A Darling Skull

I spotted Stacey from Washington D.C. in Penn Station, waiting for her train home.

She had this remarkable skull tattoo on her right bicep, which she said, was a tribute to her girlfriend:


It's the first piece of what she says will eventually be a sleeve.

There's something extraordinary about the tattoo, with a surreal paint-splatter effect that I have not seen before.

The colors, in addition, contribute to the uniqueness of this tattoo, which was created by Justin at DC Ink, down in our nation's capital.

Thanks to Stacey for sharing this lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Xavier's Pocket Watch Flies Through Time

I knew my birthday was going to be a good one when I not only spotted ink first thing in the morning, but I talked tattoo and got a story before 7:00 A.M. on the R train at 95th Street.

Xavier has a dozen or so tattoos which he wears with pride. All are inked by Joe Maggs at Brooklyn Ink. Just by virtue of my close proximity to the shop, Brooklyn Ink's work has appeared on the blog more than any other shop. Click here to see all the posts.

The tattoo that Xavier offered up is on his left hand:


This clock is frozen in time at 3:35, the moment when Xavier was born.

It's worth noting that Joe Maggs' use of negative space on this piece lends to the illusion that the pocket watch is floating over Xavier's skin. It's a nice effect.

Xavier designs streetwear and some of his work can be seen on his MySpace page here.

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

Mari's Unusual Ink

Every so often, a Tattoosday post goes bust.

Despite amazing potential, the subject is in a hurry and, for whatever reason, I am never able to fully follow-up with the individual and we are left with a skeleton of a post.

This one's not so bad, however. I met Mari in Herald Square. I believe she is a photographer, hailing from Brazil, but now living in New York.

I took two pictures of her tattoos and then emailed some follow-up questions.

I did receive a response, written in Portuguese, that had an attachment that looked suspiciously like a virus.

So, we're going with what we have and perhaps Mari will follow-up and fill in the gaps, or perhaps not.

Mari has this tattoo on her right shin, a piece of art that her friend Wagner Viana aka GORDO designed (see his MySpace page here):


She also has this fascinating tattoo on her left leg, representing the different sizes of photographic paper.


As a photographer, perhaps she finds this useful to her vocation.


See an example of another practical "tat-tool" here.

The work was all inked in Brazil.

Thanks to Mari for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

A Viking Design Commemorates Brian's Ancestry

Back on June 29, while pacing the 59th Street platform in Brooklyn, waiting for an R train, I spotted this interesting design on the right calf of Brian:


According to Brian, the piece is based on an ancient Viking symbol representing land. He had this tattooed to commemorate his Swedish ancestry.

The piece was done by Rob (who appeared on Tattoosday here) at Brooklyn Ink.

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

Fate Leads Me to Abundance

Sometimes Fate sends me to interesting tattoos.

My commute home generally starts at the 34th Street subway station, on a Brooklyn-bound N Train.

Sometimes, if the train is in the station when I come down the stairs, it is not clear if it's an N train or a Q train. Generally, if it doesn't matter completely, I hop on and sort it out later. Hesitation can cause me to miss the right train.

So I jumped on the train before the doors closed and then realized I was on a Q. No biggie, it's still headed in the right direction, but I decided to disembark at the next stop and walk toward the back of the 14th Street platform and wait for an N.

Halfway down the platform, as luck would have it, I ran into Sean and I had to stop and ask him
about this unusual tattoo on his inner left forearm:


This, it turns out, is from the I Ching, a classic Chinese text which includes sixty-four hexagrams, each representing a description of a state, or process. The hexagram inked here is number 42, which, as he understands it, represents Abundance and Unlimited Potential. It's literal translation is "Augmenting". There's another interpretation similar to Sean's here.

In another sense, the bars represent, in a pictographic sense, land, two mountains, and thunder and rain, which combine to mean fertility of the earth.

Sean is very much into Asian tattoos and has a piece in progress on his right shoulder. He thought about this particular hexagram for about a year and a half before heading down to Dare Devil Tattoo to get it done. The artist, Chuck Donoghue, has since relocated to Atlanta, but often returns to Dare Devil.

Work from Dare Devil has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Sean for sharing his I Ching hexagram tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Website Review: Print Tattoos Online

As tattooing becomes even more popular, the proliferation of sites dedicated to the art is amazing.

I was recently made aware of a new site called Print Tattoos Online that caters to the tattoo customer seeking designs for their next tattoo(s).

People seeking tattoos in the past used to have the sole option of going into a shop, poring through the flash art is books or on the walls, and going with the best of whatever limited selection was available.

Nowadays, with the internet at one's fingertips, a site like Print Tattoos Online can help the discerning customer search out unique designs and have them on hand when they visit their local tattoo artist.

The website is relatively new, but it offers a wide range of options, from a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, a gallery to see reader-submitted tattoo photos, and a blog that covers a range of subjects, from shop reviews and samples of specific styles of art (i.e. biomechanical, dragon, koi, and cherry blossom tattoos, to name just a few). And, of course, there is the store section which sells printable tattoo designs.

Their tattoo gallery is currently seeking new submissions, and readers are encouraged to head here in order to submit photos their site.

It's always nice to see well-crafted sites devoted to the art of tattooing, and catering to the discerning customer looking for printable designs.

Please head on over to Print Tattoos Online to check out their site!

Caroline's Sabre-Toothed Skull

Back on June 23, I spotted Caroline walking in Penn Plaza, with this fascinating tattoo popping off of her right thigh:


This is Caroline's second tattoo and is based on a sketched she drew of a sabre-toothed tiger skull. She is a visual artist whose website can be seen here.

The tattooer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, did a phenomenal job in under an hour, "capturing the cross-hatches and lines that [she] was so picky about".

I sent her an e-mail with a follow-up question about her choosing her thigh for the tattoo, which seemed unusual for someone who didn't have a lot of ink. She wrote back with the following response:

"I think I chose my thigh because I wanted a bold graphic placed on the most powerful part of my body. I was working as a truck driver/trash collector on an island at the time, and my body was toning up and changing; I became aware of muscles I didn't knew I had. So when I drew the sabre-toothed tiger and decided I wanted it as a tattoo, I was drawn to the hinge of the thigh for placement. Something functional and flashy, but not in the standard spot. It's a flirtatious without being trashy."

Thanks much to Caroline for sharing her awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!