Sheldon Shares Two Tattoos

One of my tricks for locating tattoos is to walk by the Borders on Penn Plaza and see if anyone's reading tattoo magazines.

On Thursday, I spotted Sheldon in the store in the checkout line. He had two sleeves worth of ink, but I am trying to steer clear of big, wrap-around pieces, because I don't think I can give them a lot of justice in a blog format. There are exceptions of course (here and here, for example), but one generally needs a little more time to do it right.

Anyway, I settled on the left inner forearm (above) that had two distinct pieces.

The top piece was inked in Pensacola, Florida, when Sheldon was in with the Marines. It is a design of a Native American looking out off of a cliff.


The one below it is a King of Spades, but will skulls instead of faces. A friend of his had the Jack of Hearts, so he went with the King of Spades.


He credited this tattoo, along with all his other work (the Native American piece, excluded) to a custom artist in Japan named "Augie". Sheldon was stationed there with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and had a lot of work done before being deployed to a different theater of operations.

Most of his work on the right arm is traditional Japanese design. He started initially with the forearm and then went from the elbow up over the shoulder and onto his chest. He said is was a "yakuza design".

Sheldon told me that Augie didn't have time to finish the left arm, due to his re-deployment, but that he hopes to return to Ginowan, Okinawa to finish up his sleeve.

Thanks again to Sheldon for sharing his ink with us here at Tattoosday!

And....now back to Antler Creatures.

Did you miss them?
This one landed on Elias' underarm, matching the placement of Juanes'. They can make the antler creatures kiss in this horrible act of cross contamination. (I've seen it).
I would like to state for the record, there hasn't been a crutch or an antler to come out of OHIO in quite a while. JR promises more, but at this rate, I think he'd have to start a leg sleeve of crutches with antlers in order to catch up. He's like Hillary, and I'm Obama.

So, Casey came and left, and Michelle arrived. I doubt she was expecting the youth hostel we're running, but has managed to find a space in the living room to set up camp.

Production Notes: May 29, 2008

I often find myself wanting to discuss ink, but don't always have the photos to accompany a post.

Despite a slow start yesterday, I ended up photographing three subjects (as of this writing), the third was on the N train.

I also provided reading material for two other tattooed people on the same train. One guy had a forearm piece with Latin words traversing his hand and extending onto one finger.

The other individual sat down net to me and had "To thine own self be true" inscribed on her right inner forearm. I was showing her the printout from this post, and she told me her inscription came from NYC Adorned.

I'm hoping both of them (hint, hint) contact me so we can feature them here on Tattoosday!

Two Fists for Tattoosday

I spotted these tattoos on the plaza outside of Borders Books at Penn Station.

He was in town visiting family and he certainly had a lot of tattoos to offer. "Thirty-nine," he answered, without hesitation when I asked him how many he had. His arms were fully-covered and he had others on his neck.

We settled on these, because it seemed easiest, and Tattoosday has never presented fists before.

All his work was done at Bayou II Tattoos in Picayune, Mississippi. He credited all his work to Chip, and said the art on his hands was custom-designed.

Thanks to the guy from Florida for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday.

Whoah, norks!

You could take your eye out on those things, John Fitzgerald.

Twice is Nice!

Keith Ciamarello does Gil Elvgren. Twice.

Funny how? How Am I Funny?

Claire Reid just cured my fear of clowns!

John's Other Three Tattoos

Last week, I posted the "after" version of a tattoo I spotted early last Fall. The host, John, e-mailed me the updated photos after I spotted him in at the grocery store.

He also sent me shots of his three other pieces, posted above and below.

Via e-mail, John gave me the run-down on the tattoos, all inked at Body Art Studios in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

"The tattoo with the knife through the heart is a memorial tattoo for my grandmother who passed away in 2000. I drew it and Peter [Cavorsi] tattooed it. It took me a few years to get it because I wanted to get the tattoo done on her birthday... October 13, but I wanted to wait for a Friday the 13th 'cause that was her lucky day."

"As for 'Cheech,' it is another memorial tattoo for my Uncle Patty, my grandmother's brother. That is why it is in red, so it looks like the blood dripping from the knife [that] wrote out his name. He got the name 'Cheech' in World War II. It was his nickname, which is weird, because we are Italian and 'Cheech' in Italian is a nickname for Frank. Both of the tattoos are on my left forearm...".

The black and gray piece is a Chinese character [kanji] with ... fire. The symbol means 'art as a skill' and the fire around it represents my passion for the art, as I am practicing to be a tattoo artist myself. It was...my first tattoo, inked by Peter in 2002/2003".

"...Last is the one on my left calf, which in Chinese means "fear no evil". I got that in 2002-2003, as well. It was tattooed in Body Art, but was done by someone who worked for Peter at the time. I think his name was Sig or Zig...".

On a side note, the guy who worked for Peter did my first tattoo, and he went by the name of "Sickie". I think we're talking about the same guy.

Thanks again to John for coming through and sending me the photos and the back stories on his tattoos!

Editor's note: John's comments are 99% verbatim. I took a little editorial liberty with some punctuation and spelling, along with an occasional edit, for the sake of clarity.

You Betcha!

Adam finally finished his Minnesota pride tattoo today. Two sits of three hours each. We have all the state things included: the common loon, the wall-eye, the lady slippers, even the state phrase. I wanted to add in Prince, but he wasn't feeling it. I was also hoping to do some dead cardinals (OHIO's state bird) being crushed by the awesomeness that is Minnesota, but he wasn't having that, either.
Oh well.

The wave of visitors.

It's a true story: I have single handedly boosted Minnesota tourism totals 10% in the year I've been here.
Elias (formally Fidget) and Juanes made it safely to MPLS yesterday, Casey comes Wednesday, Michelle comes Friday, and my dad's going to be at a convention here all next week. And, since my friends know what's important in life, Juanes added the latest victory to Minneapolis in the 'Great Antler and Crutch War' on this fitting holiday.
After you've put all your picnic foods in your mouth, please remember our friends in OHIO who are now officially losing, and will never again gain the upper hand.
I am debating bringing the tattoo equipment to CT in two weeks when I go for
Andy's wedding. If so, you can have whatever tattoo you want, as long as you want a weird animal with antlers.
If you want a tattoo in MPLS before I go out to CT for ten days, let me know asap.

Our own little castle.

So Meryl and I put an offer on a house today, and it got accepted (after some fierce negotiating on Meryl's part, while I was at work like a slacker). So, yeah.... I don't know how MPLS feels about moats filled with flesh eating bacteria, or the gun turret that Albie Rock will install on the roof for us. But those minor upgrades aside, it's so dope, and I am so excited. I've been spending tons of time on looking at houses, meeting with mortgage brokers, etc, so I'm happy to be moving forward, and moving in.

Today I tattooed some organicness on Rachel's shoulder/back. She believes in George Bush, and used her economic stimulus check at Identity Tattoo. Now, we may not be the biggest Bush supporters around, but we think letting him pay for your next tattoo is a great idea.

Right from my sketchbook.

Miss Bex has been collecting way too much fun tattoos for the past few months, and sat for these sexy legs last night. She did so well, no complaining at all, even though it's on her underarm, and almost to the armpit.
By the time we were done, it was pretty swollen/angry/raw, so I'll get a better picture soon, this is just a sneak peak.

Big things are happening. I hope to have the most awesome news tomorrow to share.

Ian Jones Has Thirteen Tattoos. Here Are Four.

I saw this hannya mask outside of Penn Station and went up to talk to its host, Ian Jones, a Long Islander waiting for a train.

Despite a light rainfall, we chatted for ten minutes or so about his tattoos and the stories behind them.

Since the advent of Tattoosday, participants' reactions to the project range from total disinterestedness to moderate amusement. Ian, however, took it a notch higher, to the point of downright enthusiasm. He sounded sincere in his appreciation for the blog (and the idea behind it), and I got the impression that he would have let me take pictures of each tattoo, had time and weather permitted.

The big piece that first drew my attention was the colorful half-sleeve on his left bicep. The hanyya masks are traditional elements in Japanese tattooing styles, and he has two masks representing good and evil.


This tattoo, about ten hours worth of work so far, was done by Kristen at Artful Ink Tattoo Studio, in Bohemia, on Long Island. He noted that it was also a cover-up of a "bad sparrow and flower".

Ian says he gets the most questions about his Volkswagen logo on the inside of his right wrist.

He explains why he got an automotive emblem on such a prominent spot: he's always loved German engineering and has always had VW vehicles. His first car was a VW Eurovan, but his second car, a VW GTI 2-door hatchback, was what cemented his love of Volkswagens for life.

Ian told me how he was in his GTI when he was in a horrible crash. The other vehicle was purportedly going 100 MPH and Ian is convinced that the VW's structural shell protected him from critical injuries.

As a tribute to the GTI, and as an expression of his love of Volkswagen, he had the VW logo inked on his shifting arm (he now drives a VW Jetta) as a reminder of his survival from such a harrowing experience.

His left arm sports two tattoos:

There is Long Island on the forearm and a star on his inner wrist. The star was inked the same time as the VW logo to provide balance, but it grew to take on a more important meaning. It's a reminder symbol about a friend of his who is in the Marines.

The VW and star were inked by his friend and bandmate Tony Coffins at Resonance Tattoo, also on Long Island (Center Moriches). Ian and Tony are in a band, Phoenix Rise, together. See their MySpace page here and listen to them play.

The tattoo of Long Island, which Ian admits is not done that well (although I would say at least looks like Long Island), is nonetheless, still near and dear to his heart. Ian was adopted when he was a baby, and he feels that he could have ended up anywhere, and Long Island was his home. He is proud to be a Long Islander, and thus wears this as a badge of honor.

Thanks to Ian for his enthusiasm for Tattoosday, and let's hope we see more of his ink here in the future!

Even more nudity!

Again with the boobs, Tim Orth!

Rosey Cheeks!

Whoah, nudity! Thanks Tim Orth!

The Eyes Have It

More sterling work from Mike De Vries

In The Shadow Of The Sun

Dan Hazelton keeps others in the shade. I love the white highlighting in this.

That's a Wrap!

Bandaged Bond. Brandon Bond.

John's Koi: Then and Now

It was only a matter of time.

I wondered when, just buy the nature of my talking to so many tattooed people, I would approach someone about Tattoosday, having already featured them on the blog.

The answer: seven months.

Here's an excerpt from October 2007:



Does that look familiar? I wrote in October 2007:

The first piece is a classic koi tattoo, done on the front of the calf. There is a dragon on the back of the leg but it is not finished yet, as color still needs to be added.

The host, John, is from the Bay Ridge area and had his koi inked at Body Art Studios on 3rd Avenue. We know the artist, Peter Cavorsi, who also runs the shop, because he is responsible for one of mine and three of my wife's pieces. I strongly recommend his shop if you live in southwest Brooklyn. His shop is clean and he does very nice work, as you can see from John's koi.

Koi are a traditional part of Japanese tattoo, and are very common subjects n body art because they represent good fortune. Despite their being regular subjects, they seldom are ever one in the same. Like snowflakes, they tend to differ from body to body, and unlike tribal pieces, I don't think I could ever get bored of koi tattoos.

John estimated that this large leg piece, including the dragon on the back of the leg, not pictured and not yet colored, took 13 hours so far. A lot of people don't realize how much time goes into elaborate pieces like these. On shows like Miami Ink, a ten-hour project can be compressed to five minutes of screen time.

Well, last Sunday, I saw the finished work, not realizing that John had been here previously. I handed him a flier at the grocery store, and he reminded me who he was. He was busy with groceries, but he promised me he'd send photos of the finished work. He estimates that Peter had spent an additional nine hours on the piece since October, making it about 22 hours in total.

That's one thing about the whole "_____ Ink" television experience, the work is edited down so much that many people don't realize how much effort goes into the large quality pieces.

And of course, John came through with these updated shots:





Thanks to John for sharing his finished leg piece with us! Stay tuned!! He also sent me photos of his other tattoos, which will be featured in a later post.

Art Games.

At Identity Tattoo, we're doing this painting exercise/contest thing where we each draw up a jackalope, then we have to paint not only our drawing, but the other two coworkers jackalopes as well. So we'll each have done three paintings, making nine total between us. It'll be fun to see how differently we each paint, and attack the very same outline.
These are due at the end of this month, but I finished painting my own jackalope, minus any finishing touches I throw in after it's dry.
Sorry about the glare on the the leg area. It's oil on 8x10 gesso board.

Kyle's Take on Heaven and Hell

I initially just saw the bottom of this tattoo, an inverted cityscape poking out from under a sleeve. Quite unusual, so I had to stop Kyle and ask. We were on 7th Avenue, and I was using the borrowed Sony Cyber-shot of a co-worker (thanks, Tina!). Kyle rolled up his sleeve and blew me away.

The detail and color of the tree were breath-taking. And if you click on the initial photo to enlarge it, the detail in the buildings is astonishing, with color on the billboards and light emanating from some of the tiny windows.


The concept behind this piece, Kyle explained, is that the country is Heaven and the city is Hell, separated by a layer of purgatorial clouds. He was raised in upstate New York, far from the five boroughs of New York City and its eight million-plus inhabitants.

This work was inked by Myles Karr at Saved Tattoo in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.

Thanks to Kyle for sharing this piece with Tattoosday!

Time and Crutches

"We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch." John F. Kennedy

There's been a large focus on Time for me lately, and not only with me not having enough of it. In a month from now, I'll be in CT visiting and attending my good friend Andy's wedding. June 30th is our last day in this apartment, and we need to have bought a house before then to move into. May 20th is Meryl and my 2nd year anniversary, but in June will be our 10 year anniversary of "being together". Yeah, I know, it's crazy.

Anyway, today I worked a lot more on the "pile of skulls" sleeve. This time some black roses and thorns under the arm, but he sits like a champ, and lets me do my thing. We're going to add a little more blackness dripping from it after it heals.
Also, the war between myself and OHIO is still going on, and I would love to do this drawing as a tattoo. If this, or any other antler or crutch tattoo ideas call to you, let me know. And there will be a drawing to match the John F. Kennedy quote above posted tomorrow, which will need to immediately be turned into a tattoo as well.

Burn My Body: Carson Honors a Difficult Decision

Needless to say, I was amazed.

Our paths intersected at 23rd and 7th around Noon. He had neck work and a sleeve, and an incredible lighthouse tattooed on the back of his left leg (for his fiancée, he later explained), but I didn't think I'd catch him. He was walking faster than me, and had earbuds in. I generally don't like to a) interrupt people listening to music and, b) chase them.

But I happened to be walking the same direction and, when I noticed he had stopped to look into the windows of Dan's Chelsea Guitars, condition "b" was no longer a factor.

I approached him, distracted him from his ear buds, and introduced myself. I forgave myself the interruption because his work was so well done.

As I always do, when speaking with folks with multiple tattoos, I asked him which meant the most, which piece I could feature here on Tattoosday. He acknowledged that he had a chest piece which was "in progress". Did he mind showing me on the street? As the photo above indicates, not at all.

Excuse my manners. I didn't introduce our host properly. The guy on the sidewalk displaying has tattoos just downstairs from the Hotel Chelsea was Carson James.

Carson is a Brooklynite that plays bass in a band called Tombs (click to hear some of their stuff on their MySpace page).

And when he pulled his shirt off, I was expecting a great chest piece, but nothing like what scrolled across his body.

Carson confirmed, the words were the complete lyrics to a song, "Burn My Body" by William Eliot Whitmore.


"What," I asked, "is the significance of this song that made you want to preserve it forever on you like this?"

He told me how, about two years ago, his younger brother, Trevor Lorne James, was killed in a motorcycle accident in New Jersey. His parents were understanably distraught over such a devastating event, and the decision fell to Carson - his brother's body was cremated.

Here are the lyrics to "Burn My Body":

Burn My Body

Burn my body in the northern field
and let the wind blow the ashes around
Then you will know that my wounds have been healed
'cause Lord I'll be homeward bound

Let the flames warm your hands
let the glow light your way
These gifts to you I bestow
No one's listening don't bother to pray
if you do I'll never know
Up and up the smoke will roll
like a cloud of frightened crows
carry my not so immortal soul
up between the rows

Some words that are said can cut like a saw
and my ears nearly bled at the sound
I can't help prepare for the springtime thaw
'cause Lord I'll be homeward bound
When frost turns to flowers and they all start to bloom
and there's nothing left to hold
tip one back and sing me a tune
and never let the fire grow cold

You can see a video of Whitmore performing the song here.

We talked about cremation and I asked if he had ever heard the poem "Cremation" by Robinson Jeffers (read it here). I promised to e-mail it to him later.

This piece, and most of Carson's work was inked by Thomas Hooper, an incredible tattooer who worked out of Frith Street Tattoo and Piercing in London, and now works out of New York Adorned's Brooklyn shop. You can see more of Hooper's amazing work on his web site here. The quality of Hooper's tattooing is truly awesome.


Carson also gave me some more background on his other work (which I did not photograph). His right arm is sleeved with a depiction of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and, as mentioned earlier, the lighthouse is for his fiancée.

It should also be noted that this is another first for Tattoosday, as Carson is the host here whose face is visible in a tattoo shot. Understandable (and appreciated) due to the size of the featured work.

Thanks so much to Carson for sharing his ink with us here at Tattoosday!

Galactus and Red Skull on The Right Arm of Thomas

Saturday night, I ran into Thomas, who was waiting for the B16 bus on 86th Street in Bay Ridge.

Thomas is a manager at Galaxy Collectibles in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The store specializes in comics and related items and Thomas' tattoos reflect his love of the Art of Comic Books.

Above we have the inner forearm, his right, which he has dubbed "The Bad Guy Arm".

On top is Galactus,


and below is Red Skull.


As he was showing me the tattoos, he was explaining the characters, where they first appeared, and who designed them.

Thomas explained that he didn't start out with the intention of having "themed" arms, but they just sort of "evolved". He started with Galactus, and then realized another piece just below it would make sense and fill the space neatly.

On his outer right forearm is the Green Goblin:



These were all inked by his friend Marc Redbeard at Groove Tattoo in Bay Ridge. Work from Groove has appeared previously here.

His next project is "The Good Guy Arm," his left, which already has a Superman logo and The Green Lantern.

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

Shiver Me Timbers!

Or something. Wonderful tattoo-with-tattoos pirate girl by, again, Aaron Bell.

Haven't I Seen You Before?

This Elvgren interpretation done by Aaron Bell. See about five posts back for Mike De Vries version of the same woman.