Tattoosday (A Tattoo Blog): Brooklyn Ink

Showing posts with label Brooklyn Ink. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Joseph's Flash Hands

Back on Independence Day I posted a chest piece on Joseph (here) that I took a photo of last June on the Whitehall subway platform. I had been meaning to post Joseph's hands, as well, so here they are:

The pocket watch, swallows and bell were all tattooed by Matt Huff (@matthufftattoo) at Brooklyn Ink (@originalbrooklynink) in Bay Ridge. Joseph told me the work is based on the flash of the legendary Dan Higgs.

Thanks to Joseph for sharing his ink with us here on 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.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Angelina and Her Chakras

Going back into my unpublished archives, I remembered I never posted this shot from the 2017 Coney Island Mermaid Parade:

This is Angie (@angelina_monalisa) who had these chakra tattoos inked by Matt Huff (@matthufftattoo) at Brooklyn Ink (@originalbrooklynink).

Angie explained the chakras to me, telling me that "they are basically the different portals of energy that connect the body to the physical and spiritual world, as well as the top chakra, which is your connection to all of the energy and knowledge of the universe (essentially, the Third Eye)."

From top to bottom, the chakras are crown, third eye, throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral and root. She noted that "the root is technically located at the foot but, ya know, artist liberties."

Read more about chakras here.

Thanks to Angie for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Monday, August 20, 2018

Paulina and Joey's Fan Tattoos

I have always been fascinated by folks who get autographs of famous people tattooed on their bodies. That said, it was great talking to Paulina and Joey, a couple I met in Bay Ridge at the 5th Avenue Festival back in June.

Paulina has an Avenged Sevenfold (@avengedsevenfold) tattoo, along with the band's signatures on her arm:

Joey has a similar thing going with the band Sum 41 (@sum41) on his leg:

Both sets of tattoos were done by Matt Huff (@matthufftattoo) from Brooklyn Ink.

Thanks to Paulina and Joey for sharing their band tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Joseph and His American Eagle

On this day before Independence Day, let's celebrate some good old American traditional ink, like this awesome eagle on the chest of Joseph, who I ran into last month at the Whitehall subway station:

Joseph, who shared some other work that will appear at a later date, credited this particular piece to Joseph Kindya (@joekindyatattoo), owner of Brooklyn Ink in Bay Ridge.

Thanks to both Josephs for their contribution, and we here at Tattoosday wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July tomorrow!

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Remembering the Fallen (A Re-Post for 9/11)

This was posted originally in 2008 and re-posted again in 2009, 2011 and 2013. As I've said in the past, it only seems appropriate to re-run it again today:

Earlier this month, I mentioned meeting Paul here, on the bike path that runs along the southern tip of Brooklyn.

I saved the other tattoo photo I took of Paul's work for today, the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

What I didn't mention in the previous post is that Paul is a federal agent who grew up in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

From his vantage point there, he watched the World Trade Center being built in the late 1960's. He was working in 6 World Trade seven years ago for the U.S. Customs Department when the towers came down, and he spent four months at Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island, searching for remains.

The tattoo is a poignant piece, with the sun shining between the towers. Below is Paul's badge from the Department of Homeland Security, which has evolved into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Particulatly unusual is the depiction of 9/11 in Roman numerals:

IX XI.

I don't believe I had ever seen it represented that way before.

Like the tattoo in the earlier post, this piece was inked by Joe at Brooklyn Ink.

Thanks to Paul for sharing this WTC memorial piece with us here on Tattoosday.

~ ~ ~

We here at Tattoosday send our thoughts and prayers to all the families of people who died on 9/11, and to the families of all of the men and women who have died since then, serving our country.

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.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Melanie's Owl, Melanie's Heart

I met Melanie last week on the subway platform at Broad Street. She had a couple really cool tattoos that she let me snap photos of, and she filled me in later on the details.

Fist up is this really cool owl tattoo with a sugar skull belly:

Melanie explains:

"The truth is, I have always had an obsession with owls. There is something about their quiet wisdom that intrigued me. They possess secrets and messages that are meant to be told to the right person at the right time. When my father passed, I was always searching for something, for answers. My dad had all the answers and life lessons for everything. Maybe that is why I identify with owls; because in some way, they remind me of my dad; wise with hidden knowledge. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t that young when my father died, I was 24, but I still had a lot of learning and growing up to do. I was lost for a long time and would go on random walks to think, search for things that would fill a void that was left in my life. One night, I was walking down the street when I looked up in the darkness of a tall tree and all I could see was the bright eyes on an owl. At that moment, I felt as if the owl was staring right at me and calming me in a way that my father would; making me feel as if every thing is going to be ok because he will always be there to protect me. So I decided, for protection, for wisdom, for life lessons, I could keep my wise owl close to me on my shoulder."

Then, there is this nifty tattoo on her inner arm:

Melanie told me:

"Art always gave me an outlet to express my feelings. If I felt depressed or broken, happy or loved, I would sketch, draw or paint. I never had a good way with words, but I could express feelings and things dear to my heart with art."

Both tattoos were done by Matt Huff (@matthufftattoo) from Brooklyn Ink (@OriginalBrooklynInk) in Bay Ridge. Work from Matt has appeared on Tattoosday previously here, and art from the shop has been featured numerous times over the years,as evidenced here.

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

Friday, June 12, 2015

Warthog On the Knee

I wandered into my favorite watering hole earlier this week and ran into our friend Jeremy.

"We were just talking about you," someone said, "Check out Jeremy's new tattoo!"

I don't need much coaxing in that department, and Jeremy was happy to share this still-fresh tattoo:

No reason for a warthog on the knee but art for art's sake.

This was inked by Bobby "Doc" Osborne (Instagram @DocOsborneTattoo) at Brooklyn Ink in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

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

Thursday, January 1, 2015

A Light for the New Year

It has been a quiet fall, but we're gearing things up in the new year by sharing leftover work spotted in 2015.

First up is this piece I spotted on 4th Avenue in Brooklyn:

This tattoo is on the right thigh of Danielle, who I met back in August in Bay Ridge.

This is a traditional- style piece with a nautical theme. The lighthouse is actually a candle, with a storm approaching - dark clouds and lightning approach. The piece is bordered in rope with a cherry blossom at the bottom. A paper boat floats on the blue sea.

In Danielle's words:

"Basically, it's the light that never goes out. You got the rain, the candle and the candle's still going pretty strong - that's guiding the paper boat."

Danielle credited Matt Huff at Brooklyn Ink with this work. Most of her tattoos were done by Matt and the other artists at Brooklyn Ink.

Matt had a piece featured over the summer, here, an awesome George Carlin tattoo.

Click through the tag for Brooklyn Ink below to see all the work we've featured previously on the site.

Thanks to Danielle for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday.

Happy New Year to all!

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Matt Shares George Carlin with the World

Not many tattoos stop me in my tracks, but that's just what happened when I was walking down 4th Avenue last week and spotted Matt outside of a laundromat with this awesome tattoo:

This fantastic tattoo of the late great comedian George Carlin is by far one of my favorite portraits of a celebrity I've ever seen inked on flash. Perhaps being a huge fan has something to do with it.

Turns out the fan with the tattoo is Matt Huff, tattooer and piercer at Brooklyn Ink, where Joe Mags laid this portrait down. The fact that the image was so immediately recognizable to me speaks volumes of the quality of the work.

Later, in an email, Matt gave me a detailed rundown of his relationship to the tattoo:

"There are several reasons that I decided to get my George Carlin portrait. I suppose the best place to start is my own personality, and how I will crack a joke about anything, no matter how lighthearted or serious it can be. George Carlin was someone who was a part of my life from when I was a little kid watching Shining Time Station on PBS, to being an adolescent who thought the 7 dirty words skit was edgy and rebellious, through my angst filled teenage years. I've carried the 'bullshit is everywhere' attitude my whole life, and learning the ability to brush it all off and laugh about it have been an integral part of my transition into the person I am today. I figured if there was a person who I quote almost daily, that I should pay homage to, it would be him."

I couldn't agree more - I cut my teeth as a kid in the 70's sneaking peeks at Carlin doing stand-up on HBO specials, an despite never seeing him perform,. I did meet him twice at book-signing. This signed photograph hangs in my bathroom:

Who cares if my name isn't Wayne, it's as funny as hell.

Here's a classic piece of Carlin that I still love:

Thanks to Matt for sharing his George Carlin portrait with us here on Tattoosday. If you hadn't guessed by my gushing, it is truly an honor!

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Jeremy's Eagle Soars

Ever since Lock Yard, my favorite watering hole, opened last fall, I had been admiring the tattoos of Jeremy, who works there. He's got quite a few, including this amazing American eagle:

"I have about twelve years of counter-terrorism experience with the government," he told me, adding, "so it's just my tribute to America."

As for the pain in getting your throat tattooed, Jeremy told me, "I had no problem with my throat - my feet and my stomach were exponentially worse."

This great work was done by Rob at Brooklyn Ink in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Work from the shop has appeared quite often over the years here on Tattoosday. Click here to see what we've seen through the years from Rob, Joe and Alex at the shop.

Thanks to Jeremy for sharing his awesome eagle with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Re-Post: Paul's Memorial

I posted this originally in 2008 and re-posted it again in 2009 and 2011. As I've said in the past, it only seems appropriate to re-run it again today:

IX XI.

I don't believe I had ever seen it represented that way before.

Like the tattoo in the earlier post, this piece was inked by Joe at Brooklyn Ink.

Thanks to Paul for sharing this WTC memorial piece with us here on Tattoosday.

~ ~ ~

We here at Tattoosday send our thoughts and prayers to all the families of people who died on 9/11, and to the families of all of the men and women who have died since then, serving our country.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Kristina: Aon Grá

Over the summer, we were having a yard sale, when Kristina stopped by to peruse the goods. She shared this, one of her four tattoos:

Located on the inside of her right arm, the phrase "aon grá" is Irish for "one love". This decorative tattoo with a powerful message was tattooed by Rob at Brooklyn Ink in Bay Ridge. Work from the shop which, due to its close proximity to "home base" for Tattoosday, has appeared often over the years on the site, and can be seen here.

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

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Emily Picks Her Poison

It's always interesting when I meet someone with a lot of tattoos, trying to guess, when you ask them to pick just one, which piece they will choose to share. A couple weeks ago, I met Emily, who has two full sleeves, along with her chest and back tattooed. She selected this tattoo on her right forearm for our readers to enjoy:

This is a take on the famous Sailor Jerry design, like the one seen in this post from 2008:

Emily created a male version of the classic "Posion" Sailor Jerry woman. She explained:

"I was a Women's Studies major an an undergrad and when I started getting a lot of tattoos, I thought, 'This'll be funny'. That's what most of my tattoos are."

The tattoo was done by Alex Franklin when he was at Sinister Ink in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Sinister Ink has long since closed (Revolver Tattoo is located in its place) and Alex has been working out of Brooklyn Ink in Bay Ridge for many years now.

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

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Darya's Bi-Coastal Peacock and Cherry Blossoms

I met Darya coming out of the subway in Bay Ridge and asked if I could take a picture of her tattoo. She kindly allowed me to do so and share it here with everyone on Tattoosday:

Darya explained that she always wanted a peacock tattoo, and she has fourteen tattoos in all (not all peacocks). Joe Maggs at Brooklyn Ink tattooed the peacock.

The cherry blossoms, symbols of regeneration, were added by Illya at Studio City Tattoos in California.

Thanks to Darya for sharing her tattoos from both coasts here on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Tattoo from a Francophile

Earlier this summer, I posted a couple of tattoos from Joe, seen here.

Needless to say, Joe became a fan, and updated me with a new tattoo, below:

Joe explains:

"The picture is fresh from the artist finishing it. It is "C077X" and is a nod to James Franco and General Hospital. He is my fav actor and I have been watching General Hospital for at least 21 years. It is the the tag that "Franco" sprayed on everything when he recently guest starred on GH as an artist/serial killer. His character's name is Franco, reflecting that art imitates life. A motto the actor and character believe, and so do I. That is why I got the tattoo. To prove art imitates life!"

Photo Credit: ABC via http://sn.soapnet.go.com

The tattoo was inked by Rob at Brooklyn Ink. Rob originally appeared here as a contributor here. And is one of several artists that has represented Brooklyn Ink over the years on Tattoosday. This label links all of the work from the shop previously seen on Tattoosday.

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

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Sara's Psalm Speaks to the Desires of Her Heart

I met Sara on the 36th Street subway platform in Brooklyn last month during the late afternoon rush hour commute.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for words and this tattoo looked poetic:

Sara filled me in. She has three tattoos and this passage "spoke to her". She wanted something religious for her 30th birthday.

This is an excerpt (verse 4) from Psalm 37 in the Bible.

The verse reads "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart" [King James Version]. Sara changed the thee and thine to read me and my, respectively, making the verse more personal.

This was tattooed by Alex Franklin at Brooklyn Ink in Bay Ridge. Work from Brooklyn Ink (and much from Alex) can be seen on this Tattoosday label here.

Thanks to Sara for sharing her source of inspiration with us here on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Two Segements of Renae's Arm

I spotted a whole lot going on with Renae's left forearm, while browsing at the Chelsea Salvation Army store, so I just had to ask.

Let's deconstruct:

The first part of this tattoo is the dark heart on the inner part of the forearm. Renae attributes this to Rob at the Orlando branch of Hart and Huntington. In over three years of inkspotting, this is the first piece on Tattoosday that has been credited to one of their shops.

Renae, who has "no idea" how many tattoos she has (which is synonymous for "too many to count"), wanted to add to her arm, so she headed to Brooklyn Ink in Bay Ridge.

Alex Franklin was given free reign, according to Renae. Her exact quote was "use your imagination and run," which must be music to many a tattooists ears.

Alex did the flourishes around the original tattoo, along with the phrase "gutta cavat lapidem," a Latin phrase by Ovid which translates to "dripping water hollows out a stone," which is a shortened version of the line "Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence." This quote is known to many New Yorkers who have seen it inscribed underground here (with a broader description here).

And he tattooed the piece on the other side of the arm:

Work from Brooklyn Ink (and a lot by Alex) has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Renae for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Marie's Anchor of Hope

I met Marie outside of Penn Station last month after spotting her sleeve of naval designs. She picked this one on the inside of her upper right arm:

This tattoo reminds her the importance of "loving where you're from" and having "faith in where you live". The anchor and cherry blossoms are a nice blend of traditional tattoo designs from the East and the West.

The design is an allusion to a song called "Anchor and Hope," from the album Wall of People by alternative rock band Monty Are I, out of Cranston, Rhode Island.

Check them out in this video of them doing the song acoustically:

Marie is originally from New York, moved to Virginia, and has relocated back home to New York City.

The tattoo was done by Rob at Brooklyn Ink. Rob was a subject on Tattoosday a couple of years back. See his post here. And this tag will show you the work previously featured on Tattoosday created at Brooklyn Ink.

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

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Anthony's Dragon (and more!)

I spotted Anthony on the N train in Brooklyn and was happy to see him also switching for the local R train at 59th Street.

As luck would have it, both of us were headed home to Bay Ridge.

Anthony has a bunch of tattoos, and I snapped this photo of the dragon on his upper right arm:

It was inked by Joe at Brooklyn Ink.

He estimated that the work so far has been completed in about three two-hour sessions.

Work from Joe and other artists at Brooklyn Ink has previously appeared quite frequently on Tattoosday (all posts tagged as such here).

Anthony later emailed me photos of these shots as well:

The praying hands holding the rosary, I recall him telling me, were tattooed at Distinction Ink in Brooklyn. The tattoo reads "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned".

He did not tell me where he had this tribal sun done, but it's definitely an attention-grabbing piece and certainly worth a mention.

Thanks to Anthony for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

John's Tattoo Identity (With a Bonus Vendetta)

I met John recently in a local drug store in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn.

I had actually seen John once previously in the store, but had been unable to speak to him at the time, so I was happy when I ran into him again.

His upper right arm is a Star Wars tribute, but I shot the left arm instead. He was laughing because he had just been questioned by several people at a nearby department store and now that he had escaped to a different shop, here I was questioning him about his work.

This is a shot of his left arm:

Like the Star Wars theme on his right arm, the left arm embraces outer space, what John called his "tattoo identity".

He did note that this had been reworked and represented the repairing of a much smaller piece. He sung high praise to Alex Franklin of Brooklyn Ink, who did the majority of this work and made the piece what it is today. Alex and Brooklyn Ink are no strangers to Tattoosday. This link takes the reader to all posts tagged "Brooklyn Ink".

Before explaining that tattoo to me, however, he had shown me something that had not been visible in the department store. He pulled up his shirt to reveal this awesome V for Vendetta tattoo in the top center section of his back:

John loved the graphic novel and the movie as well.

The character of V makes a striking tattoo. This was inked by the incomparable Designs by Michael Angelo in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Work from his shop has appeared previously here on the blog.

Thanks to John for sharing his incredible tattoos with us here on Tattoosday! We hope to bring his Star Wars sleeve to the site some time in the future.