Jose's Tattoo Honors His Puerto Rican Heritage

I met Jose last week in the vestibule of a bank in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

He had a really vivid image of a lizard peeking our from under his sleeve, so I couldn't resist asking about it. He was kind enough to roll up his shirt to reveal the entire piece on his arm:

Jose's half-sleeve is a tribute to his Puerto Rican heritage. He says he wanted "something different" and his artist combined several elements that are part of Puerto Rican life that represented his culture.

The flag flies at the top of the tattoo and the hibiscus blossoms give the tattoo its floral pop. The iguana sits regally at the bottom of the tattoo and, if you look closely, on the inner part of the tattoo is Puerto Rico's coquí frog which is another symbol of the island commonwealth.

Jose's artist was Tazz (@tazz_tatts) from Aztec Ink Tattooing & Piercing Studio (@aztecinkbrooklyn) in Brooklyn.

Here is what the tattoo looked like when it was first completed, courtesy of Tazz's Instagram:

Courtesy of @tazz_tatts on Instagram

We've featured Tazz's work at least once before on Tattoosday and it's always good to see new work from old friends!

Thanks to Jose for sharing his cool tattoo honoring his Puerto Rican heritage with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2017 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website 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.

Sean's Stunning Sleeve

Earlier this month, I met Sean outside of a store on Broadway in lower Manhattan.

I generally don't like to post full sleeves on Tattoosday because it is, in my opinion, really hard to do them proper justice.

Once in a while, however, the work is exceptional, and I can't help but try and capture some segments of the sleeve.

I mean, look how great this is:

Sean explained that segments of the sleeve are in memory of a neighbor who was a mother figure for him when growing up. She succumbed to complications from lupus, and the clock and roman numerals link to the date of her death.

We didn't have time to discuss all the elements of this sleeve, but he did credit the work to Tazz (@Tazz_Tatts) who works out of Aztec Ink (@aztecinkbrooklyn) in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. We've featured work by Tazz at least once before, like this piece which appeared in 2011.

Thanks to Sean for sharing his cool sleeve with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2016 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website 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.

A Rose for Emily (Laugh Now, Cry Later)

I ran into Emily at the beginning of the month on the 36th Street subway platform in Brooklyn.

She shared this awesome tattoo on her left thigh:

Emily credits Tazz at Aztec Tattoo (formerly Aztlan tattoo) in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, with this cool ink.

"I just like roses," Emily told me, explaining that she had an idea and then Tazz expanded on the concept, which is a spin on the traditional "Laugh Now, Cry Later" theme.

Thanks to Emily 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.