Tattoosday (A Tattoo Blog): Magic Cobra Tattoo Society

Showing posts with label Magic Cobra Tattoo Society. Show all posts

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Maddie's Family Heirlooms (Tattoosday Walks Into a Bar)

Back in December 2017, I popped into Krupa Grocery (@krupagrocery) in Brooklyn to grab a beer.

Maddie was behind the bar, and she shared a couple of her tattoos.

Her first tattoo was this knife, which she got when she was 18, at Hand of Glory Tattoo (@handofglorytattoo) in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Maddie told me this is a depiction of a sterling silver family heirloom - a bread knife that was in the possession of her grandfather's second wife. The family no longer uses it as a bread knife and regards it as a dagger.

She also shared this wedding portrait of her parents, tattooed by Ashley Strout (aka Ol' Ash), formerly of Magic Cobra Tattoo Society (@magiccobratattoo):

While talking to Maddie, I enjoyed a Light Year double IPA from Grimm Artisanal Ales (@grimmales):

It was delicious.

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

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Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Diana Shares Some Cool Tattoos on Her Birthday

I want to wish Diana a happy birthday today! I met Diana last month while walking in lower Manhattan. She had, at the time, "about 13" tattoos, and she was kind enough to share them with us.

Her newest piece at the time was this cool one on her forearm:

This was inked by Zoe Bean (@zoebeantattoo) from Eight of Swords Tattoo (@8ofswordstattoo) in Brooklyn. Diana explained:

"It's just supposed to be a graceful representation of Lilith ... kind of a feminist symbol ... [Zoe] is a wonderful artist to do this. I love her dotwork style but also, we were talking as I was getting the tattoo, she used to be a professor and she kind of made her way as a tattoo artist. She just had an amazing story ... male-dominated field, moving up in her career, it was great of her to do this and to make this feminist symbol on my arm ... It means a lot for me because ... we looked into the story behind Lilith and we have a couple of the flowers that represent her and then the snake, of course... it was really great to go on this journey with Zoe to like get it right."

Diana also has this cool pair of tattoos on her upper arm:

Diana elaborated about the moth:

"I volunteer at a butterfly conservatory at the Museum of Natural History ... I thought this would be a really nice touch I got this because for that reason but also because 8 of Swords was doing a charity benefit for an LGBTQ homeless center in Arkansas [Lucie's Place in Little Rock] ... they raised over 10 thousand dollars in that event and this was one of the designs. Stella [Vlad] (@stellamayvlad) ... made this and did a really great job."

Stella was one of the visiting artists who joined Eight of Swords for the fundraiser. She works at Speakeasy Tattoo (@nyspeakeasytattoo) in Peekskill, New York.

Diana also told me about the woman's head below the moth:

"I got this from Ashley (@ol_ash), she used to work at Magic Cobra Tattoo Society (@magiccobratattoo) [in Brooklyn] ... I'm a Gemini, so there's two different faces in the woman's eyes, so one is kinda happy and the other one is ... kind of sad looking, so it's like the different personalities."

The artist, Ashley Strout, now works at Electric Anvil Tattoo (@electricanviltattoo) in Brooklyn.

And last, but not least, Diana shared this amazing tattoo on her thigh:

Diana explains this wonderful tattoo of the goddess Athena:

"I got this in San Francisco ... on my last day [there] and it took hours to do ... I sat for one very long session... The artist I went to, he does really good portrait tattoos ... my mother loved mythology and she passed away when I was a teenager, so I was like oh this would be a really really cool tattoo."

The artist is Brian Jones (@brianjonestattoos), who did this at One Shot Tattoo (@one_shot_tattoo), but he is now based out of Gold Stripe Tattoo (@goldstripetattoo) in San Diego.

Thanks to Diana for sharing all of these cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday! It was great meeting you and happy birthday!

Photo by Diana

Friday, July 7, 2017

Emory Shares Two Cool Tattoos

I met Emory last month at the 35th Annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade (@mermaidparade). She shared this cool tattoo:

For those of you unfamiliar with the Kentile Floors sign, this was a highly visible landmark perched high over the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.

Louie Ozomek (@louiescustomtattooing) at Hand of Glory Tattoo (@handofglorytattoo) in Brooklyn did a nice job replicating the sign on Emory' biceps.

The sign was dismantled in 2014, but Emory wanted to "preserve its memory" on her arm as a tribute to the familiar symbol that stood in Brooklyn for sixty-five years.

Emory also shared this piece on the back of her other arm:

She got this at Magic Cobra Tattoo Society (@magiccobratattoo) in Brooklyn, as part of a fundraiser called Party to Protect, in support of Planned Parenthood (@plannedparenthood).

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

Sunday, January 29, 2017

A Few of Chelsea's Tattoos

Back in September, I met Chelsea in the lobby of 30 Broad Street in the Financial District.

She was sporting quite a few tattoos and she was kind enough to share some of her work with me and chat about it.

Check out this lovely neck tattoo:

Chelsea explains:

"The bird itself kind of resembles a robin, with the orange belly. But holds no particular meaning to me personally. My mother always grew peonies when I was growing up, so I wanted that flower. Originally planned to be a partner piece, with a nesting bird and different color peony on my left collar, but has been delayed as I am having work done on an extensive leg sleeve."

And also from her left arm:

There's a lot going on here, from the dominating chrysanthemum, to the knuckle tattoos, to the astronaut and the small lemon near her thumb.

Thankfully, Chelsea sorted it all out for me:

"The astronaut and the lemon were already on my hand [before the flower was added]. The lemon being one of my first tattoos about 8 years ago (Jacy Skelton, Jaded Angel, Ames IA) and the astronaut was a Friday the 13th tattoo from about 3 years ago (Kati Vaughn, Magic Cobra, Williamsburg Brooklyn). I asked Jeb to draw up a rose to fit around them. When I showed up for the appointment he said 'I know you wanted a rose, but I drew up this chrysanthemum instead.' I was in love and immediately trusted him. I loved that he took the initiative to draw up something that, although I had not asked for, he knew it would be a better fit. And it was!! The tattoo is now almost 2 years old and the color is still fresh and vibrant. My knuckles were designed by a friend, but tattooed by Jeb Maykut. They spell thirsty, TH,I,RS,TY."

Jeb Maykut (@jeb_maykut) is currently part of the amazing team at Saved Tattoo (@saved_tattoo) in Brooklyn.

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

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Skylar's Message: Love Yourself

I met Skylar (@abuses) at one of the booths at last summer's NY Empire State Tattoo Expo (@nyempirestatetattooexpo) in New York City. She is an apprentice at First Class Tattoo (@firstclassnyc) in Manhattan.

She shared the following tattoo from her arm with us, credited to Douglas Grady (@douglasgrady) from Magic Cobra Tattoo Society (@magiccobratattoo) in Brooklyn.

Skylar explained how this tattoo came to be:

"I got this tattoo ... after me and my ex broke up ... I was going through a weird time in my life when I was really depressed, had a lot of anxiety. I wasn't really wanting to do anything with my life and I kinda had poured all of myself into this one person ... loved him a lot more than I loved myself and after we fell apart, I realized, 'Shit, I don't have anything for myself ... fuck that. I gotta go and make something of myself instead'... So I decided if something's going to make me commit to doing something, it's going to be putting it on my body forever. So I went, on an impulse ... walked in and was like, 'Doug, I need you to tattoo this on me.' He tattooed it on me and literally, from that moment, I've just been working real hard and trying to better myself and just reminding myself that I come before anyone else, even if I do love them. Because, how am I gonna love somebody if I can't love myself?"

A great lesson indeed!

Doug Grady's work has appeared on Tattoosday previously, here.

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

Monday, August 17, 2015

Lauren's Floral Tattoo, with a Bluebird

At the Coney Island Mermaid Parade in June, I met Lauren, who was parading with a squadron of Roller Derby women.

She let me take this photo of her cool tattoo and promised to email me with details.

Her Roller Derby name was "Laurena Bob-it" and she credited this to Kati Vaughn from Magic Cobra Tattoo Society in Brooklyn.

I don't have any further details, but maybe one day, Lauren will find my card and email me.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Angeline's Thigh Tattoo

Yesterday we met Leila who shared her floral tattoo. Today we're checking out this thigh tattoo from her friend Angeline:

Angeline credits this to Douglas Grady at Magic Cobra Tattoo Society in Willliamsburg, Brooklyn.

She told me, "t was something that he'd drawn up and I'd seen it and said 'I want it," because it was gorgeous."

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

Friday, March 27, 2015

Tina, Illuminated

Back in September, I met Tina on the subway platform, headed uptown.

She had this beautiful half-sleeve, which she kindly shared with me:

Tina credit this to Woodz (Todd Woodward) at Magic Cobra Tattoo Society in Brooklyn.

The piece is inspired by a Medieval illuminated manuscript. Tina told me that the central figures are two saints, that is early Christian in origin, and that it is has a feminist influence.

Thanks to Tina for sharing this work with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Ashley's Unusual Neck Tattoo Feature Frankenstein's Monster and His Bride

A couple weeks back, I was walking on Broadway near 39th Street, when I spotted a woman sporting an unusual neck tattoo. Intrigued, I introduced myself and Ashley allowed me to take a photo of her month-old ink:

Ashley, who is a textile designer by trade, explained how she came up with the ides for this tattoo:

"It was just inspired by this old vintage jewelry that I found ... it had Frankenstein and his bride on it ... I just kinda wanted to mimic exactly what I saw ... I liked that it was more like a motif ... for me it was translated better into a textile print."

I reached out to the tattoo artist, Adam Korothy at Magic Cobra Tattoo Society in Brooklyn, and asked if he had anything to add about the piece. He noted that the work was based on Ashley's own design and that "the imperfections were intentional to mimic the silk screen look of the original artwork."

Normally, I don't often ask about tattoo placement on our contributors, but I was curious about this particular piece. Ashley doesn't have a ton of tattoos, and you generally don't see a lot of folks going to the neck without having filled up their arms first. Yes, I'm guilty of generalization, but I had to ask, "Did you have any reservations about doing it in such a visible place on your neck?"

Without hesitation, Ashley replied, "No, it's like my ideal location ... I've always liked that area for tattoos."

Thanks to Ashley for sharing these unusual tattoos with us here on Tattoosday, and to Adam at Magic Cobra for his contribution, as well!

Tattoosday (A Tattoo Blog)