View Tatto

Selasa, 09 Juli 2013

Alina's Tattoo Commemorates Being in the Big Apple

I don't normally disturb people while they are working, but I made an exception for Alina, who I met on the outskirts of Bryant Park last month.

Alina was part of a German movie crew that was filming in the city, and she allowed me to talk to her while she had some down time.

She shared this cool tattoo:

She had this done by Cookie at Pop's Tattoo Emporium in Kingston, NY, after her first trip to New York City. "We're shooting movies here every summer," Alina explained, "and this reminds me of being in the Big Apple."

Incidentally, we featured work from Cookie almost five years ago here.

Thanks to Alina for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on 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.

Sabtu, 06 Juli 2013

Daniela's Spiral of Stars

I met Daniela a couple weeks back in Bay Ridge, stopping her after spotting a text tattoo on her forearm. However, she preferred to share this tattoo:

She got this spiral pattern of 15 stars on her fifteenth birthday when she was living in Argentina. I always try to remain objective, but as a parent of two teenage daughters, I asked what her parents thought when she came home with this tattoo on her neck. Daniela told me that they actually took her to get the tattoo and expanded on why she chose such a visible spot for her tattoo:

"I do kinda regret the tattoo at times, but ... at that age, I was going through a lot at school, and I just wanted to stand out from everybody else. In Argentina, basically all the people are the same, so I didn't want at all to be like them."

She was born in Argentina and lived there for almost seven years, and she acknowledged that this tattoo was one way for her to express her own individuality.

Thanks to Daniela for sharing these stars with us here on Tattoosday!

Kamis, 04 Juli 2013

Celebrating Independence With a Captain America Tattoo

I ran into Kristin recently on Third Avenue in Brooklyn and she shared this tattoo on her arm, which seemed appropriate to post today:

Kristin is a big comic book fan, and she chose this Captain America shield because "he's the great American hero" and "he's my favorite Marvel [Comics] guy."

This was done by an artist named Kattan at Liquid Expressions Tattoos in Brooklyn.

Thanks to Kristin for helping us celebrate Independence Day by sharing this cool tattoo!

Rabu, 03 Juli 2013

Born on the Third of July (Dispatch from the Urban Tattoo Convention, Part 2)

When I went to the NYC Urban Tattoo Convention last weekend, I was expecting a lot, but I wasn't anticipating walking out with a fresh new tattoo. It was an early birthday surprise, to say the least.

My night changed for the better when, turning a corner, I ran into Phil Phlash aka Phil Sheridan aka inkone aka Flex Sinatra. Phil and I worked together years ago, before he left for bigger and better things. He left the office and picked up a tattoo machine, but before he did, we had many office conversations about tattoos, and he was an early fan of Tattoosday.

Fast forward to Saturday night at the UTC, Phil and I were catching up, and he asked me if I wanted to get tattooed. I knew he had recently started working at Tuff City Tattoos and was trying to figure out how to make it to the Bronx, when he clarified, "No, tonight."

I've been following Phil's work on the various social media and have seen his talents develop over the years. It had always crossed my mind that, one day, he might be adding to my collection, but it was not in my immediate plans. Until now.

Phil brought me back to his booth, and he showed me a flash book of some classic old-school traditional designs. If you check him out on Instagram (under Flex_Sinatra), you'll see that his traditional work is solid, and his tattoos are done with confidence and passion. My head was spinning as he suggested designs, I kept wanting to defer to his better judgment. This wasn't going to be a tattoo with great, complicated meaning. It was, however, going to be my first tattoo inked by a friend.

He turned a page and showed me an eagle. His face lit up. Mine did as well. It was decided. We figured out the particulars and the placement, and when I came back a bit later, the stencil seemed to have grown. This was no little Sailor Jerry shark; this was a big piece going on the side of my calf.

When all was said and done, this was the final result, a traditional American Bald Eagle:

What better way to celebrate my upcoming birthday, on the eve of Independence Day, than with a traditional piece of American flash?

I even captured a snippet of the convention chaos while getting tattooed:

And, after we were done, Phil and I went around showing our work off to fellow convention-goers. Despite his expression below, he was fairly pleased with the end result:

Self-Inflicted Photo with Phil Phlash

I still have lots more to report from the UTC, so stay tuned. This moment, however, was the high point of the show, for obvious reasons.

Thanks to Phil Phlash for this awesome new tattoo in my collection!

Selasa, 02 Juli 2013

Dispatch from the 4th Annual NYC Urban Tattoo Convention (Part 1)

This past weekend, the 4th Annual Urban Tattoo Convention (UTC) was held for the first time in Brooklyn, in a cool refurbished factory space that is part of the up-and-coming "Industry City" section of my fair borough.

After chatting with organizer, Al Fliction, don't be surprised if the UTC returns next year to the same venue. He was really happy how things had been going after the first two days of the show.

I didn't know what to expect, honestly. But I had a really great time on Saturday, when I spent the most time at the show.

Walking in, I was very impressed by the bright, open space that the venue afforded:

The booths were laid out nicely and there was little feeling of claustrophobia. Behind the main room was a huge courtyard that allowed people to congregate, eat, drink, and take a break from the visual overload in the main convention room:

You may have noticed in the top photo that there appeared to be a topless woman standing on the convention floor, with someone attentively staring at her chest. Actually, there were a handful of models being body-painted by several artists, culminating in a competition on Saturday evening.

The Model on the Left Was a Favorite for Many

The UTC is an event that really celebrates and showcases work from a lot of artists and tattoo enthusiasts who are from communities not always represented by the mainstream tattoo media.

Case in point, I had a great discussion with K.C. Washington, owner of Brooklyn-based Noir A-Go Go, a company dedicated to "selling Black pinup girl-themed compact mirrors, greeting cards, magnets, and more." Her business "puts the black in the magic that is 50's Americana." When I stopped to think about it, I realized that the standard idea of the pin-up model is predominantly White. I love how Noir A-Go Go is committed to breaking down this cultural stereotype and celebrating a look that has previously been associated mostly with one segment of the population. You can check out their products at http://www.noir-a-gogo.com/.

I also ran into my old friend, Ry, who was working the bar for the show. People may remember him as the human canvas who was a pivotal plot point in the "Botched Head Tattoo" episode of Inkmaster, on which we both appeared.

But, as you might expect, the high point of these shows are the tattoos. I will have a bunch of stand-alone posts later this month from people I met at the show. Plus, I'll have more comments from Al Fliction about the success of the show.

The high point of the evening for me, was running into my friend Phil, who I knew before he took up a tattoo machine, and started working as an artist. Let's just say, he and I spent several hours together at the show, and I will share what he worked on tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

Jumat, 28 Juni 2013

This Weekend: The NYC Urban Tattoo Convention Hits Brooklyn!

This weekend, just down the street from Tattoosday's home in Brooklyn, the 4th Annual NYC Urban Tattoo Convention will be held in Industry City (233 37th Street).

Unlike previous years, when it seemed that this show ran the same weekend as the Roseland event, it's occurring separately, and I am attending tomorrow (Saturday), so feel free to find me and say hi.

The press release announces:

"Showcasing local and international urban artists, the UTC will feature numerous talented and renowned tattooists, including Shane O’Neil, Bili Vegas, Tripple X Jess, King Afa, Kay Kutta and Gino. The work of these artists, many of whom have appeared on the reality television series Best Ink and Ink Masters, will be on display. Select artists will also offer onsite tattooing."

One of the more colorful artists from Ink Master's first season was Al Fliction, who is headlining the convention and is president of the UTC. Fliction says “At the URBAN Tattoo Convention you will find the best of the best tattoo artists. It is through their participation we are able to create an event that recognizes the beauty of this art form, as well as further educates attendees about tattooing.”

I'm looking forward to attending, and will be posting in the days following the show, plus throwing out the occasional live tweet.

What's unique about this show is that it "aims to empower tattooists from diverse cultural heritages to showcase their art and tattooing skill sets."

Visit their website for full details about the show, which is under way today.

Check it out: http://www.nycurbantattooconvention.com/.

Rabu, 26 Juni 2013

Anna's Tattoo from an Indonesian Adventure

A couple weeks back, you may recall, I was loitering on North 14th Street in Williamsburg, waiting for The Gutter to open so I could celebrate Sailor Jerry's birthday. To pass the time, I talked to a few passers-by about their tattoos. One person I stopped, Anna, had an interesting tree inked on her leg, and was kind enough to share:

Anna credited this to a Bali-born artist named Sontang and told me how she got this on the Indonesian island of Lombok:

"I was travelling ... in Indonesia and I met some people that had heard about him [Sontang]... and decided to go find him. So, it was kind of an adventure in itself, just like finding him ... the directions were like oh, take this boat to this donkey cart and ask for this guy ... I knew I wanted a tree, but I didn't really have a design, so I get to his house and he invites me in for tea and breakfast, and didn't even ask what I was there for, and then eventually was like, Oh, do you want a tattoo? He'd never done a tree before, but he had a garden of bonsai trees ... so we walked through them and talked about the different trees and I pointed out features of different ones that I liked ... He drew a five-minute sketch and then he just did it free hand ... he drew a few marks on my leg with permanent marker and then just did it ... [with] multiple layers of shadowing."

It's a pretty cool tattoo, and one of those that has an interesting story behind it, as well.

Thanks to Anna for stopping to talk with me and sharing her Indonesian souvenir with us here on Tattoosday!

Selasa, 25 Juni 2013

Asia's Ink Personifies Anxiety

It's so easy to be spoiled by reporting on spectacular tattoos, that one often loses sight of the fact that even rudimentary designs can also be really interesting.

Take Asia, for example, who I ran into at my local laundromat. He has a simple black line drawing tattooed on his inner left forearm. It looked really interesting, so I asked him if he'd be kind enough to share, which he did:

I asked Asia to explain:

"It's just some original artwork I did maybe about 16, 17 years ago. And I decided a couple years later to get it done as [a tattoo] ... it's kinda like a reference of a hard time and what anxiety or a panic attack would look like ... if you had to visualize an anxiety attack or panic attack ... some of the things that I use in this tattoo ... the compressions of one arm wrapped around itself, kinda like an octopus ... some tension here with the lines on the [side of the] body ... tension here ... where the mouth would be ... so being unable to speak ... same thing with the blacked out eyes .... tension with the thoughts, which is the nails going in and of course, you know, head on fire ...I call it the Dead Mermaid but it's really about anxiety."

I really like the concept and how well Asia explained the manifestation of anxiety in his original artwork.

He had this done a while back at FunCity Tattoo on St. Mark's Place in Manhattan.

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

Senin, 24 Juni 2013

Hey Jude, Thanks for Sharing Your Tattoo!

Sometimes, we don't get the whole story here on Tattoosday, but we share anyway, despite our best efforts to get the goods on the work we capture.

Take this tattoo, for example:

This tattoo belongs to Jude, who I met, briefly, on the subway platform at West 4th Street last month. She got off the downtown local train and, before I could get the whole story, she had boarded a downtown express train, and was gone.

I did manage to track down the artist, Kira Hosler, who inked this piece while she was at Moon Sheen Tattoo in the West Village. Kira has since moved upstate, and has acknowledged that she did this piece.

That's about it - so we are left to wonder what inspired this tattoo. I like the country and city duality of the work, seeing it as the rat in a hollowed out log in a park in the city (New York, I presume). The sunflower illuminates the metropolis.

Jude, wherever, you are, thanks for sharing this tattoo with us!

UPDATE: After posting this, I did finally hear back from Jude, and she gave us some more clarification on the tattoo:

" I got this tattoo to sort of represent freaks over running the city and 'taking it back' so to speak. Hence the little rat and plants growing over buildings. Also, I just really like rats."

Thanks for the update, Jude!

Jumat, 21 Juni 2013

Announcing Sailor Jerry Event Tonight at Tammany Hall!

The good folks at Sailor Jerry are hosting another event tonight in New York and, yes, there's a shot you can score a free tattoo from Matt Van Cura of Invisible NYC.

Word is that there will be only a handful of Sailor Jerry tattoos available, so best to RSVP and get there early. You might just be one of the lucky recipients!

These are the event details:

SHUT LIVE V5.0 & Sailor Jerry Presents

Cerebral Ballzy

DJ sets by Superjuice- MC PATH Mr Gargoyle and DJ Smoke LES

21+ Doors at 8pm

Tammany Hall- 152 Orchard Street- NY

Tattoos by Matt Van Cura of Invisible - First Come , First Served.

Sailor Jerry Drink Specials

Free with RSVP- RSVP@SHUTNYC.COM

www.shutnyc.com

I can't make it, but feel free to tell me all about it and share your tattoo, if you get lucky!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Rabu, 19 Juni 2013

Erica's Tattoos Help Her Through a Difficult Ordeal

I spotted Erica in my neighborhood earlier this month when I noticed a tattoo on her upper right arm. She was actually having some work done later in the week on it, so she offered up this quote on her forearm instead:

When I asked her about these lines, "Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars," she explained it was a quote from Khalil Gibran. The original source is unclear, as it is also attributed to a writer named Edwin Hubbell Chapin.

When I asked her why she chose this quote, she elaborated, "I'm going through a divorce right now ... it was a lot of emotional abuse [and] this represents that."

She had that done by an artist at Three Kings Tattoo in Brooklyn.

She also had this on her inner left arm:

She got this done by a visiting artist named Rebecca at Brooklyn Made Tattoo. This, too, has its roots in her past problems with her marriage. "Yoga," she told me "brought a lot of comfort and peace" to her during these difficult times. The flowers and the om on the petal represent that.

She followed up with me the following week with this photo:

The photo is a bit blurry, but you can see the differentiation between the older, larger piece, and the new work that Mr. Kaves from Brooklyn Made added to both the top and bottom of the tattoo. The original work she credited to Vic at Wicked Garden Tattoo in Clearfield, Utah.

Erica is a photographer, whose work can be seen on her website here.

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

Selasa, 18 Juni 2013

Wear Your Dreams: My Life in Tattoos, by Ed Hardy - The Tattoosday Book Review

Ten years ago, only tattoo aficionados knew who Ed Hardy was.

I still remember the moment I saw an Ed Hardy shirt for the first time. On Sixth Avenue in Manhattan on a hot, sunny day. Within months, it seemed they were everywhere.

Honestly, my introduction to Hardy was an amazing volume he edited that was based on his correspondence with Sailor Jerry. As an up-and-coming tattoo blogger, I learned more from that volume, than any other.

When all is said and done, there are two Ed Hardys - the great tattooer who learned from the legendary Sailor Jerry (and others), and the brand. The Brand turns any self-respecting tattoo artist's smile into a frown, but the wave of Hardy clothing and paraphernalia cannot drown out the artist's contribution to the craft.

That said, when I got my copy of Wear Your Dreams: My Life in Tattoos, Ed Hardy's autobiography, I wondered how he would address this vast disconnect. He didn't waste any time. The first line of the book reveals:

"Today there have been nearly one billion Ed Hardy retail items unleashed on an unsuspecting but highly receptive public. That staggering sum makes no more sense to me than it does to you."

What follows is a veritable feast of tattoo history. As one would expect from a biography, we watch Hardy grow up from a school boy in Southern California with a makeshift tattoo shop for his friends where he would draw designs om classmates, to his days as an aspiring art student heading to Yale, up to the present day, where Ed Hardy is known to more people as a brand.

I'm always fascinated by the stories of tattoo artists and their craft, back before the "reality" show mentality crashed into our culture in the last twenty years. You really don't get the sense of the hard work and difficulties faced by artists nowadays, where a contestant spot on Inkmaster gives one more recognition than true masters of the art form, who have been slaving away, somewhat anonymously, for decades.

It only seems fitting that we are getting the Ed Hardy story now, as tattooing is an industry that continues to grow by leaps and bounds. It's a way for people who are truly interested in the history of the modern American tattoo to discover how pivotal this one artist is.

The book is a great read. Hardy's narration, with Joel Selvin, is matter-of-fact and delivered poignantly. He just tells it like it is, and the reader is rewarded with a narrative of an amazing life, from humble beginnings to the last tattoo. I particularly liked the tales of Hardy's early days, working with Sailor Jerry, his interaction with Phil Sparrow, and his experiences tattooing yakuza in Japan.

Not only can you grab Wear Your Dreams, which is officially released today, but Hardy is on a modest tour, starting tonight in New York, popping over to California, and ending in Honolulu next month. You can see the full schedule with venue details here.

This entry is ©2013 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.