Tattoosday Goes to L.A. - Max's First Tattoo for Mom

On my way back to the airport last week, my father and I had lunch at La Sirena Grill in El Segundo.

The meal was delicious, and I'll certainly be raving about their spicy BBQ duck tamale for quite some time.

As an added bonus, our waiter, Max, had plenty of visible tattoos and, even better, he shared one with me to post here on Tattoosday:

Max explained that this was his first tattoo and he went big in honor of his mother, who is a cancer survivor. BCB in the banner are her initials, and the word "Láidir" is Gaelic for "strong".

This tattoo was done by Baby Ray at Bob & Charlie Roberts' Spotlight Tattoo on Melrose in Los Angeles.

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

This entry is ©2013 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.

Tattoosday Goes to L.A. - Javie's Sublime Tattoo

On my recent trip to Los Angeles, I popped in and talked to a few of the artists in San Pedro's Ace of Hearts Tattoo.

Fortunately for me, they were also in the sharing mood. Check out this piece on the upper right arm of artist Javie Dev:

This awesome tattoo was an appropriate one to feature, as Southern Californians would attest. The work refers to the ska/punk band Sublime, who hail from neighboring Long Beach.

Their debut album, 40 Oz. to Freedom, featured this cover art:

What makes this tattoo particularly special is that Javie got it from Opie Ortiz, the artist who designed the album cover. Opie was one of Javie's mentors and did the tattoo at American Beauty Tattoo Parlor in Sunset Beach.

Thanks to Javie for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2013 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.

Ok, we gots internets!

It finally happened, we got internet after waiting for almost three months!
Yeah, it's a long story, but let's just say that getting internet in Berlin isn't always easy.
But it's here, and we can answer emails and blog like normal people again, so yay for that!

However, it will still be a few more days before the waiting list will open, so please, please stop emailing me about it.
The waiting list is a separate email account, so writing me won't get you on it any faster anyway.

Here are a few tattoos, just so you have something pretty to look at until the next post.
All by Uncle Allan, if that wasn't obvious!

It's still winter in Berlin, by the way.
We can't wait for spring so we can explore the city on bikes, and start planting pretty plants outside the shop... ok, maybe i'm the only one who's excited about that last part, but i'm plenty excited for the both of us!


Ps. If you want to get updates and stuff from us, consider following us on twitter.

Tattoosday Goes to L.A. - Vanessa's Sugar Skull by Joe Truck

On my recent trip to Los Angeles, even though I was in town for only a few days, I wanted to find some time to visit a tattoo shop. Of course, with L.A. being one of the "most tattooed cities in America," the challenge wasn't finding a shop, but deciding from among several to visit nearby. I was staying on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and there are a host of establishments in the Hermosa Beach/Redondo Beach/Gardena/San Pedro/Torrance.

Out of respect to shop owners and the artists, I didn't want to just drop in unannounced, so I reached out ahead of time to see if anyone would be open to coming in for a visit. Fortunately, I found one shop with a New York City connection, Ace of Hearts Tattoo in San Pedro. It's proprietor, Joe Truck, is from the Big Apple and he was open to me stopping by.

Last Monday afternoon, I stopped in the shop, only to discover that my timing was off. Joe wasn't in. The shop was impressive, however. It was well-lit, clean, and very spacious. And not only were the staff friendly,  they each shared some of their own ink with me for Tattoosday.

For example, the piercer, Vanessa, offered up this sugar skull on her forearm that was tattooed by Joe Truck:

Vanessa said that she got this from Joe after she started working at the shop. As I've said many times before on Tattoosday, sugar skulls are a lot like snowflakes, even though they're basically the same, there are never any two exactly alike, and it's always cool to see how many different ways they can be done.

In addition to Vanessa, I also spoke to two of the tattoo artists in the shop, but you'll have to wait for future posts to see what they had to share.

Thanks to Vanessa for sharing her sugar skull with us on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2013 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.

Tattoosday Goes to L.A. - Jonathan Shares a Winged Dandy

I recently took a quick trip to California and had a chance to do some inkspotting along the way. There's nothing like breaking a winter slump like going to warmer climes!

My luck started at the airport, JFK Terminal 2, where I met Jonathan, who was happy to share this piece from his forearm:

The piece wraps around the arm a bit, so I did my best to collage the whole tattoo:

Jonathan is a graduate student in New York, getting his PhD. in Literature, with an emphasis on Queer Theory. He has three tattoos and they all feature these figures of Victorian Dandies.

All his work is done by Cris Cleen at Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn. Jonathan told me that he liked Cleen's work with hybrids and loved his design of butterfly wings. This flying dandy is the end result.

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

This entry is ©2013 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.

Re-Post: Happy Birthday Edward Gorey!

To those of you who pay attention to this sort of thing, today's Google doodle honors the artist and illustrator Edward Gorey.

Over the years, we've featured four people with Gorey tattoos and I wanted to re-post one of them in honor of what would have been Gorey's 88th birthday.

Here, from 2010, is my favorite post of the ones we've featured:

I met Missy on the corner of 23rd and 7th back in the beginning of September and she shared her two tattoos, on both biceps.Her right arm bears this piece:

and her left shoulder hosts this cool image:

 

These images may seem familiar, because they are based on Edward Gorey's Alphabet.

Missy has the two pieces representing her initials, M and N. The right arm represents "M": 

And the left arm represents the "N" for her last initial:

Missy got these tattoos in Santa Cruz about ten years ago.

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
















~ ~ ~

To see all four Gorey posts, click this link.

Thanks again to Missy for sharing and, if you haven't seen Gorey's work, today would be a great day to start exploring this amazingly funny and dark artist!

This entry is ©2010, 2013 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.

My Anatomical Heart Dog Tag from Eddystone Designs!

Just got my Anatomical Heart Dog Tag in the mail from Eddystone Designs and thought I'd share:

They even personally engraved it for me!

We here at Tattoosday and the good folks at Eddsytone wanted to thank everyone again for entering the giveaway we ran last week.

As a token of thanks to Tattoosday readers, Eddystone is offering a discount for anyone buying their products (including these cool color-laser-engraved titanium pendants and dog tags).

If you enter "Tat00Sday" in the cart stage of the checkout you will receive a 20% off discount for all purchases.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

This entry is ©2013 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.

Re-Post: Sweethearts for My Sweetheart

Back in 2010, Valentine's fell on a Sunday, which provided a excellent opportunity for my lovely wife Melanie to add to her tattoo collection. A lot of shops do special day promotions for the budget-minded, although the trend seems to be moving away from that. 

On this Valentine's Day, we here at Tattoosday are re-visiting that occasion three years ago. Please Note: Thicker Than Water, the shop involved, is NOT doing the promotion this year. I did find shops in San Diego (Nittis Tattoo locations) that are doing it this year, but I'm not aware of any NYC-based specials. 

~ ~ ~

So what does an inkblogger get his sweetheart on Valentine's Day?

Why, a love-themed tattoo, of course.

Lucky me, the good folks over at Thicker than Water Tattoo had a Cupid special, $14 tattoos on February 14.


A lot like the Dare Devil Tattoo Friday the 13th Special (one of which is documented here), the lucky tattoo recipient can choose from an assortment of day-themed flash.


Here's what my lovely bride Melanie had to choose from:


When we got to the shop, Melanie signed in #53, and they were averaging a dozen or so per hour, so we knew we had a little bit of a wait.

I specifically selected Shon Lindauer, since he did such an awesome job with my tiger tattoo.

It was nice that Melanie got to meet Shon and the piece she selected was one that he had drawn up.

He tattooed her in the middle of the back and took just about fifteen minutes:


She was very happy with the end result:


When we left around 3:45, the waiting list was over a hundred, so they looked like they had a long night ahead of them.

Thanks to Shon and the staff at Thicker Than Water for another great tattoo experience!

~ ~ ~

If you're looking for Shon, he is currently settling down at his new shop, Queen Street Tattoo in Honolulu!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

This entry is ©2010, 2013 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.

Re-Post: The Day Before St. Valentine's Day

Actually, this post from 2009 was originally called Happy Valentine's from Tattoosday! But, it's the 13th, so we can't really use the same title now, can we?

In fact, this is a re-post of a re-post from July of 2008, and it is one of my favorite tattoos from over the years. I'm happy to be re-sharing it with new readers...

~ ~ ~

Lacking any new material for this holiday o' love, I'm re-posting an old favorite that seems to be in the theme. Well, at least there's a heart in it.

I just love the way, in this photo, that Cait's hand is positioned as she is pulling her blouse back to reveal the whole tattoo...

"I asked her if she'd be willing to share, and she did. She peeled back a little of her top to reveal this beautiful piece on the top left side of her chest:



Cait and her friend Michelle have birthdays two days apart. When they turned 18, they took a design that Michelle had crafted to Da Vinci Tattoo Studio in Wantagh, New York. The artist she remembered as "Yoshi" inked matching pieces for the two.


Cait says the heart that encases the colorful stars represents their friendship, and serves to remind them of the bond. In the event that life ever separates them, the tattoos will link them, no matter where they are.

Work from Da Vinci Tattoo Studio has appeared on Tattoosday before here.

Thanks to Cait for sharing her ink with us here at Tattoosday!

The original post is here.

Here's hoping the day is everything you expect it to be!

This entry is ©2008-2009, 2013 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.

Re-post: Here's to You Joe DiMaggio...

In a re-posting sort of mood and, with pitchers and catchers reporting soon, here's a piece from February 2009:

Living in New York City, a metropolis known for its die-hard sports fans, it is not unusual to see tattoos honoring and celebrating the rich athletic tradition that exists here.

On Friday, during my lunch hour, I spotted a New York City Fire Department truck parked at the corner of 40th Street and 7th Avenue. Standing along side it was Johnny, one of New York's bravest, enjoying the warm weather, in shorts, and baring this incredible leg tattoo:


This is, of course, Marilyn Monroe, but with a twist. She is sporting the New York Yankees   jersey of one of the franchise's greatest players, Joe DiMaggio, to whom she was married for less than a year.

Johnny is a huge Yankee fan, and also loves Marilyn Monroe, one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, and among the most popular celebrities tattooed. I have featured Marilyn tattoos previously here and here.

The image is based on a lithograph that Johnny purchased at a FanFest in 1996. After having it tattooed on his right calf, he felt something was missing.

He contacted the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, and purchased an archival photograph of the original Yankee Stadium, circa 1923. This was then used as the source material to create the recognizable backdrop for Marilyn.


Johnny has a ton of tattoos, approximately 15 pieces in all. This one, along with others he has, was created by Cort Bengston at Cort's Royal Ink Tattoo Studio in Patchogue, New York.

Thanks to Johnny for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2009, 2013 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.

Brian Shares a Freddy Corbin Sugar Skull

As snow was falling on the Northeast Friday evening, I was gathered with friends at 5 Ninth in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan, celebrating our friend Nadyne's birthday.

It didn't take me long to notice that our bartender, Brian, had quite a few tattoos and it was only a matter of time before I drummed up a conversation.

Brian indicated that he has twenty-two tattoos, and when I told him about Tattoosday, he was happy to share.

He turned his arm to reveal this cool sugar skull on his outer left forearm:

Not only do I love sugar skulls (click the tag at the bottom of the post to see how many I've featured over the years), but this particular piece was tattooed on the west coast by the legendary Freddy Corbin at Temple Tattoo in Oakland. Freddy has been interviewed as an "Inked icon" here and has been featured on Vice's Tattoo Age series here.

Needless to say, I always feel fortunate to encounter a tattoo by one of the legends of tattooing.

A big thanks to Brian for sharing his awesome tattoo and to the good people at 5 Ninth for wonderful service as we celebrated Nadyne's birthday in the blizzard!

This entry is ©2013 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.

DAVID.

Here is a progress report on the brother David's back piece. We started with this Jesus and planned to add some cherubs around it. David has been collecting some of the best work from some of the greatest tattoo artist in the game and it's always a pleasure and honor to work on his collection. Check it out… 

More Links for Your Weekend Consumption

This will be the third Saturday in a row that I've posted links of a tattoo-related nature. No one's complained yet, so we'll keep doing this until  we don't.

On Sunday, a few of us were watching a football game. The tattoo gag in one spot was one of the brighter moments of the advertising that broke out during the game:



Long live Goldblatt!

On Monday, I finally clicked on a Facebook link to a site called Angry Ink. I'd seen it a few times and figured, well, if everyone is sharing it, it must have some merit. Yeah, some. The post is called The Four Tattoos You Need to Stop Getting Right Now.

On Tuesday, I saw CBS New York's News list (here) of "NYC's 5 Best Tattoo Parlors".  This ran originally last month and, like all lists, is subject to scrutiny. The fab five are all shops whose work I have featured here over the years, and I've been inked personally in two of the five, but it seems odd that perennial favorites like NY Adorned and East Side Ink were left off of the list.

Also on Tuesday, I was happy to see my friend Brian Grosz' article on the Daily Dot: Your Instagram Needs Some Ink: 8 Tattooists You Should be Following.

On Friday, I saw a post about Colin Kaepernick's new tattoo (here).

That's all for the links this week, everyone have fun at the Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention this weekend!


This entry is ©2013 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.

Eddystone Design Winners Announced!

Thanks to everyone for their participation in the Eddystone Designs contest!

We plugged everyone's names into Randomized.com and the winners are:

Winners will be contacted so we can arrange for the prizes to be shipped.

Thanks again!

This entry is ©2013 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.

Remember: Enter to Win the Eddystone Designs Contest!

As if you needed an extra incentive to enter to win one of the cool pieces of colorful laser-engraved pendants from Eddystone Designs, check this out - the prizes are personalized with Tattoosday's name:

Remember, all you need to do to enter is post a comment on this or the original post (here).

Or "like" the status on Tattoosday's Facebook page and get an extra entry by liking the Eddystone Designs page.

Thanks for everyone's interest and participation!

This entry is ©2013 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.

Tattoosday Giveaway! Eddystone Designs' Tattoo-Engraved Charms!

Occasionally, we here at Tattoosday like to partner up with folks and give away goodies, just to keep things interesting.

We've been working with the good folks over at Eddystone Designs and we've come up with a contest to promote their new products that have a tattoo-like theme, using these really cool laser-engraved colors on titanium jewelry.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, these are some groovy gift ideas, whether it be their anatomical heart dog tags

 Or their heart pendants:

As they say over on their blog, they "don't think of [their] laser printed titanium tats as a replacement to traditional ink, but rather an accessory to supplement your body art."

They continue:

"We love the art of tattoos but also realize that Valentine's Day inspired tattoos can result in regret.

As a result we've designed two two 'ink' inspired designs, Real Love, Anatomical Heart and Winged Love, that we tattoo with lasers on titanium heart charms. This allows you to show your real love with an anatomical heart bursting through your rib cage or a whimsical heart spreading its wings to take flight, without the having to worry about the impending laser removal or coverup if the relationship doesn't work out."

To help promote these cool new products, we're partnering with Eddystone to give away four (!) of their products:

1) Their Real Love, Anatomical Heart Dog Tag:

 2) Their Real Love, Anatomical Heart, Circular Charm:

3) Their Real Love, Anatomical Heart, Heart Charm:

and 4) Their Winged Love, Heart Charm:

So, how do you win?

Either comment below, allowing time for the comment to be approved and published OR
comment on the Tattoosday Facebook page.

Plus, you can increase your chances of winning by "liking" Eddystone Designs on their Facebook Page.

You can also enter via email by sending your name to TattoosdayContests@gmail.com.

The deadline to enter is Thursday, February 7 at 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time. We'll determine the four winners on Friday, so we can send the prizes out the week of February 11th.

In the mean time, if you want to get these as gifts, you can visit the Eddsytone online shop here and even add personal engraving.

Good Luck to all and thanks to Eddystone Designs for working with us on this promotion!

This entry is ©2013 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.

Repost: Amanda's Hands Are Well-Armed

It seems silly to not post anything when I have the time and five years of material that is wandering the ether. So, I am pledging to dredge up some oldies but goodies, should I find myself lacking new material for any given day. That said, here we have a post that originally went live on February 1, 2009. Enjoy!

~ ~ ~

I met Amanda in my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago on a cold day in January. She wasn't wearing gloves which, despite the cold, was a good thing, as her hands bore a couple of nifty tattoos that really flashed in the sunlight.

Unfortunately for me, I was bogged down with a bag of groceries and dry cleaning, so I wasn't in any position to take pictures.

I did manage to chat with Amanda briefly, and I told her about Tattoosday. I passed her my card and asked her to email me if she was interested in sharing.

I was happy to hear from her a day or two later and, this past weekend, sat and chatted with her at a local Starbucks. It was there that I got to see her tattooed hands in all their glory:


Amanda hails from Kansas City, Missouri, and moved to New York several years back to pursue her dream of an artistic career. She estimates that her body is 30% inked, most of which was done by her home town artist Steve Drew, who works out of a shop called Irezumi Body Art.

She was looking around for an artist in New York, when she accompanied a friend to Red Rocket Tattoo in Manhattan. There, Mike Bellamy was working with her friend on a concept sleeve. Amanda liked what she saw and started working with Mr. Bellamy on her hand guns.

You can see other Tattoosday-featured work by Mike Bellamy here.

So, why put guns on your hands, of all places? Amanda says it was an aesthetic decision, and not any sort of moral or political statement. Nor, she says, was it necessarily a nod to her roots in Kansas City.


Rather, Amanda wanted a whimsical tattoo that anchored what will become, eventually, full sleeves. The old six-shooter style of revolver is a traditional tattoo, in some senses (see previous gun-themed tattoos here).


But Amanda wanted her hand guns to be colorful and depict a feminine side, reminiscent of a weapon tucked into a saloon-girl's garter belt. The red roses, set into the handles, give the guns a softer edge. Their placement on the hands recall a childlike innocence, reminding one of the gesture kids make when they pretend their hands are toy guns.

Amanda said that she had these inked in one sitting, each gun taking about an hour and a half each. Mike Bellamy inked the outline on each hand first, then went back and did the color and shading on both. How did it feel? "The most intense pain I've ever felt," said Amanda, "especially on the knuckles".

Thanks to Amanda for sharing her guns here on Tattoosday! We look forward to seeing more of your ink in the future!

This entry is ©2009, 2013 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.