Tattoosday (A Tattoo Blog)

Thursday, September 13, 2018

An Octopus On The Platform (Alphabet Game Interlude)

For the past week on Tattoosday, we've been playing the Alphabet Game (see the recap here), as we travel the subways seeking out tattoos, going in alphabetical order. We have previously seen work on the A, B, C, D, E and F trains, so next up was the G train.

10:28 AM: I take the F to Carroll Street in Brooklyn where I plan to switch for the G.

It's my first real break of the day, since the G is a pretty isolated line in Brooklyn. I've managed to avoid any intermediary lines between trains, but once I do the G, I have to take it back to the F and then take the F to the J. There's a way to get off/exit and walk to the J, but that takes too far out of the way to my liking.

10:36 AM: On a G, missed a shot at a Family Guy sleeve, considering switching back to a Queens-bound G.

Switched at 4th Avenue/9th Street and, while waiting for another G, met Dan on the platform, who had a tattoo too good to pass up:

This amazing black and gray octopus on the back of Dan's leg was inked by Scott Move (@scottmove) at Parliament Tattoo (@parliamenttattoo) in London.

So, while technically not part of the Alphabet Game, per se, this amazing piece was spotted during the activity, so we're including it as part of the overall process. I mean, I couldn't pass this up now, could I?

At 10:42 AM, I boarded a Queens-bound G, and resumed my quest.

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

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Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Two Cool Tattoos on the F Train (Tattoosday Plays the Alphabet Game)

If you're just joining us on our subway journey, we're recapping our subterranean adventure on the rails last month when we attempted to "play the alphabet game," finding tattoos on every lettered train, alphabetically, over the course of a single day. Please check out the master post here to see the master post.

We are up to the F train.

After spotting the old ladybug tattoo on the E train, I rode the E down to West 4th Street, where I planned to switch for the F train.

10:07 AM, waiting for an F train at West 4th.

At 10:18 AM, on the F train, I struck up a conversation with Ivan between the Broadway/Lafayette and Delancey Street stations. Ivan used to be a piercer, so he had worked in tattoo shops and accumulated some cool tattoos. I initially took a photo of this piece on his leg:

Ivan credited the artist Sinsentido (@sinsentido10) who works out of Circus Tattoo (@cricustattoomadrid) in Madrid.

After the train had rolled into Brooklyn, Ivan asked to share another piece, this one on his neck:

This cool skull on his neck was done by Needles (@darthneedles) at Red Rocket Tattoo (@redrockettattoo) in Manhattan. Needles has decades of experience and his work has appeared on Tattoosday multiple times over the years (see some of it here).

Thanks to Ivan for sharing his cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday, as we travel the New York subways!

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

A Ladybug on the E Train (Tattoosday Plays the Alphabet Game)

As we continue our subway adventure (summarized here), I set my sights on the E train ...

I took the D to 7th Avenue where I switched for an E.

Noting that knocking the D train out of the equation ebfore 10AM was great - last year I rode the D all the way out to Coney Island where I met someone as the train was pulling in. But then it was an hour back into Manhattan to catch an E - that was the worst time-management piece of the day.

So, now on an E train, I talk to Melissa before the E even hits 50th Street:

So, this was probably the muddiest tattoo of the day, Melissa was still cool sharing this ladybug on a flower, inked in "n old shop in the Bronx that doesn't exist anymore."

Thanks to Melissa for sharing nonetheless!

Monday, September 10, 2018

Black And Grey on The D Train (Tattoosday Plays the Alphabet Game)

Continuing on our subway journey (the whole trip is summarized here) ...

Next up is the D train.

At 9:36 A.M., I got off the C train at West 4th Street to transfer to a D train.

At 9:43 A.M., I got on a northbound D train.

After just two minutes, I met Mike, who shared a trio of tattoos that are really quite good, all from East River Tattoo (@EastRiverTattoo):

Actually some of the work at East River, like the scorpion above, was done by a visiting artist. The scorpion was done by Spider Sinclair (@spidersinclaire), who works out of Two Hands Tattoo (@twohandstattoo) in Auckland, New Zealand.

Then there's this neat skull and fern design, by Mike Adams (@mikeadamstattoo), currently out of Frederick, Maryland.

Last was this piece, proclaiming "Life's Short" and burning the candle at both ends:

This was done by Duke Riley (@dukerileystudio), one of East River Tattoo's resident artists.

Thanks to Mike for sharing his awesome tattoos with us on the subways!

Sunday, September 9, 2018

A King on the C Train (Tattoosday Plays the Alphabet Game)

In our continuing journey on the New York City subway one day last month, I set my sights on the C train. Please see the summary post here for the first part of the challenge.

9:20am, I'm on a southbound C that I grabbed at West 4th Street.

I am trying to get a woman's attention on the C. She has a small Keith Haring tattoo on her forearm, but she is buried in her phone and has earbuds in. And a Basquiat tattoo, which I only noticed when she got up to get off at Chambers Street. :-(

9:27am, back at Fulton Street, switching over to a northbound C train.

9:30am Northbound C train, I meet Jeffrey, who is kind enough to share this cool "suicide king" tattoo:

Although the heart symbol is not in the tattoo, one is instantly reminded of the King of Hearts playing card, commonly referred to as the "Suicide King," because of the way he is holding his sword, it appears as if he is driving it through his own head.

Jeffrey told me he just "liked the idea of" the tattoo, and credited artist Phil DeAngulo (@midwestphil) from Behind the Circle (@behind_the_circle) in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Thanks to Jeffrey for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday as we ride the rails and play the Alphabet Game. Tune in tomorrow to see what we found on the D train!

Saturday, September 8, 2018

A Compass on the B Train (The Alphabet Game, 2018 Edition)

This is part 2 of our sequence of events when we played the Alphabet game last month on the subway. Check out the master post here for a more thorough explanation.

Yesterday's post was from the A train, so on we go to the B train...

At 9am I'm at 59th Street, having recently disembarked from an A train, waiting for a B.

It rolls in at 9:04, and five minutes later, at 9:09, I'm talking to Tiffany, who has a whole movie theme on her leg, including this compass, from the Pirates of the Caribbean:

That's Jack Sparrow's compass [click through to read the compass' own wiki page] and was inked by Todd Griesch at Forever Studio (@forever_studio_tattoo) in Longmont, Colorado. It is based on this:

Pretty cool!

That was it for the B train, as I hopped off at West 4th to catch a C train.

Thanks to Tiffany for sharing her tattoo with us as Tattoosday rides the rails!

To be continued....

Friday, September 7, 2018

A is for Avocado (The Alphabet Game, 2018 Edition)

As explained in our introductory post here, I had so much fun with last year's Alphabet Game, I attempted it again last month.

Let the game begin!

Well, I'm at it again. Last year, I tried to run the letters, A to Z, on the MTA.

It's 8:06 on the J platform at Broad Street. I'm going to hop on a J, ride a stop, and hit the A train , where it will begin again.

I'll be honest, I'm not super confident, so my goal is to just go one better than last year, so if I make it to the S (Shuttle) train, I will be happy.

I know it's all about momentum and being efficient, but I'm still a little concerned that I can pull it off. A big stumbling block last year was the D train and going all the way out to Coney Island and back.

Here's the J, it's 8:10 AM, and we're off.

8:12 AM, great train luck, one stop to Fulton and an A is pulling in at the bottom of the stairs on the A/C platform. Already headed north.

Found a cool tattoo, but the dude id sleeping. I'm not fool. Let sleeping tattooed dogs lie.

8:21 AM, switched cars at 14th Street. The first is always the hardest. I don't want to stray too far, so I am planning on switching to a downtown A at 59th Street. It's the economy, stupid.

8:26 AM, Switched cars again at 42nd Street, preparing to switch again at 59th, this time headed back downtown. I had a better start last year :-(

8:33 AM On a crowded downtown A.

8:45 AM Headed back north on an A at West 4th Street.

8:52 AM Success! Between 34th and 42nd, I meet Jill - lots of ink, including this:

It was a quick picture and a quick conversation. The tattoo is from an unremembered artist at New York Adorned. Adorned was one of the top shops in the city, but they stopped tattooing operations in July of this year, rebranding and focusing solely on piercing.

The first letter of the alphabet has been accomplished, appropriately with an Avocado.

Staying on the A train to switch for a B at 59th Street.

Thanks to Jill for sharing her tattoo and getting us started!

To Be Continued.....