Wake up Tattoos

Friday, October 14, 2011

Crystal's Ice-Bat and Gloomy Bear (with a Nod to The Academy Is)

These tattoos, belonging to Crystal, date back to an encounter I had with her on the R train in Brooklyn back in June. She has 14 tattoos, and first shared this one, on her inner right forearm:

What is this? I'll let Crystal explain:

“It’s an Ice-Bat [one of the Uglydolls] with the words ‘Dream of demons / while you sleep / that make you / stutter / when you speak’ – they’re lyrics from a song [“Down and Out”] by The Academy Is, a Chicago band. My best friend and I actually have the same words, different design on her arm. We met in Chicago … it’s kind of a way to show our support for the band but also for our friendship to each other.”

Incidentally, The Academy Is announced just last week that, after eight years, they were breaking up.

This piece was done at The Chicago Tattooing and Piercing Company, but Crystal doesn't recall the name of the artist who did the tattoo.

She also shared this chest piece:

Again, Crystal explains it best:

“I got started on it when I was 19 and I was in Atlanta and had just started college and went through a rebellious phase. … I’m in love with the main character which is Gloomy Bear … Gloomy Bear is kind of the doll that controls the boy…..”

More on Gloomy Bear can be learned on its designer Mori Chack's wikipedia page.

Thanks to Crystal for sharing her ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Here's a little bonus, The Academy Is performing "Down and Out" at an in-store event:

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.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Four from Frank

It may be the middle of October, but I am still working with a handful of summer photos, like those I took of Frank, who shared four of his ten pieces with us.

The first one is by Cris Element at Puncture Tattoo Studios in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn:

He was reluctant to share the meaning of this tattoo, saying it was personal, but he did elaborate on three others, done by Taze at Groove Tattoo in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. This one, for example, he told me was because "I was born on June 7th [and] I got no luck so maybe I'll get some luck out of this tattoo...".

Frank indicated that the element of time figured into this piece, with the naked woman representing life, and the skull representing death:

And this one, also by Taze, represents that he had "the best times of [his] life skateboarding":

Thanks to Frank for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Maria Shares a Valuable Wing

Last month I met Maria on the West 4th Street subway platform. She had this interesting tattoo on the upper right side of her back, and I was curious:

Maria explains:

"I'm a big gamer, and my favorite video game of all time is Super Mario Brothers 3. The P-Wing is the one item you always wanted to get."

Maria credited Rich Smith at Thicker Than Water Tattoo on the Lower East Side as the artist who gave her this wing.

My own appreciation for it it it's originality in contrast to the more common inking of angel wings on backs.

Thanks to Maria for sharing her wing with us here on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Danny's La Pietà, for the Love of Art

I met Danny last month across the street from Verdi Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

He had quite a lot of nice ink, and we focused on this piece, tattooed on the inside of his upper left arm:

This is based on Michelangelo's Pietà, the famous sculpture in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

Why does Danny have this, and other classic art, inked on his flesh? I'll let him explain:

"To be honest with you, I'm really into the Italian sculptors ... all [my] gray-scale pieces are ... purely art-based decisions. The only tattoos I have that have real significant meaning behind them are the words, you know, anything that's got words. All the art, it's just because I love the art."

Danny also has tattoos that are based on the work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

To recreate a masterpiece of Italian sculpture like La Pietà, in such fine detail, is truly remarkable.

Joshua Lord, at East Side Ink in Manhattan, is the artist who so skillfully created this tattoo. Joshua Lord's work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here and work from East Side Ink has been posted here several times, viewable under this tag.

Thanks to Danny for sharing his amazing work with us here on Tattoosday!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Veronica Reveals What's Under Her Sleeve

Running an errand in SoHo two weeks ago found me hopping on an R train at Canal Street, which is not my normal routine. Sometimes a break in a routine can be rewarding.

Sitting on the train was Veronica, who had this intriguing ink running out from under her left shirt sleeve:

What is that? I wondered. A tree? Curious, I asked her about it and was rewarded with not only the answer, but a photo of a pretty spectacular tattoo:

Veronica explained that she had seen an exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta that featured jellyfish with really cool lighting effects that brought out these sea creatures fluorescence. She went to see Gustavo Rizerio at Invisible NYC and this beautiful tattoo was the end result. Here's a clip of what she was talking about:

I also learned, coincidentally, while talking to Veronica, that her sister Leyna, had appeared here on Tattoosday back in June 2010!

Thanks to Veronica for sharing her beautiful jellyfish with us here on Tattoosday!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Inkspotting: The Creep Factor

There’s a fine line in what I do: I could easily fall into the “creepy” category. And I’m not talking about my full-time vocation as a Human Resources Manager.

Look, I exercise significant restraint to avoid being perceived as a Creep by the subjects I approach in public. Granted, there are some folks with predisposed notions that, by the mere fact that I am an older male approaching younger women and asking them about designs on their flesh, I have already crossed over to The United States of Creephood. But for the most part, I am able to avoid that trap.

One of my cardinal rules, and one that any loyal reader of this site can affirm, is that I do not ask about lower back tattoos, or about ink along the waistline. When one is offered to me, I am more than happy to include it in a post, but I generally avoid that section of the body, for obvious reasons. The most shining example is here.

Trickier are chest pieces, but I usually will build a rapport with a contributor before asking if they’re comfortable allowing me to photograph the area. This post was inspired by a woman I met on Tuesday, who had a simply gorgeous cluster of flowers along her neckline that I would have loved to share here on the site. I’m still holding out hope that she may send me a photo, as she was not keen on me taking a picture of her chest in the James A. Farley Post office (understandably so). I haven’t heard from her yet, but I’m still holding out hope, as it was a stunning floral tattoo.

The problem is, especially for women, that there are so many creeps out there, who judge tattooed women without even knowing them. A great discussion on this can be found here, from contributor Emily at xoJane.com. People who know me know that I am a nice guy, and go to great pains to avoid the Creep label, which is why it pains me so much to be treated like one, just because I was brave enough to approach someone about their ink.

But, if I am going to keep producing Tattoosday, I will have to continue wearing my heart on my un-tattooed (as of now) sleeve, and know that my friendly approach will continue to have success, but there will always be people who will think I’m a Creep. So be it.

This entry is ©2011 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.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Kristina: Aon Grá

Over the summer, we were having a yard sale, when Kristina stopped by to peruse the goods. She shared this, one of her four tattoos:

Located on the inside of her right arm, the phrase "aon grá" is Irish for "one love". This decorative tattoo with a powerful message was tattooed by Rob at Brooklyn Ink in Bay Ridge. Work from the shop which, due to its close proximity to "home base" for Tattoosday, has appeared often over the years on the site, and can be seen here.

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