Mike's Marine: A Tattoo for Memorial Day

It only seemed fitting that, on this Memorial Day, we feature a tattoo that honors our men and women in uniform.

A week ago, I was fresh off of my experience at the New York City Tattoo Convention, and everything I saw on the street was uninteresting. Until I passed by Mike and did a double-take.

This is the tattoo on Mike's inner right forearm:


Mike explained that, as a United States Marine, he was choosing to honor the corps by building a sleeve of iconic military photographs.

If you think this is an impressive tattoo (which it is), seeing the source material further magnifies how phenomenal a replica the artist has created on Mike's flesh:


A page on About.com explains this image further:

"While units of the U.S. Far East Air Forces Combat Cargo Command made an all-out effort to aid embattled units of the First Marine Division and Seventh Infantry Division, the men fighting in Korea were trying desperately to link up in their battle for survival. This marine is shown just as he reached the crest of the ridge at the link-up point. Wet, stinging snow and ice made the operation the most difficult sort, as unleashed hordes of communist troops charge again and again into the United Nations forces. (circa December 1950) "

In addition to this tattoo, Mike has a Vietnam-era photo of a Marine sniper inked on his right biceps.

This astonishing tattoo was created by Randy Prause at Permanent Buzz Tattoo, in Denville, New Jersey.

A hearty thanks to Mike for sharing this tattoo with us here on Memorial Day. More importantly, Tattoosday expresses even more gratitude to Mike and all his fellow soldiers and who have so bravely served our country to ensure the freedoms we enjoy each day.

Have a safe and pleasant Memorial Day!

Grover's Tattoos Recollect the Past, But Focus on the Future

I ran into Grover a month or two ago where he worked in Penn Station and admired the work on his sleeve. As I try my best to not disrupt folks on the job, I passed him a Tattoosday card and was happy to see when he e-mailed me a few days later.

Our schedules are different, and we tabled any definitive date to meet and discuss his ink. But one day, by chance, I passed the business where he worked and he was outside on a break.

And he offered me his arm:


We discussed the inner part of his right forearm first. This cross is a tribute to his parents, who were both injured in a serious accident about five years ago. He had this tattooed after it appeared that they would recover, and it symbolizes his faith in the blessing of their survival. The tattoo reads "Mom. Dad. God Bless."

On the top part of the outer right forearm is an starred banner design and the words "Death Before Dishonor" to remind him that he has kept his head up while working hard for his daughter.

He has chosen the honest life, rather than slip into the easy trap of making a living dishonorably.

Grover's daughter's name is London, which he has inscribed on his flesh, over a tattoo of Big Ben, the emblematic clock tower than stands proudly in the city which lends its name to his daughter. Big Ben is frozen in time at 4:10, the date (April 10) that London was born.


Below that is a skull crying blood.


The blood is the only part of Grover's tattoos that are not done in black ink. This image reflects the harsh reality of the world and the raw emotion that life often pulls out of one's soul, in the form of bloody tears.

And lastly is my favorite part of the tattoo, which rests on Grover's hand.


He grew up in Harlem and the buildings represent the view south, looking to the skyline of the city. The dollar sign and, to the right, the leaves of marijuana plants, represent to Grover what it was like "back in the day," when the drive for money in the big city, and the prevalence of marijuana in the neighborhood, left a profound impact on his days growing up.

Grover credits much of the work seen here to an artist named Marco, who works out of Crazy Fantasy Tattoo on West 4th Street in Manhattan.

I want to thank Grover for sharing his set of tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Janet Presents: The Non-Stick Tattoo That is Permanent

My awesome friend Janet (whose tattoos are here) sent this to me last Friday and, although I am not in the habit of accepting on the street submissions, this one is pretty damn cool and blogworthy:


Janet reports:

"I was walking behind this guy going north on 6th Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets on the east side of the street and was compelled to tap him and ask about the tattoo. He allowed me, without hesitation, to photograph it with my phone, then told me the story, which depicts a long-running inside joke. He's a photographer, and in the course of his work, at one point ran out of baby oil to use on the models.His partner suggested spraying the models with Pam... the tattoo was a gift, related to a wedding (I'm not sure if it was his wedding, or his friend's...)."

Thanks to Janet for sharing this one here with us on Tattoosday!

Sean's Organic Tattoo

It's always interesting when you meet people with a lot of tattoos. Unless someone volunteers to catalog their entire collection (case I point here), I generally ask folks to share just one with us here on Tattoosday.

The problem there is that asking someone to pick one tattoo to offer up is often like asking someone to select their favorite child among their brood of kids. They're all special in their own way and most generally equally-loved.

So when I ran into Sean, who has eleven tattoos, there was some debate. We were going to do his right leg piece, but it wrapped around the majority of the calf, and I didn't think it would come out well because of the multiple angles. This is why you don't see a lot of sleevework on Tattoosday.

The "OUCH" tattooed inside his lower lip was funny, but it's just a word in a strange spot, and not very artistic. We considered for a moment the lipstick imprint of a kiss. But that one was on his butt, and it just didn't seem right to be photographing someone's posterior on Seventh Avenue.

So we went with a tattoo on his right forearm which doesn't totally wrap around the arm:



















This was Sean's first tattoo that was drawn on free-hand. He liked the organic colors in the design and just let the artist do her thing.


It took about four hours for Tina Forever at Resurrection Tattoo in Austin, Texas, to complete the piece.

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

Dispatch from the New York City Tattoo Convention

I take pride in the fact that this site is very positive. Even "bad" tattoos get their moments in the sun. If the story behind an "eh" tattoo is compelling, then it's worth telling.

There are enough places on the web where "free speech" reigns, wearing the stained sheet of petty negativity.

So I don't feel too bad about offering this word of advice to the organizers of the New York City Tattoo convention: answer your e-mails, answer your messages.

I left several messages via e-mail and phone offering to help promote the show via the blog. My inquiries weren't even acknowledged. And that's fine. Except, of course, it isn't. Why else would I be writing about it? The rote response from people I've voiced my disappointment to has been similar, "Well, what do you expect? They're old-time tattoo people."

There my be truth to that sentiment, but I'm not willing to embrace it. There are plenty of people who are in the tattoo industry who are savvy enough to hit "reply" on an e-mail.

So, disclosing fully, I approached the show at the Roseland Ballroom last weekend with a bit of a chip on my shoulder. But I was determined to enjoy myself. And I did.

I spent a little over five and a half hours wandering the aisles, watching the artists, introducing myself to various people, checking out some amazing tattoos.

I enjoyed meeting Mike Bellamy from Red Rocket Tattoo and Elio Espana from FlyRite Studio in Brooklyn. I had nice chats with people from Lotus Tattoo in Sayville, Rising Dragon in Chelsea, and New York Adorned. Many of the shops whose artists' work has appeared on the blog, everyone friendly and courteous. It was nice to put faces to the hard-working people in
these, and many other shops.

I was asked by a lot of people after the show if I took a lot of pictures. The answer is no, not what would be expected from a guy who is taking tattoo photos as often as he can.

I posted one amazing back piece on Sunday, and I have another post in the works featuring an incredible artist from Quebec.

Other than that, I just observed, met other fans. Talked with the editors of fine tattoo magazines, like Inked. Took in the sights.

I thought I would feel extremely self-conscious being there with no visible tattoos. But there were a lot of people who appeared similarly un-inked. I showed my tattoos once, to a big mensch of a tattoo shop owner from Staten Island, who started peppering his speech with Yiddish when he saw my last name was Cohen. He told me that his Jewishness didn't stop him from having 52 tattoos, and it drove his father crazy.

And I even ran into two people who have been featured here on Tattoosday. I passed by John, from my neighborhood in Brooklyn, whose work appears here and here. I also had a nice chat with Melanie, whose holstered revolvers remain one of my favorite on the street encounters.

In all, I had a fun time. I can see why many I've spoken to about the New York show have seemed hesitant to admit that it's a top-notch tattoo convention. It's cramped and dingy, but that seems a bit in character with what the promoters are trying to convey.

Will I go back next year? Perhaps. But it certainly leaves me hungry for more. Las Vegas, Vancouver, Milan.

A blogger can dream, can't he?

Lacey's Traditional Gypsy Tattoo

I will never hesitate to ask someone about traditional tattoos. There's something classic about the imagery that just intrigues me.

Last week I ran into Lacey as our paths crossed on Seventh Avenue. It was a gloomy, overcast day, and I spotted a flash of vibrant color cutting through the streets. She shared this lovely gypsy:


This tattoo in particular, Lacey told me, doesn't necessarily signify anything other than an appreciation of the design. She did acknowledge that gypsies were mysterious and, as she put it, "a little naughty". This and the fact that there is a familial resemblance (she has several sisters), made this an appealing choice to sport on her inner left forearm.

The tattoo was inked at Ron and Dave's Tattooing on Staten Island by the artist Chris Lopez.

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

A New Tattoo Show on A&E is Coming Down the Highway

I owe a great debt to shows like Miami Ink, Inked, and L.A. Ink.

When I first decided, almost two years ago, to run a once-weekly over on my original site, BillyBlog, I had no idea how much I would enjoy the project. I basically conceived of a "Poor Man's Miami Ink," a once-weekly Tat-Tuesday post. Before long, I had spun off Tattoosday onto its own page, and it hit the ground running.

But Inked and Miami Ink are distant memories, and Kat Von D has been the only one holding the tattoo torch on television, of late. That is, until now.

Next week, A&E is premiering Tattoo Highway.

This is a new thirteen-episode mobile tattoo show that is helmed by Thomas Pendleton, who many of you will remember from Inked.

And I have seen it, and it is good.

Pendleton & Co. have equipped a mobile home with a tattoo studio and they go out and find the subjects to be inked.

Stay tuned for more news about the show. Here's a little bit of a taste of what viewers can expect next week:



Wednesday nights are about to be a lot more colorful!

P.S. Be sure to have some fun with the show's virtual tattoo generator here.