Tattoosday (A Tattoo Blog)

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Repost: Blaise's Sugar Skulll

I wanted to post something appropriate for this, the last day of June, as several million people are anticipated to be celebrating Pride in Manhattan.

This tattoo was spotted back in 2012, and was done by our "family" artist, Alex McWatt (@alexthreekings) , out of Three Kings Tattoo (@threekingstattoo) in Manhattan.

Behold:

I met Blaise on a sunny spring day [in 2012] near the corner of 8th Avenue and 33rd Street.

He has a lot of ink, the majority of which was tattooed by Alex McWatt of Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn.

Blaise pointed out the sugar skull in the center of his arm:

This is a sugar skull with a twist - note the rainbow spilling forth from the jaw and, in case you can't tell from the photo, that's a shark riding the rainbow wave.

Blaise singled this out because the tattoo was conceived in partnership with his little sister. It refers to a project they had done together.

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

This entry is ©2012, 2019 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.

Friday, June 28, 2019

Andrea's Pigeon Takes Flight

Andrea (@andreas_eye), a friend of my wife's, shared her first tattoo with me, this cool pigeon on her shoulder:

Here's a closer look at the amazing detail:

Andrea related how this bird tattoo was hatched:

"...After thinking about getting a tattoo for over 10 years, I finally did it on July 18, 2018! I was mainly afraid of the pain and the permanence.

Turns out the pain was minimal and the permanence fine, too. In fact, I've been running up to every random tattooed stranger and saying, 'I just got my first tattoo!!! Can I show you?!,' and then we always get into a conversation about tattoos and everyone agrees that it hurt less than they expected.

Often, people ask me why I chose a pigeon as the image. In fact, some people laugh out loud when they realize it's a pigeon.

Well, I adore pigeons and always have. I think they're gorgeous. Some New Yorkers disparage them, but I'm convinced that if pigeons were discovered for the first time right now, everyone would see them as beautiful. The patterns! The colors on their necks. I've always liked to stand up for underdogs, and so I'm standing up for the underdog of the bird world.

I knew I needed a really great tattoo artist for the style I wanted, which was photorealistic. I wanted it to look like a painting. I searched around and asked friends for recommendations and ended up choosing Adriana Hallow (@adrianahallow), who turned out to be absolutely ideal not only because of her artistic brilliance, but also for her friendly personality. The tattoo took about 3 hours and I'm absolutely thrilled with how it came out."

Adriana can be found tattooing out of 10 Thousand Foxes Tattoo (@10thousandfoxesnyc) in Brooklyn.

Thanks to Andrea for sharing her awesome first tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Andrea with her pigeon tattoo and her artist, Adriana Hallow

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 23, 2019

Morgan and Elanna Share Their Cat-tastic Tattoos

Last summer, I popped into the Milk & Hops beer shop in Chelsea and started chatting with Elanna and Morgan, siblings who happened to be working there.

Morgan shared this really cool tattoo on his arm, a panther comprised of faces:

This was designed and inked by Teide (@teidetattoos), who was working at Alchemy Tattoo (@alchemytattoo) in Los Angeles.

Elanna and Morgan also had a pair of matching tattoos:

Elanna, whose tattoo is on the left, explained that she loves animals, and that there have always been cats in her life.

These matching pieces were done by Fan (@fantattoo531) at Gristle Tattoo (@gristletattoo) in Brooklyn.

Thanks to Elanna and Morgan for sharing their cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Hello, Dalí! Bryan's Surrealist Sleeve

Last summer, I met Bryan on the Rector Street subway platform. He was kind enough to share a full sleeve of tattoos inspired by the work of Salvador Dalí:

This section is inspired by The Burning Giraffe (1937):

Then, there's this skull:

This was based on a poster Dalí designed for an anti-venereal disease campaign during World War II, dubbed Vagina Dentata:

Of course, everyone is familiar with this Dalí image, from his famous painting The Persistence of Memory:

The bleeding roses in this tattoo

are inspired by this painting:

And then there is this last skull image:

This piece is based on Dalí's The Face of War:

Bryan credited all of the tattoo work to Chris Mason (@chrismasontattoo) at Live Wire Arts (@livewirearts) in West Islip, New York.

Thanks to Bryan for sharing all of this amazing work with us here on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Mara's Stickman

Mara, an acquaintance of my wife Melanie, struck up a conversation with her in the fall and, when it came to one of her tattoos, Melanie encouraged Mara to send me the following photo:

Music fans may or may not recognize the "Stickman," but Pearl Jam fans know it well. An icon of the band it its early days, the symbol is still recognized as a universal figure in the band's canon.

Mara told me, "My stickman looks like he’s singing Black (I know he’s technically from Alive, but I love Black too)."

She added that, "The notes are the melody to the line: Tattooed all I see, all I am, all I’ll be..."

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

Friday, May 10, 2019

Stephanie's Lovely Half-Sleeve

Yesterday, I posted some stunning work (here) on Nicole, a woman I met from Brazil when passing through Battery Park. She and her sister Stephanie were standing in line for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and they both had amazing work.

Stephanie also had some great tattoos, including this half-sleeve, punctuated with cherry blossoms:

Stephanie told me that several artists worked on her sleeve, but she credits Lucas Andrade (@lucasandradetattoo) in São Paulo with making the tattoo how it appears today. Lucas also did her sister's work and really did an amazing job. I love how the color on the blossoms really jumps off the skin. This is such a beautiful half-sleeve!

Many thanks to Stephanie (and Nicole) for sharing their lovely tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Thursday, May 9, 2019

Nicole's Stunning Tattoos

Last summer, while strolling in Battery Park during a lunch break, I met Nicole, from São Paulo, Brazil. She was kind enough to let me take photos of the beautiful tattoo work she has running from her arm up to her neck:

The black and gray floral work seems to be growing out of a face:

I didn't get much detail from her, but did find out her artist is Lucas Andrade (@lucasandradetattoo) in São Paulo.

Muito obrigado to Nicole for sharing her lovely tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!