I met Andy back in September in Penn Station and he shared this incredible sleeve:
When I asked him about the inspiration behind this incredible work, he indicated the rabbit, which is based on his pet Fiver:
I immediately recognized the name as one of the characters in Richard Adam's wonderful novel, Watership Down.
He basically wanted something that was nature-based and gave the artist, Keller at Classic Tattoos in Pinellas Park, Florida, free reign on the design, allowing him to pretty much free-form the sleeve.
The collage at the top of the post consists of my shots in Penn Station, but the detailed photos are based on the pictures Andy generously sent me after the fact. These detailed photos show the brilliant colors and exquisite detail that Keller put into the tattoo, which Andy estimates represents about 18-20 hours of work.
Thanks again to Andy for sharing this amazing sleeve with us here on Tattoosday!
Girls all over the world simply love the lower back tattoo. They are amongst the most popular designs available today. They make you look really sexy as a woman because they emphasize and draws attention to the most beautiful curve on a woman's body. This is the main reason for its popularity: the location on a woman's body. The lower back is also the widest part of the body, therefore it provides an enormous amount of space for placing any tattoo design, be it large or small. Some people believe that the lower back tattoo is a sign of vulgarity. But on the other end, tattoos must be seen as an art, a beautiful body art and must be seen as that, without looking at the location of the tattoo. Lower back tattoos are very fashionable in these modern times and it can be very easily hidden.
They are available in all types and sizes. The following are different categories of these designs: Princess Crown, Flower vine lower back tattoos, Celtic lower back tattoos, Koi lower back tattoos etc. The most popular one mentioned above is the Princess Crown design.
This type of design is best suited for a girl's body. These tattoos looks very graceful on a girl's lower back and even more attractive and sexy if done with certain colors like orange, red, pink, green and purple. If you are a lover of Barbie dolls, then this will definitely be a suitable design for you. So, getting inked with the Princess Crown lower back tattoo is the best way to attain a royal feeling.
The Flower Vine designs are really the womanly designs. Just like the vine of flowers, these tattoos are generally long and the lower back has sufficient space for this exquisite design. The Flower Vine tattoo can also be combined with hearts and angels to give it a more revealing and sexy look.
Celtic lower back tattoos are another important one. These tattoos have a religious meaning attached to it and cannot be called vulgar. In order to show love and respect to a loved one, you can add their name to your lower back Celtic design and this design is very decent and attractive.
Another design you can select from is the Angel lower back tattoo design. This design can be composed with butterfly wings to display the pure and elegant look of an angel. It is a good idea to get a very skillful and professional tattoo artist if you choose this design as extra care should be taken whilst being inked with this delicate design. You can customize your own design to suit your personal tastes if any of the abovementioned is not of importance to you. There are lots of these designs available online.
The most important thing you must consider before getting yourself inked with any lower back tattoo, is to seek the help of a professional tattoo artist. Please ensure that you first also check out the medical aspects involved before you take this big step. Remember, once inked, this remains with you for the rest of your life. So make that informed decision now, then go out there and get yourself tattooed with that sexy lower back tattoo!
Last month I was trying to figure out why so many interesting people were walking around the Penn Station area when a trio of tattooed guys enlightened me: it was the Friday commencement of the New York Comic Con.
Now, I realize, I could go to one of these events and have a field day with some amazing tattoos on some very committed fans, but then I'd also be writing up posts for another month or two, as well, so I was content to chat with Rob and his two friends (who will appear in subsequent posts - stay tuned-).
Rob offered us one of his three tattoos, this animated creature on his inner right forearm:
This is, I'm sure many of you may know, a character from Sonic the Hedgehog, an iconic video game series that appeared in the early 1990's and has since sold, according to Wikipedia, 70 million units worldwide.
Rob explained that he grew up playing Sonic games and his favorite character was Knuckles the Echidna, who first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. "He was the only one I wanted to be," Rob told me. An echidna, by the way, is another name for a spiny anteater.
Let's take a moment and pause from our regularly-scheduled programming this Veteran's Day to remember the men and women who serve our country bravely. I've dug into the archives and reposted a friend's tattoo, which appeared originally here on Tattoosday in January 2008. Be sure to thank a Veteran today, and to appreciate not only our soldiers at home and abroad, but their families who support and inspire them to serve our country courageously.
Tracy is a friend of mine who lives in Fort Drum, New York. She was in town last weekend, visiting family, and this was the first time I have seen her since Tattoosday was born over the summer.
I knew Tracy had at least one tattoo, because she and my wife have talked ink before. So when I saw her on Saturday, unexpectedly, I was happy that I had a couple of Tattoosday printouts in my pocket.
I explained the blog and asked if she'd like to participate. She was happy to oblige and, as fortune would have it, she was coming to an indoor soccer game the following day. Her nephew plays on the same team as my daughter Shayna.
After the game Sunday, I asked if she was ready. She lifted the back of her shirt to reveal:
I was surprised, honestly. I was not expecting butterflies, but expecting the one above it which, as fate would have it, is later in this post. But I wasn't about to pass up a cool tattoo, so I took a picture of this one as well.
Tracy is a mother of two boys, Matthew and Danny, and these butterflies represent each of them, as they flutter and transform, as ones children are apt to do, growing from infants into people. Tracy had these inked three years ago in Victorville, when she was living at Ft. Irwin. She said that they had been done at "Victorville Designs," which has either changed names or gone out of business, based on this link.
These butterflies are nicely inked and really seem to float over the skin. Definitely a nice tattoo, from design to execution.
Above the butterflies is the tattoo that I had heard about:
A simple, basic script. The arced triad of three pillars of strength in many people's lives: "Faith. Family. Friends."
In order to understand this tattoo, we have to take a little side journey.
Whatever one's politics may be, or however one feels about what we are doing in Asia and the Middle East, one thing must be acknowledged: the men and women in our military are there to do a job, to serve our country, and to fight to not only protect the people there, but here as well. Thousands of American men and women have given their lives and their souls to serve our country.
As one may have guessed by two prior references (Ft. Drum and Ft. Irwin), Tracy is closely tied to the United States Army, as she is married to Pete, who is a soldier with the 10th Mountain Division, Light Infantry.
On October 31, 2006, Pete's friend and fellow soldier, Major Douglas E. Sloan, was killed in the line of duty in the Wygal Valley in Afghanistan, while serving with Company B, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment. You can read more about Doug here at the Arlington National Cemetary website.
As every drop of spilled blood in the line of duty hits home, the loss of Major Sloan was devastating to his family and friends back in the States. The community of Fort Drum mourned Doug's passing and hearts went out to his wife Kerry and their children.
In December 2006, to pay tribute to Doug's memory, Tracy and three friends, including Kerry, went to Tattoos Forever in Evans Mills, NY, and each had the same inscription inked. In hindsight, Tracy recalls how funny it must have appeared, for four moms in minivans to drive up to the shop and collectively get tattooed.
It is a recurring theme on tattoo shows. Memorial tattoos are among the most popular types of body art. People mourn, heal, and remember through the art of the tattoo. And a piece of the loved one lives on, for years, in the flesh of the survivors, who gain strength and hold on to the memory of the departed.
The alliterative mantra of "Faith, Family, and Friends" reminds not only the tattooed, but those around them, of the most important things in life.
I want to thank Tracy for sharing her tattoos, and the stories behind them. I would add a special nod of gratitude to the memory of Major Douglas Sloan, who I never knew. Yet, by virtue of this tattoo, helped remind me of the sacrifice that our soldiers make day in, day out, and their families they leave behind.
Tracy's husband Pete subsequently returned from Afghanistan, but has since returned to duty overseas. On behalf of all of our Tattoosday readers, I want to thank Tracy and Pete, for their commitment and sacrifice, and for sharing this one story among thousands, with us here at Tattoosday.
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