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She added, "I was looking for something to honor my grandmother and I had been wanting a day of the dead tattoo ... when I saw this album cover I fell in love with Brandon's art."
Thanks to Amy for being a top-notch Tattoosday reader and generously sharing her ink with us here on the site!
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 visithttp://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.
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.
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.
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 visithttp://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.
I met Matt on the 59th Street subway platform in Brooklyn back in October 2011 and he shared one of his tattoos with me.
Before I proceed though, I should point out that this is my last photo from 2011. I was holding out to make this an elaborate post, combined with a book review, but it just never evolved that way.
And, as Tattoosday recently reached its five year milestone (more on that later), we're going to try things a little differently around here. Of course, that has nothing to do with this tattoo:
When I asked Matt why he chose to pay tribute to this album with a tattoo, he explained, "That's been one of my favorite hardcore albums of all time ... I grew up in Anaheim, California, so, you know, the So Cal scene and everything like that ... gotta keep it real."
I had originally wanted to tie this piece in with a review of Henry Rollins' book Occupants.
With Rollins the lead singer of Black Flag, it seemed like a cool tie-in.
The problem is, I really couldn't wrap my head around a book review for the site, but I can give it a rousing endorsement. The volume consists of Rollins' photos as he has traveled the world, and essays he has written to accompany the images. The words are profound and the linked photos are stark and moving. I strongly suggest that people check out the book.
Thanks to Matt for sharing his Black Flag tattoo with us here on Tattoosday, and for waiting patiently these past months for me to post it!
If you are reading 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 visithttp://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.
I met Christina at the end of June, unable to help noticing this colorful neck tattoo:
Christina, who is a prep chef at a catering hall, as well as a club promoter, explained that this tattoo is based on the album art from a group called Mindless Self-Indulgence. I believe she was referring to the band's 2000 release Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy:
She credited an artist named Serge for doing the tattoo at Tattoo Frenzy in Lindenhurst, New York.
Thanks to Christina for sharing her Frankenstein girl with us here on 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.
I always like visits from old friends of the site, but when I bumped into Victor in the Penn Plaza Borders back in May, I realized I hadn't seen him in a while. Turns out he had moved out of New York and has been residing in Pennsylvania.
Before we go further, perhaps you should reacquaint yourselves with Victor's "tat-alog". He first appeared here, showing off eight tattoos, then we checked out five more cinematic tattoos here, and then, last year, an iconic piece here.This will mark the fourth consecutive year Victor has appeared on the site, so we'll make it a good, no, great one:
This incredible David Bowie tattoo was inked by Victor's brother, Eddie Bonacore, at 5-7-0 Tattooing Co. in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
The image above, of course, is from the iconic Bowie album Aladdin Sane.
Victor told me that Eddie's Bowie portrait had garnered three awards at a recent tattoo convention.
It was a pleasure seeing our old friend Victor after a year, and we thank him, and his brother Eddie, for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on 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.
The last seven days have been quite a whirlwind, and I felt it is worth a recap, just because I can't believe what happened since last Saturday.
A week ago, I had my best trip to the New York Tattoo Convention, saw a lot of great ink, reconnected with old blogging friends, and met a lot of cool people. All my posts since Sunday (with the exception of Friday) recapped the show and some of the folks I met.
On Wednesday, I swung by Kings Ave NYC on the Bowery after work and met one of the greats in the tattoo community, Corey Miller. When I asked him if it would be too dorky to ask to take a picture with him, he said, "Of course, it's dorky, but I love that shit." Do I look just a little bit excited?
For those of you who watch L.A. Ink, last season we saw a subplot in an episode in which Corey designed the album art for his friend Trever Kieth's band Face to Face.
As it happened, this past week the album dropped, and Face to Face had a gig in Times Square. Corey came along for the ride, and joined the band at Kings Avenue NYC to sign posters, singles, magazines, and other goodies.
Corey and the band signed the poster featuring the original album artwork
I'm not holding my breath, but I did give out Tattoosday cards to the guys in the band (and to Corey, of course) and asked them to contact me if they wanted to share some of their ink on a future Musician Monday feature. Fingers crossed!
Here's a fan video from the show they did that night:
Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about how the week ended, but I can tell you I was on location Friday on the set of a local tattoo establishment that is home base for a new reality-based tattoo show on a cable channel. Now, I may or may not have received a new tattoo, but eventually I'll be able to tell you all about the experience.
Anja was visiting New York City from Denmark earlier this fall, when she ran into me in Penn Station. Of course, I was thrilled when she agreed to share this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday:
This tattoo on Anja's calf is based on the cover art from Es ist soweit, a 1990 album from a German band called Böhse Onkelz.
This record has significant meaning for Anja because it helped bring her and her brother together. She explained that they lived apart and didn't talk much, growing up in separate households. She was living with her grandmother, and came to visit her father and she was walking past her brother's room and heard him listening to this record.
The music brought them together, as she stopped to talk to him about it, learned that he had been listening to Böhse Onkelz longer than her, and this common ground broke the ice. Whereas before they had very little to talk about, Anja credits the band and this album with helping establish ties with her brother.
The top of the tattoo starts a lyric
and ends with
The lyric in question, "Let's forever be that Rebel Monster" is actually from a song by Volbeat, a Danish rock band, on their first album The Strength/The Sound/The Songs. The date below, "29-07-19--" is her brother's birth date.
This cool, meaningful tattoo was inked in Denmark by an artist named Dennis Wehler. I love how the words seem to be carved in her flesh.
Thanks to Anja for sharing this wonderful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
As a bonus, here's a little "Rebel Monster" from Volbeat:
I met Joe last month outside of Penn Station and he shared two tattoos with us.
First is this hellcat:
Why this cat? It's a design, Joe says, inspired by the band Rancid, whose music appears on Hellcat Records.
Not to mention, he likes cats. Need he have more reasons? That's on his upper left arm.
I'm more excited to share this photo, which actually is a rare Tattoosday shot in which one can see the contributor's face. I could have cropped it out, but I think it's a cool shot.
This tattoo arose out of Joe's desire to have some body art made with red ink. The design is based on the album art for a disbanded musical act out of Washington called Isa.
Thanks to Joe for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday and for waiting so patiently for me to get to his tattoos. The summer backlog is both a bane and a blessing.
As a postscript, readers familiar with the site will notice that I've watermarked these photos. I've grown tired of seeing Tattoosday content appropriated elsewhere on the web, without attribution. This is an attempt to maintain credit of our content here at Tattoosday.
I always feel like I'm not doing a tattoo justice when it wraps around a curved limb. Generally, I will be reluctant to showcase a piece without displaying the entire tattoo, even if that means multiple pictures shot from different angles.
Today's tattoo is one of those rare designs that is worth sharing, even if the reader can't behold every inch of it.
Julie Platt sent these photos, along with an explanation, which follows:
Julie says
"It's the audio waveform of a blackbird song made into bracelet around my left wrist. It's inspired by an image on the cover of Kate Bush's album Aerial.
I got this tattoo to commemorate earning my MFA -- I wanted something visible to remind me of poetry, whose root is song."
Vanessa explained that this was the album she listened to when she was visiting her mother in the hospital. Her mom recovered, and she associates the record with this time of her life. The tattoo celebrates those moments.
The second piece she shared was inspired by her father:
Unlike with her mom, Vanessa does not have a relationship with her dad. The optimistic banner "may we meet again" is a glance forward, toward the possibility of someday reconnecting with him.
This large tattoo, on her right biceps, took eight hours, all in one sitting. The detail of the anatomically-correct heart is amazing. Vanessa pointed out how the artist added flowers to the design, as well as the rays of light in the upper right corner to create the shape of a figurative heart, as well.
Gregory walked by me on Seventh Avenue in front of Madison Square Garden and I saw a familiar icon from my youth:
As a huge fan of Judas Priest in the 1980's, I recognized the basis for this tattoo immediately: the cover art for the 1984 album Defenders of the Faith.
Gregory has four tattoos and is a fan of Japanese-style art. This album and its predecessor, Screaming for Vengeance, boasted cover art that had a distinct Japanese influence.
He worked with the artist, C-Jay at Rising Dragon in Manhattan, to modify the design slightly, removing the tank treads and other militaristic elements from the original design.
Thanks to Gregory for sharing his amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
I met Jonathan in Brooklyn Heights and he shared this, one of his four tattoos:
This tattoo, on his inner right forearm is based on artwork he found on the CD of Ofra Haza, an Israeli musician with Yemenite roots.
Jonathan believes it to be a middle-Eastern symbol that is a "stylized sun." It is ambiguous enough to cause many to take pause and ask him what it is. Some have even questioned if the outer circle is comprised of coffee beans. He appreciates the solar representation illuminating his arm.
If you're reading this post and the Tattoosday banner features some wonderfully-inked revolvers, those "hand guns" belong to Amanda and the original post is here.
Just recently, I was thinking that I hadn't seen Amanda in a while and was wondering if she still lived in my neighborhood. Later that day, a much-tattooed woman named Lauren walked into the laundromat where I was packing up the weekly family wash.
I had never met Lauren before, but she knew about Tattoosday because she was friends with the aforementioned Amanda. She told me that Amanda had moved out of our neighborhood (thus explaining her scarcity) and yes, she was happy to share a piece for the blog.
Lauren has a vast array of ink, thirteen tattoos by her count, and she offered up this phenomenal thigh piece:
First of all, we don't show too many thighs here on Tattoosday, partly because they're only visible when it's warm enough for shorts. But more importantly, people with thigh tattoos tend to be few and far between, to begin with.
So what's with this image?
Lauren explained it is the album art for the metal band, Mastodon, off their debut album, Remission:
In fact, Lauren saw them play that same night at Irving Plaza with the bands Kylesa and Intronaut. Check out the awesome blog Brooklyn Veganhere to see a write-up and photos of the show.
This amazing tattoo was inked by Andrea Elston at East Side Ink. Ms. Elston has since departed New York and now tattoos out of Classic Tattoo in San Marcos, Texas. Work from East Side Ink has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.
Thanks to Lauren for sharing her cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! I'm looking forward to (hopefully) showing more of her work here on the site in the future!
As a little extra bonus for Mastodon fans, or for people who want to hear what they sound like, here's the band performing their Grammy-nominated song "Colony of Birchmen" with Josh Homme:
I met Mike outside of Penn Station after work last Friday. He has five to eight tattoos in all, and he had this pretty cool piece to offer:
This piece is all original artwork by the artist, Doug White, formerly at the Ink Spot Tattoo Studios in Linden, New Jersey, back in 1995-6. Mike doesn't know where Doug ended up, but he believes he's now tattooing out in Texas.
He also mentioned there's a figure at the top of the piece which is loosely based on Eddie, the Iron Maiden "mascot":
On Tuesday I was in Brooklyn Heights, walking toward Cadman Plaza on Clark Street. As I passed a local video store, Mr. Video III, I spotted some ink on one of the employees and decided to head in and introduce myself.
Sal has seven tattoos, but he chose to share the one above, from his left bicep.
This is, of course, recognizable to anyone who is a rock fan, as the artwork gracing the cover of the 1991 Guns N' Roses album Use Your Illusion I. A G n' R tattoo appeared on Tattoosday previously here.
Sal had this inked because the album was released at a point in his life, when he was a senior in high school, when most people are most impressionable and affected by massive displays of musical force. The album, and by extension, the tattoo, was something he could cling to, a great avenue by which he could "express his rage".
Sal also acknowledges that he, like many others who were fans of the band, developed a greater appreciation of classical art, as the image form the record (and its companion, Use Your Illusion II) are based on a detail in the Italian Renaissance painter Raphael's , The School of Athens:
Or, the detail used:
Sal says that this piece was inked around 1994 by an artist named Jason, who worked with the studio of the late great Huggy-Bear Ferris in Park Slope. Work from Huggy-Bear has appeared here previously on Tattoosday.
Thanks to Sal for sharing his tattoo here on Tattoosday. As I will be passing by Mr. Video III on a more regular basis in the future, I hope that Sal would share more of his tattoos with us in the future!
