Showing posts with label Star Wars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Wars. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Tattoosday Goes to a Galaxy, Far, Far Away (via Las Vegas)

Last month in Las Vegas I snapped a bunch of random tattoo pictures at the Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival. Here's another:



So it may not be the best Princess Leia tattoo you've ever seen, but the whole concept is pretty cool. 


This entry is ©2023 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.


Saturday, May 4, 2019

May the 4th Beer With You (Repost)

The following is a repost from late last summer. IT seems appropriate to re-share today.

Last week, on our way back from Washington, D.C., we pulled into the John Fenwick Service Plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike for a quick bathroom break. As we were leaving the building, my wife Melanie exclaimed, "Bill, did you see that guy's tattoo?" She was referring to a gentleman who had just walked in as we were walking out. "Go," she told me, "you have to talk to him!"

And talk to him I did. His name was Bryan and he was happy to share this pure awesomeness:


As someone with a nod to Pabst Blue Ribbon in my own ink, this mash-up of a PBR can and R2-D2 from Star Wars ranks up there as one of my favorite tattoos. It's just plain fun.

Bryan credited an artist named Bryan Merck (@bmerck_ink) who works out of Evolution Tattoo in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Bryan had previously worked at the now-defunct Deep Six Tattoo in Philadelphia.

Bryan also shared this new tattoo he got over the summer:


For those unfamiliar with National Bohemian, that one-eyed chap is "Natty Boh," who graces labels of the regional mid-Atlantic beer.
Thanks to Bryan for sharing his awesome tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!


This entry is ©2018, 2019 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.

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Bryan and R2-DBrew (Tattoosday on the Turnpike)

Last week, on our way back from Washington, D.C., we pulled into the John Fenwick Service Plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike for a quick bathroom break. As we were leaving the building, my wife Melanie exclaimed, "Bill, did you see that guy's tattoo?" She was referring to a gentleman who had just walked in as we were walking out. "Go," she told me, "you have to talk to him!"

And talk to him I did. His name was Bryan and he was happy to share this pure awesomeness:


As someone with a nod to Pabst Blue Ribbon in my own ink, this mash-up of a PBR can and R2-D2 from Star Wars ranks up there as one of my favorite tattoos. It's just plain fun.

Bryan credited an artist named Bryan Merck (@bmerck_ink) who works out of Evolution Tattoo in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Bryan had previously worked at the now-defunct Deep Six Tattoo in Philadelphia.

Bryan also shared this new tattoo he got over the summer:


For those unfamiliar with National Bohemian, that one-eyed chap is "Natty Boh," who graces labels of the regional mid-Atlantic beer.
Thanks to Bryan for sharing his awesome tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2018 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.

Friday, May 4, 2018

May the 4th Be With You, Courtesy of Ben (Tattoosday Goes to Philly)

Back in February, at the 20th Annual Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention (@villainarts), I met Ben, who has some amazing work that I saved posting for today, May the Fourth:




Today, of course, is Star Wars day, and Ben (@jedijunkie) has dedicated his canvas to Star Wars imagery, including that amazing Millennium Falcon on his back.

He's working on a full suit and credits artist Phil Morgan at RLMG Tattoos of Orlando (@RLMGTattoos) with his work.

Thanks to Ben for sharing his amazing Star Wars tattoos with us here on Tattoosday! May the Fourth be with you!

This entry is ©2018 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.

Monday, March 26, 2018

Princess Leia, by Carlos Rojas (Tattoosday Goes to Philly)

Last month, at the 20th Annual Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention (@villainarts), I met Chelsea, who shared this classic image of Carrie Fisher's character Princess Leia from the Star Wars saga:


This image is based on Fisher's portrayal of Leia in the original Star Wars film.

Chelsea credited the work to the talented Carlos Rojas (@crojasart), from the Black Anchor Collective in Hesperia, California.

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

This entry is ©2018 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.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Princess Leia Portrait by Mike Carro (Tattoosday Goes to Philly)

Last month, at the 20th Annual Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention (@villainarts), I met Frank, who shared this amazingly lifelike tattoo of Carrie Fisher's character Princess Leia:


This image is based on Fisher's portrayal of Leia in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.

Frank credited the work to Mike Carro (@mcarrotattoo) from Undead Ink (@undeadink) in Oceanside, New York.

Check back tomorrow in a few weeks for another Princess Leia tattoo that I spotted at the show!

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


This entry is ©2018 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.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

May the Fourth with Anthony's Astonishing Star Wars Canvas

It's May the 4th, the day when, in the past, we have occasionally celebrated Star Wars tattoos and, this year, we have a special treat. Last month, I was introduced to Anthony, who a mutual friend advised had some amazing Star Wars tattoos. Boy, was he not exaggerating. Check this out:


I mean, come on! Even a person unfamiliar with the Star Wars universe has to recognize the mastery in this tattoo work.

The detail is just incredible:


And Anthony's work blends into his sides:



And meets on Anthony's chest in a fantastic battle scene:




Anthony proudly bears the work of an artist named Needles (@darthneedles), who has done all of his work. He started working with Needles in the early 2000s (perhaps, 2004) and estimates that he has spent 40 hours on the back alone.

The chest piece is one of his favorite parts and was named "Best Star Wars Tattoo" in the January/February 2007 issue of Star Wars Insider.

Today, on May 4th, Anthony will be visiting three New York City children's hospitals in full stormtrooper gear to help celebrate the holiday. Here's Anthony in one of a few uniforms he dons:

Photo by Alberto Vasari
Anthony is commanding officer of the Empire City Garrison for the 501st Legion.

If you're unaware of what he's referring to, "The Legion is an all-volunteer organization formed for the express purpose of bringing together costume enthusiasts under a collective identity within which to operate." He adds, "The Legion seeks to promote interest in Star Wars through the building and wearing of quality costumes, and to facilitate the use of these costumes for Star Wars-related events as well as contributions to the local community through costumed charity and volunteer work...".

The Empire City Garrison is the New York branch of this organization with outposts in multiple states and on several continents.

For more information, visit the 501st Legion's website here

Anthony's work is astounding, when viewed in its entirety and he likens his collection of body art to "the Star Wars journey through tattoos.: His favorite part? "The fact that [it] is on me forever," he says.

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

This entry is ©2017 Tattoosday. The photos were published with the permission of Anthony Paladino.

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.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Repost: May the 4th Be With You

This post appeared, in part, in July 2011, in a post entitled "Fernando's Trio of Whimsical Ink". It is abridged below, in honor of "Star Wars Day."

~ ~ ~

I met Fernando a while back outside of Penn Station and he had a lot of work to share. He estimated that he had around thirty tattoos on his canvas, but we picked three to spotlight here on Tattoosday.

As a Star Wars fan, he couldn't resist this portrait of R2-D2:


The banner "YOU'RE MY ONLY HOPE" refers to the scene in the first movie, when Princess Leia sends a holographic distress message to Obi-Wan Kenobi via R2-D2 that ends, "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."

Both the tattoo of R2-D2 and this one, were done by Evan at Revolver Tattoo in New Burnswick, New Jersey:


That is Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons in the Transformers franchise.

~ ~ ~

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


This entry is ©2011, 2016 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.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Chris and His Empirical Pin-up

Well, little did I know, but yesterday, when I posted some of Fernando's tattoos, the R2-D2 and Megatron pieces in particular, it was coinciding with the opening of Comic-Con 2011 in San Diego.

Since I am not traveling to the big convention to inkspot (maybe some day, when I have the wherewithal), let's continue the Comic-Con theme over the next few days with some material I have encountered over the past few days.

Cue Chris, who I met at the end of June on Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street, and offered up this killer tattoo:


Chris credited this tattoo to Mike Ski, an artist who works in Philadelphia.

According to Chris, Mike is well known for his Old School style of tattooing, which includes that classic pin-up girl look.

Chris said that the tattoo was also influenced by the work of Alphonse Mucha from the late 1800's. This, Chris told me, is "an Old School take on that. We just thought it's be fun to do and," he added, "I've always loved Star Wars."

For those of you not in the know, this pin-up is sporting the garb of the Imperial Stormtroopers.


And, just so to sate our taste for the Empire, the inner part of Chris' arm has a portrait of Darth Vader:


Thanks to Chris for sharing his love of Star Wars 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.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Fernando's Trio of Whimsical Ink

I met Fernando a while back outside of Penn Station and he had a lot of work to share. He estimated that he had around thirty tattoos on his canvas, but we picked three to spotlight here on Tattoosday.

As a Star Wars fan, he couldn't resist this portrait of R2-D2:


The banner "YOU'RE MY ONLY HOPE" refers to the scene in the first movie, when Princess Leia sends a holographic distress message to Obi-Wan Kenobi via R2-D2 that ends, "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."

Both the tattoo of R2-D2 and this one, were done by Evan at Revolver Tattoo in New Burnswick, New Jersey:


That is Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons in the Transformers franchise.

And thirdly, Fernando shared this take on a sugar skull:


This piece was tattooed by Mike Rivelry at Immortal Ink.

Thanks to Fernando for sharing a few of his dozens of 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.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Dispatch from the 2011 New York City Tattoo Convention (A Recap)


Yesterday I spent a half dozen hours at the Roseland Ballroom, where the New York City Tattoo Convention was holding court. This was my third trip to the show, and each year, I have a different experience, as Tattoosday has evolved as a site (read about 2009 here and 2010 here).

In years past, I have only highlighted one or two pieces, as I go into sensory overload. What, outside of a convention's setting, would normally pique my interest, seems commonplace and ordinary. This year, however, I took many more photos, and actually interviewed four people, so this will be Convention Recap Week.

I do want to say the best part of the show was hanging and chatting with Marisa and Brian from Needles and Sins, as well as with Nathan from Knuckle Tattoos. It's not a portrait of future world domination, yet, but here's the three of us, masterminds of three of the best tattoo sites around, and hands and above, the best three inkbloggers at the show:

Nathan, Marisa and Me (photo by Brian Grosz)
That moment of self-adulation aside, I spent the first few hours talking to vendors about advertising, chatting with colleagues, and saying hello to people I've met in years past, like Greg who was the high point of last year's show for me.

I also like to introduce myself to artists whose work has appeared on the Site before, so I said hi to Adam Rosenthal of Th'Ink Tank in Denver, and Vinny Romanelli at Red Rocket in NYC.

I also took a slew of photos of people I didn't interview, so I will just throw them up here. Unfortunately I can't credit any of the amazing artists responsible. However, if you see your work here, shoot me an email and I can give you your proper due. Many of these shots were taken during the first round of the contest, which centered around black and gray work:









This one was one of my favorites, especially considering the woman's reflection in the blade of the knife:


And this Star Wars leg was totally cool:




Finally, through social media, my friend Ben in Hawai'i requested a shot of "80s West Coast punk rock logos." I thought I had failed in my quest until, as I was leaving, I captured this tiny Black Flag tattoo on a guy named Crash, who works for Tattoo Artist Magazine:

Mini-Black Flag Bars Tattoo by Oliver Peck

and this incredible Misfits piece to boot:

Tattoo by Frank Lee at Tattoo Blues in Ft. Lauderdale

Yes, we know, Misfits are an East Coast band. But it was too nice a tattoo to not photograph. Can you blame me?

Check out the Tattoo Artist Magazine blog here.

Check back throughout the week to see what four tattoos I found most blogworthy for 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.

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.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Tattooed Poets Project: Cody Todd's Murals - Star Wars and an Interpretive Tribal

Today's tattoos come from Cody Todd, who was referred to me by Carol Muske-Dukes:

The first one is a back piece, still in progress:


Cody explains this as "a Star Wars mural--the Millenium Falcon in front of a meteor pursued by a TIE Fighter, from The Empire Strikes Back with the specter of Boba Fett looming above the chase." He credits an artist named Skip (since retired) at Old World Tattoo in Arvada, Colorado (North Denver). This was primarily done in 1996.

Cody expands on the piece:

...the one on my back is still in progress--I foresee at least 5-6 more sessions and touch-ups before I can say it is certainly complete. I like visual collages and pastiche, just as I like the poetic collage of Eliot's Prufrock and The Waste Land, Marianne Moore's Poetry, or Frank Stanford's "The Battlefield where the Moon Says I Love You" and Joshua Clover's The Totality for Kids, are other examples. Poetry that synthesizes subject matter, speaking voices, speaking subjects, and stitch together otherwise independent and unlike things--unified by the mode of collage.

Why a Star Wars tattoo? Well, I guess I buy the argument lent forth in Joseph Campbell's The Hero with A Thousand Faces, that the mythical embodiments of the epic, the quest, and the hero are not just culturally shared, but I think each generation has their own embodiment as well. Hokey, cheesy, and melodramatic --yes, but I still watch Empire... with great nostalgia, and I don't think enough credit goes to [George] Lucas and his literary homage paid to Aquinas, Emerson, Plato, and Homer, to name a few. However, the revisions of Star Wars Episodes 1-3 are so bad I cannot watch them without getting sick. Maybe I am old now, but I just don't get them at all. Nevertheless, my parents still joke about the fact that I was conceived in the backseat of a Ford Pinto while they were "watching" Star Wars at a south Denver drive-in in the summer of 77."

The second piece is a "tribal-esque mural," of sorts, and was tattooed by a friend of Cody's named Bryan in 1997, at Your Flesh Grappling (now known as Your Flesh Tattoo) in Durango, Colorado. This piece was drawn by Cody and wraps around his left thigh:

Cody added:

"The leg tattoo was a personalized redefinition of the "Tribal" tattoos that were the craze when tattoos were no longer isolated to deviancy. Loosely quoting Mike Ness of Social Distortion, in the 1990's, kids could go to a mall and get their little "parts" pierced or walk out of there with a barbed wire tribal band around their biceps. I took a one-page graffiti collage from a notebook that I penciled of hooks, circles, ovoids, anemone-shaped and flame-shaped patterns with tentacles--my first name is actually on the upper left, and a small skyline of Denver with that wacky cash-register shaped building [The Wells Fargo Center] is just 1:00 o'clock from the family of bubbles or spheres centered in the band. I am going to amend this tat with another piece of similar solid black-ink graffiti to wrap a 4-inch band around my knee. That is the thing about tattoos--they are addictive; they beg to grow new limbs, and in that sense they are like little monsters."
I've been posting the tattooed poets' work over on BillyBlog and you can check out not one, but two of Cody's poems here. One is called "Boba Fett". But, as an added treat, I'm including one here, as well, because it just seemed appropriate:

Tattooed on the Backs of Eight Fireflies:

Under a dark loam of night,

pure barbed wire.

*

Apparitions dancing

dancing and dancing.

*

Some of us just might bite

the apple those cursed birds already did.

*

Old story: cat bats us away

to reanimate or destroy.

*

Words are the ruse, flight

is the guise, and we are the fakers.

*

Return the favor: grace for

sex or salvation for dust.

*

Time is the knife. Gods the size

of thumbs. Men with bloody hands.

    *

We captured our god, the sun,

and feasted on him by torchlight.


Thanks to Cody for not only sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday, but for expounding on them at such length. It's always fascinating to hear people go beyond the literal meanings of the tattoos themselves, and explore the deeper significance of the art form as it pertains to themselves and society.