so I waited until I saw Pete again, almost a month later, when I had my new camera in hand.

So here, without further delay, is Pete's tattoo:

Pete explained that this tattoo is a tribute to his grandfather, a magician who went by the name "The Great Merlini". The tattoo was designed by Kiki at Tattoos by Lou in the South Beach section of Miami, Florida. Pete went to him and explained what he wanted and Kiki drew it up and inked it.

On a sidebar, the Great Merlini wasn't just your run-of-the-mill magician. The man behind the persona was Clayton Rawson (click name for full biography). Rawson wrote four mystery novels that featured the character also known as The Great Merlini. And as this YouTube clip shows, Merlini also was a noted illusionist:



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

Preston's Invaders Take Tattoosday

I met Preston in early May on the train platform at West 4th Street.

I spotted his tattoo and we talked about it.After along wait, we finally get to see this, one of Preston's five tattoos, here on Tattoosday:

These are,of course, images from the original Atari Space Invaders, one of the forerunners that was the first video game to truly take the world by storm.

Preston told me that these symbols represent space invasion. The neon green color makes them stick out even more and, he added, they make a "great ice breaker".

As a result, he continued, "people invade my space" when they question him (as I was doing) about his tattoo.

Preston is a musician by trade, who goes by the moniker Press Reset. Check out his website here. And this link will take you to his new record <3 on iTunes, where you can listen to (and hopefully, buy) his music.

Preston credits the tattoo to an artist named Ziggy who tattoos out of South Florida.

Thanks to Preston for sharing his alien neck tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Shannon Shares Her Wieners!

At the end of May, I met Sherry, who shared her love of her home state of Texas with this tattoo here.

In an ensuing email, she asked if she could send her friend Shannon my way to share her ink. "Of course," I replied, and was directed by Sherry to Borders, where Shannon worked. "Ask to see her wieners," she said and added, parenthetically, "(it's G rated, I promise!)."

The Borders in question is part of my normal stomping ground, so I kept my eyes peeled. No sign of Shannon and her wieners.

Then, at the beginning of the month, I finally found Shannon and met Geddy Lee and Sarah Lee, the two wieners tattooed on her upper right arm. They are of course, wiener dogs, more formally known as dachshunds:

The one on the left is Geddy Lee, named after the lead singer of Rush. Shannon's a big fan of the Canadian rock trio.

Sarah Lee, on the right, is a fictional dachshund, do-si-do'ing with Geddy, as they are dance partners.

The tattoo took two sessions, which shows her devotion to Geddy Lee who, Shannon acknowledges, is "that little jerk [that] sucked my soul". She loves him to no end.

These beloved dogs were inked by Adam Paterson at Jersey City Tattoo Company.

Thanks again to Shannon for sharing this incredible tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

My very first attempt at tattooing on real flesh (my own)

This evening I set up and tattooed this molecule on my own leg. It is symbolic of the molecules released into our brains by our pineal gland when we dream.....The tattoo is a little bit shaky, it's hard for the very first time, and a little bit awkward tattooing your own leg, as you can not change the angle of your body relative to your leg to get a better drawing angle. But I am quite pleased with the results, I didn't make any big ugly mistakes and it's all uphill from here!

Venus Flytrap Takes Manhattan Cape Fear

I met Tim earlier this month, along with a bunch of friends, and he had an amazing tattoo that I wanted him to share:

This piece, which is located on his upper right arm, took about twelve hours and features a large mutant Venus Flytrap attacking Cape Fear. Tim is from Wilmington, North Carolina, and this tattoo is a nod to his hometown, with a twist of disaster movie thrown into the mix. It's a brilliant idea for a tattoo, and very unusual.

I love the detail and color that the artist Josh Payne utilized in this amazing piece.



Josh works out of Artfuel Inc. in Wilmingtion.

Much thanks to Tim for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Damaged Goods

A wicked tattoo design for my dear friend Wilson......Apparently people are trying to talk her out of it, but I think it rocks. Damn, we could tattoo this on the entire human race! But it's Wilson's idea and she's earned the right to tattoo this on her flesh for sure!

Sugar Skull Sunday: Hannah and Her Family

I met Hannah in Penn Station one afternoon after spotting this amazing sugar skull on her upper left arm:

Here is a broader glimpse of the tattoo:

Hannah has over twenty tattoos and told me she wanted this piece to have alot of different elements in it. The gold tooth was a must, because Hannah loves pirates.

Gold teeth in sugar skulls are not necessarily unusual. Chainsaws, however are a bit out of the ordinary:

The chainsaw, Hannah explained, is a tribute to her uncle, who is a lumberjack. And, she added frankly, the bottle is there to acknowledge her grandfather, an alcoholic.

This sugar skull was completed in two 2-3 hour sessions by Tim Barnes at Holeshot's Premium Tattoo & Piercing in Amherst, Massachusetts. Tim has moved on to Florida, according to Hannah, but I haven't been able to identify where he is currently working.

Readers can see all of the sugar skulls previously posted on Tattoosday by clicking here or on the Sugar Skulls tag at the end of the post.

Thanks again to Hannah for sharing her sugar skull with us here on Tattoosday!

Another look at my Buddha tattoo design

I designed this as a tattoo for my chest. One thing I like to be able to do is use photoshop to get an idea of how a tattoo will look before it is even done. Of course, many tattoos take shape directly on the body, so this technique would not always work, but in some cases it works beautifully.



This photo has the photoshopped version of part of my right arm sleeve tattoo, and then the actual tattoo, and the actual tat doesn't look all that far off from the mock-up I created. I hope the chest tattoo works out, I think it looks wicked cool.....

Viking Water Compass Tattoo Design

A friend who has some 'Norse' or 'Viking' roots, asked me recently to design a tattoo for her back. Something with some iconic Viking symbolism in it, but also some of my most flowing water work, to reflect her affinity with water and her Aquarian astrological sign. I should note here that although Aquarius is 'The Water Bearer' it is actually an 'Air Sign' oddly enough. Go figure.....anyhoo, this is what I came up with and she seems to like it so far. I would add alot of shading in the background, flowing shaded areas to fit it to her physique better.

Rose Tattoo Design

I am starting to try and think in terms of "What if someone walked into my tattoo shop and asked me for a.......". So I thought of one of the most common requests, a rose. I am trying to draw from the various tattoo disciplines I see, in this case, I went with a traditional 'old school' approach, except that my lines are heavier and smoother than typical old school designs. And the drawing is also a little bit more realistic and less stylized than the old school look.

Where I'll Be Tonight - Matty No Times Benefit

This is where I'm heading tonight. It should be amazing!

More info at Tattoosday UK and Needles and Sins.

Welcome to the Machine

I met Paige over by the New Jersey Transit section in Penn Station late last month and she shared this, one of her five tattoos:

It's a biomechanical piece that helps illustrate her as a machine. Her plan is to ultimately turn it into a sleeve with an apocalyptic bent.

She had this done at Lola's in Bogota, New Jersey. Work from Lola's has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

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

The Magic Mouth

What started as an illustration for my second volume of my 'Elemental Magic' Book (and still is) turned out to be what I think is a pretty darned cool design for a tattoo! What do you think?

Sealed with a Snake

I spotted Steve one day, and got him to share this rattlesnake tattoo on his right arm:

Steve has three tattoos and is bass player for a band called S.W.A.K.

He came up with the design and had Gary, owner of Shotsie's Tattoo in Wayne, New Jersey, complete the process.

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

Lindsay's Ink for Peace

When I recently upgraded my camera, the first new photo I took, of Lindsay's tattoo, convinced me I had selected well:

This lovely tattoo, on Lindsay's upper left arm, is punctuated by this part of the tattoo on her biceps:



The picture tells the story and the words, all meaning a form of "peace" in Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, and English, punctuate the images just inches away.

Lindsay took a class on world religions at the University of Rhode Island and this influenced her greatly. She wanted the tattoo to focus on the beauty at the heart of religion, and to disregard the conflict that so often plagues religious dogma.

Lindsay feels that the tenet of peace is often lost and this is her way of expressing how it means so much, but is forgotten in relations with people of different backgrounds.

She brought a picture that somewhat embodied how she wanted the tattoo to look in to Artfreek Tattoo in Providence, Rhode Island. She and the artist Brian Mullen collaborated on interpreting what she wanted the piece to embody and she was very happy with the end result.

The tattoo was completed in two short sittings that spanned four hours.

Work from Artfreek has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

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

Tommy's Geisha

Last week I met Tommy, who has six tattoos, one of which he shared with us:

He brought three or four pictures into Regino Gonzales when he was at Inkstop Tattoo and he came up with this design. Regino is now at Invisible NYC.

The line work took two and a half to three hours but he had to stop because, in Tommy's words, "I'm a bleeder". He came back after he healed for another two and a half hours of shading.

Tommy had a lot of nice protrait work and this piece seemed to just jump off of his left arm.

Regino's work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here and here.

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

My Tattoo equipment has arrived!!

My first shipment of quality tattoo equipment arrived today from Eikon Tattoo! So the dream is becoming a reality.....This is my very first machine, a 'Green Monster' made by Eikon, a relatively inexpensive yet really solid, robust little tattoo machine. This is a shader machine. I got another Green Monster 'liner' machine that has to be assembled, so I can learn more about them while building it and setting it up to run properly. I am immensely excited. My new friend Shawn of Vancouver Island Tattoo in Cumberland is helping me get set up and may even go so far as to do a formal 'apprenticeship'. We are working out the details as we go, but he has already been an incredible helpful resource....

Two for Tattoosday: A Purple Lotus and the Fletcher House

In keeping with the spirit of duality, today's post is a two-for-Tattoosday Tuesday special.

Yesterday outside of Madison Square Garden, amid throngs of Iron Maiden and Dream Theater fans, I met two guys who just happened to be there. If you want to see a great Maiden tattoo, look back in the archives here.

I met Roman, who conceived and performs in "Evolution," showing Tuesday, July 13, and Tuesday, July 20, at the Magnet Theater (254 W. 29th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues). With him was Louie, who directs the show which is billed as "international and comedic true stories intertwining spirituality, sex, laws, identity, drug vusts, discomfort, fear and discovery from a spontaneous road trip down south".

Roman shared first, which seemed only fair, as it was his tattoo I noticed,creeping out from under his left sleeve:

He got this purple lotus because he likes the color purple (the actual color more than the movie of the same name). And the lotus is special because, in Buddhism, he understands the lotus to symbolize "freedom of attachment and desire".

This tattoo took 3 to 4 hours and was inked by David Sena when he was at Rising Dragon when they were at their 23rd Street location, although Sena is now at North Star Tattoo, the shop he co-founded in the East Village.

Louie's tattoo was much smaller, but it had a more elaborate story:

This small design, on the outer left ankle of, represents a house in Vancouver, British Columbia, in which he and seven different people lived at different times during their college days. The house and the memories they all shared together there are so important, that Louie and six other friends share the same tattoo.

The narrative took on a more elaborate spin, as Louie explained that his group of friends came up with a family name to represent the denizens of this house. They were/still are "the Fletchers," all residing in the Fletcher House. He likened them to an extended family like The Ramones, and they chose the name because it sounded tough.

So, as Louie a.k.a. "Rock" Fletcher tells it, his friend "Slim" Fletcher drew up the simple design for the house tattoo, and they had it inked at Addiction Ink NYC. Over the years, when one of the Fletcher family came to town, they went down to the shop to have the family member tattooed with the same design, not necessarily on the ankle, like Louie/Rock.

It should be noted that Kim Fletcher, who is a relatively new mom (congrats Kim), has avoided the tattoo, so the rest of her Fletcher family created a needlepoint design of the house for her, so that she has the tattoo in a different shape and form, needled, but not in her flesh. Yet. Now that it is written here, forever on the pages of Tattoosday, it is only a matter of time. Kim Fletcher, you destiny is calling.

Thanks again to both Roman and Louie for sharing their tattoos with us here on Tattoosday! Be sure to catch their play "Evolution" at the Magnet. If you show up at the box office and mention this post, you won't get any kind of discount, but I'm sure that they'll be thrilled to hear that you showed up as a result of their contribution here!

Liquid Skull Tattoo Design

A fresh design that I did today. Since my foray into painting with acrylics the other day, this design has been showing up in my imagination. It is definitely something I'd like to paint, and hopefully something I'll get a chance to tattoo on some lucky soul.

It is made up of three separate levels of artwork. Many tattoo artists work with tracing paper this way, but I use a light table, as it is something I've done for my animation for so long, and I always have my light table everywhere I go.

I like the second version best as a tattoo design, but for my painting I will probably go with all the details and little fishies like in the third design.

Mor's Key is Found and Kept Forever

On the last Monday evening in June, I met Mor at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square. Her website identifies Mor as a "character animator and 'moving collage' artist".

However, we didn't talk about Mor's work.That never came up.Rather,we discussed the Tattoo on Mor's forearm:

Mor's mother had given her a little golden key as a gift that she wore on her earlobe. At some point in the middle of the night, this began to bother Mor, who would pluck the key off and throw it across the room. In the morning, Mor would find the key. This unusual pattern became a ritual of sorts until one morning, the key was nowhere to be found. Lost forever over the years, this tattoo reclaimed the key, and now Mor has it tattooed forever.

The bird represents a friend of Mor who is an "adopted mother" and someone very close to Mor.

The tattoo was done by Shiloah Rusciolelli, who currently lives in Seattle.

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

Here is Mor's "Bimboim's Trip to the Western Wall":



Mornography's YouTube channel is here.

Phoenix Foretells Phoenix

I met Ryan one afternoon while passing through Penn Station.

He has nine tattoos and has been getting inked since he was seventeen years old.

Here is the largest of his tattoos, which he shared with us here at Tattoosday:

Ryan went to the artist Scott Bramble, who works out of Mercury Tattoo Studio in Glenside, Pennsylvania. He says he let Scott "do what he wanted and he ran with it". The end result was stunning.

I particularly like the detail on the tail feathers.

Ryan remarked that, at the time he had this done, he was married and going through a "horrible" divorce. Now that is in the past and he is happily involved with a girl from Phoenix, Arizona, which he acknowledges is a "weird coincidence".

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