Three Views of Byron's Leg (from the 4th Annual Urban Tattoo Convention)

Yes, we're still working on summer posts, like this one from Byron, who shared some work done on his leg:

Byron told me that the section of teeth and eyes was done freehand.

He also told me that the skull with tentacles was based on his own sketch.

All of this incredible work was done at Inked City Tattoo in Trenton, New Jersey. The artist is Marco Rodriguez, and it took about a year to complete.

Thanks to Byron for sharing this incredible work with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2014 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.

Cat's Eyes and More!

Back in March, on a particularly warm end-of-winter day, I ran into two young ladies in Penn Station, one of whom was named Cat. I spotted three of her tattoos almost immediately, and we had a nice discussion about her ink.

Cat explains:

"the eyes were my first [tattoos] ... on my eighteenth birthday ... I thought it would be cool to base it on my best friend's cat ... I got it just because, I'm Cat ... get cat eyes on my back, why not? It was a birthday present..."

And the name of her friend's cat? Sushi. You know I just had to ask.

The next tattoo she got was this piece on her left arm:

This is based on the art by Kurt Halsey. Cat elaborates:

"It's just always been a favorite of mine. I saw [Halsey] down in Philly and that one was my favorite print." Of course, it helps that the girl in the illustration is holding a cat.

On her opposite arm is this tattoo:

This is based on the work of Garance Doré, a fashion photographer. She's just a huige fan and loves this illustration in particular.


All of the tattoos were done by Nick Trammel at Transcend Tattoo in Branford, Connecticut


Of course, when I was looking back at the photos I took of Cat's tattoos, I noticed in the Kurt Halsey-illustrated piece that the word "saying" was inked on her ribs. It was peeking out from under her top. Of course, I had to ask and Cat obliged by sending me a photo of the whole tattoo:

I'll let Cat explain in her own words:

"The one on my ribs is from the Christopher Isherwood book A Single Man. The quote is 'waking up begins with saying am and now.' It's my favorite book and for me it's just a reminder to live in the moment and not get caught up with the little things. It sounds cheesy but when I got the tattoo I was in a weird place so I like having the reminder close to me."

Thanks to Cat for sharing all of these tattoos with us on Tattoosday!


This entry is ©2012 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.

Nigel from the Dirty Thirty Shares Some Traditional Ink

I met Nigel on the Upper West Side last month, across the street from Verdi Square. I spotted some tattoos on his arms and asked if he wouldn't mind sharing some of them. He was happy to oblige.

The first piece is a gypsy, inked by Dan Santoro of Smith Street Tattoo in Brooklyn:

"The gypsy," Nigel said, "is pretty much from travelling and bouncing."

He also shared two pieces done by a friend of his from Richmond, Virginia, Gerald M.

"The eyeball here on my right arm is ... blood sweat and tears," he told me. "It represents a lot of different endings and beginnings, as far as work and life and whatnot."

I particularly like this tattoo, on Nigel's upper left arm:

"The train is," Nigel explained, "more or less a story of how my art finished and started." Also by Gerald M., Nigel had nothing but praise for his work:

"His specialty is roses. He won an award in Las Vegas for doing the best rose last year, so that's kind of his thing.  His little trademark is an eyeball, as well, so you'll see an eye in most of his pieces."

The banner identifies "The Dirty 30," a nationwide art collective of which Nigel is a part.

Thanks to Nigel for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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.

Two Tattoos from Taylor

I met Taylor where she works at Kaleidoscope, a toy store in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

I gave her a flier after admiring her really cool feather tattoo that was inked behind her right ear.


A week later, I was zipping by on my bike and saw her on a break outside the store. That was when I had a chance to speak to her about her tattoos and take the photos for this post.

This is one of her nine tattoos, and was done by an artist named Chris who works out of Puncture Tattoo in neighboring Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.


Taylor says the tattoo is inspired by the fact that she feels free-spirited, like a bird, and that her aunt, who died in a plane crash, used to call her a "little Indian girl". The dangling feathers behind her ear seem to capture both sentiments nicely.

Unlike the first time I met Taylor, on this occasion she was wearing a shirt that showed off this cool tattoo at the top of her back:


Taylor explained that she loves cats and her sister's gray cat Dusty passed away from breast cancer, which has also been a disease that has run in her family, as well. She had the tattoo artist, Peter Cavorsi, of Body Art Studios, model this piece based on Dusty's eyes.

As always, Peter did a superb job. He is no stranger to Tattoosday, having inked one of my tattoos (seen at the bottom of the page) and several of my wife, Melanie's. This link will show you all of Peter Cavorsi's work that has appeared on the site over the last two-and-a-half years.

Thanks again to Taylor for sharing her two beautiful tattoos on Tattoosday!